FLOOR Function (OpenOffice Calc)
The FLOOR function in OpenOffice Calc rounds a number down to the nearest multiple of a specified significance. Learn syntax, examples, rounding rules, common errors, and best practices.
Compatibility
▾| Excel | ✔ |
| Gnumeric | ✔ |
| Google_sheets | ✔ |
| Libreoffice | ✔ |
| Numbers | ✔ |
| Onlyoffice | ✔ |
| Openoffice | ✔ |
| Wps | ✔ |
| Zoho | ✔ |
What the FLOOR Function Does ▾
- Rounds numbers downward
- Rounds to a specified multiple (significance)
- Works with positive and negative numbers
- Useful for finance, manufacturing, and quantity rounding
- Ensures values never round up
FLOOR is ideal when you must round down to the previous allowed increment.
Syntax ▾
FLOOR(number; significance)
Arguments:
- number — The value to round
- significance — The multiple to round down to
If significance is omitted, it defaults to 1.
Rounding Rules ▾
- FLOOR always rounds down, toward zero
- Significance defines the rounding increment
- Works with decimals and whole numbers
Examples:
FLOOR(7.9; 1)→ 7FLOOR(7.9; 0.5)→ 7.5FLOOR(-7.9; 1)→ -7 (downward = toward zero)
Basic Examples ▾
Round down to the nearest whole number
=FLOOR(7.9; 1)
Result: 7
Round down to the nearest 10
=FLOOR(123; 10)
Result: 120
Round down to the nearest 0.25
=FLOOR(5.13; 0.25)
Result: 5.00
Round down using a cell reference
=FLOOR(A1; B1)
If B1 contains 0.5, A1 is rounded down to the nearest half.
Advanced Examples ▾
FLOOR for financial rounding
Round down to the nearest cent:
=FLOOR(A1; 0.01)
FLOOR for packaging or inventory
Round down to full boxes of 12:
=FLOOR(A1; 12)
FLOOR for time rounding
Round down to the nearest 15 minutes:
=FLOOR(A1; 15/1440)
FLOOR across sheets
=FLOOR(Sheet1.A1; 5)
FLOOR with negative numbers
=FLOOR(-7.2; 1)
Result: -7
FLOOR with fractional significance
=FLOOR(2.37; 0.1)
Result: 2.3
FLOOR for engineering tolerances
Round down to nearest 0.005:
=FLOOR(A1; 0.005)
Common Errors and Fixes ▾
FLOOR returns Err:502 (Invalid argument)
Occurs when:
- Significance is 0
- Significance is negative (not allowed in OpenOffice)
- A malformed reference is used
FLOOR returns unexpected values
Possible causes:
- Misunderstanding “round down” vs “toward zero”
- Significance not matching expected increment
- Negative numbers rounding toward zero
FLOOR includes values you expected it to ignore
FLOOR includes:
- Dates
- Times
- Numeric results of formulas
FLOOR excludes values you expected it to include
FLOOR ignores:
- Text numbers (
"123") - Empty cells
- Logical values (TRUE/FALSE)
- Errors
Err:508 — Missing parenthesis
Usually caused by:
- Missing
) - Using commas instead of semicolons
Best Practices ▾
- Use FLOOR when rounding must go downward
- Use CEILING when rounding upward
- Use ROUND for symmetric rounding
- Use FLOOR for billing, packaging, and time rounding
- Convert imported text numbers to real numbers
- Use named ranges for cleaner formulas
For time rounding, always convert minutes to days:
minutes / 1440