How to Round Up to an Odd Number with ODD

ODD rounds up to the next odd integer — the quick way to size voting panels that can never tie.

You will learn to

• Round a headcount up to an odd number
• Total odd-sized panels across groups
• Count the groups that needed an extra seat

How it works

ODD(number) rounds a number up, away from zero, to the next odd integer: =ODD(6) is 7, =ODD(9) stays 9 and =ODD(2.1) is 3. An odd number of voters can never split evenly, which is why boards, juries and judging panels are often odd-sized.

ODD works on whole ranges inside SUMPRODUCT, so you can total seats across several panels or compare ODD(x) with x to count the groups that needed an extra member. Note that =ODD(0) is 1, because 0 is rounded up to the first odd number.

=ODD(B2)