Previous month based on current month

[spectraflame]

I am using the following formula to return the current month.

=TEXT(TODAY(),"MMMM")

However I would like to return the previous month. I know that if it were the year, I can just add -1 to the end of the formula, but that returns #VALUE when tried with the MMMM format.

Thanks,
Matthew

 

[sbendbuckeye]

Try this and Good Luck:

=TEXT(MONTH(TODAY()) - 1,"MMMM")

 

[kkknie]

Not sure how spectraflame's answer will respond when it is January...

Here's my solution:

=TEXT(DATE(2004,IF(MONTH(TODAY())-1>0,MONTH(TODAY())-1,12),1),"MMMM")

K

 

[spectraflame]

Thanks sbendbuckeye and kkknie,

kkknie - I changed the date on my PC and you were correct. If the current month is January, December is not returned with sbendbuckeye's formula.

Thank you both for the input.

Matthew

 

[north19701]

You could also use:

=TEXT(EOMONTH(TODAY(),-1),"MMMM")

You'll need to install the Analysis TookPak add-in to use it.

 

[driverg]

Alternative

For the first of the previous month (e.g. 1/12/2011):
=EOMONTH(TODAY(),-2)+1

For the previous month as a number:
=month(EOMONTH(TODAY(),-2)+1)

For the previous month in full:
=text(EOMONTH(TODAY(),-2)+1,"mmmm")

 

[Rick Rothstein]

Another alternative...

=TEXT(TODAY()-DAY(TODAY()),"MMMM")

 

[driverg]

Yep - even better

 

[T. Valko]

In evey one of these formulas you can replace TODAY() with NOW().

Saves a couple of keystrokes!

 

[Kreszch68]

Today() and Now() are volatile functions, better not use them.
The next function uses Date instead, and gives more flexibility, and saves a lot more keystrokes

Public Function PrevMonth() As String
Dim d As Date
d = DateSerial(Year(Date), Month(Date) - 1, 1)
PrevMonth = Format(d, "MMMM", vbMonday, vbFirstJan1)
End Function