Sum and Countifs using a Not Equal logic

[spydey]

This should be quite simple but for some reason the correct output is evading me.

I have a cell with a formula in it, I would like the output to give me a count of all cells in a range that DO NOT meet the items listed in the array.

Here is an example:

=SUM(COUNTIFS($A$2:$A$500,"<>"&{"Complete","Pending"},$C$2:$C$500,$A$1,$C$2:$C$500,EOMONTH($A$1,0)))

So basically I need to know how many items there are in Column A that are NOT Completed or Pending and fall within a certain date range, found in column C.

I figured I could simply use the "<>" not equal to logic indicator and it would work, but I was wrong.

Any thoughts to steer me in the right direction?

Thank you!

-Spydey

 

[spydey]

I figured that the wildcards were causing the errors but I wasn't 100%. But still, it is a great formula to have at the ready. I will keep that in my arsenal. Thanks again for sharing it and for your input, I appreciate it.

-Spydey