#Invalid Operation
I am getting an Invalid Operation error. The cell has the same EXACT formula as multiple other cells and I have checked the cells from which the calculation is being made. All are good. I had this happen twice. The first one I simply went to a new row for all the calculations and the formula worked in the new cell. Is this a random error within Smartsheet?
Picture 1 below shows the formula in the cell
Picture 2 shows the error in the cell
After three attempts, the forth one, in the same column, using the same formula as the "Invalid Operation" worked
Answers
-
Hi @JonRyalls
As I tested in the demo sheet below, dividing a text value gave me the #INVALID OPERATION error.
- In the second row, Column3 has a text value, "Text".
- In the 4th row, Column3 has a text value, 789+"".
As for the SUM((text value)), it simply returned zero, as shown in the first row.
So, I would check the Column3 value causing you the error.
BTW, I do not understand why you apply the SUM function with () to a single cell value, [December 2025]@row.
-
-
The worksheet is used to track employee performance and level of effort for billback. Column 3 is a formula to generate the total level of effort for a given task within that month:
I have no errors and this is the field being referenced. Again, same for all other months and Navigator type workflows. This combined with the above provides the FTE per category for the dashboard:
2024 was a partial year and I was creating a new worksheet for 2025. The worksheet pulls data from a Grid that is used to assign work to staff.
-
The worksheet is used to track employee performance and level of effort for billback. Column 3 is a formula to generate the total level of effort for a given task within that month:
I have no errors and this is the field being referenced. Again, same for all other months and Navigator type workflows. This combined with the above provides the FTE per category for the dashboard:
2024 was a partial year and I was creating a new worksheet for 2025. The worksheet pulls data from a Grid that is used to assign work to staff.
-
Is [Column3] blank in those rows that are throwing errors? Are you able to provide a screenshot that shows both of the cells being referenced in your formula along with the column headers?
-
I apologize as I was not providing the Column3, rather the December 2025(3) data. I hope the following helps.
Column 3 is a calculation to find the time to process for a particular task. The data is pulled from a Grid formula
The Grid takes the volume processed and calculates the time it takes to process a job from the start and stop time provided by the employee through automation. Column 3 gets its number from "TTP/Page" which is averaged for all "PL Core" work. the following is the calculation in Column 3 and a sample picture of the Grid data:
=AVERAGEIF({Navigator Workflow Management Range 3}, "Navigator - PL Core", {Navigator Workflow Management Range 2})
This information feeds into the compilation worksheet under Column 3:
The above picture of Column 3 is an average TTP for all "PL Core" work done to date.
The formula from Column 3 is then multiplied to [December 2025]3 which calculates the total volume of PL Core for the month of December using the following formula:
=SUMIFS({Navigator Workflow Management Range 1}, {Navigator Workflow Management Range 3}, "Navigator - PL Core", {Navigator Workflow Management Range 9}, 12)
Column 3 divides the sum to produce a monthly utilization value (165 production hours monthly) to determine FTE per category of work (billable level of effort):
=SUM([December 2025]3) * ([Column3]@row / 60) / 165
The formulas work successfully and I can enter the "=SUM([December 2025]3) * ([Column3]@row / 60) / 165" equation into other cells on the worksheet without an error being presented.
The following is a picture of the worksheet calc areas:
First is the "=SUM([December 2025]3) * ([Column3]@row / 60) / 165"
Next is the "=SUMIFS({Navigator Workflow Management Range 1}, {Navigator Workflow Management Range 3}, "Navigator - PL Core", {Navigator Workflow Management Range 9}, 12)" area
-
Have you applied any kind of formatting at all to [Column3]? If you are putting the formula on one of the rows where [Column3] has text in it, you will get that error. Do you have a screenshot of that particular error present as well as [Column3] both in the same screenshot? Being able to compare the data on the rows across the columns to see if there is any consistent difference between working and not working usually helps quite a bit with troubleshooting.
-
All the other cells are referencing Column 3 and are showing no issue. I am convinced that there are cells within a smartsheet that produce this type of error from time to time. If Column 3 was unique to that one cell I would agree, but it is being used by multiple cells that have no issue.
-
Can you provide the screenshots of the formula working and erroring and [Column3] in the same screenshot? Have you applied any kind of formatting to [Column3]?
-
The following is a screen shot of the worksheet with all the columns. Column 3 is used for compilations for 2024 and now 2025 and has worked in multiple other cells. I cannot believe this is not a column 3 issue given the number of cells that are referencing the cell and are working. Basically Column3 is the TTP for PL Core which is referenced for every month in 2024's calculations and now 2025.
-
I agree that it is a [Column3] issue which is why I was asking for the screenshot, but your most recent screenshot isn't clear enough for me to see the data.
Based on other screenshots, it seems as if some rows in [Column3] have text and other rows are supposed to have numbers. What I am trying to see is a few rows where this end formula is working and a few rows where it is not working with [Column3] in the same screenshot. If you can hide some of the columns in between to allow for a more clear screenshot, that would help with troubleshooting.
-
Column 3 is used in a variety of other calculations without issue.
The cell(s) where the error occurred have no formatting and adjacent cells have the same formula with no error
I am able to place the formula in other cells in the worksheet with no error being displayed:
The formula in these cells is the same however 3 have an issue where all the ones above and below do not:
=SUM([November 2025]7) * ([Column3]@row / 60) / 165
I was able to resolve the error by changing the Column 3 reference from "@row" to "2", the actual cell reference.
Thanks for you assistance
Help Article Resources
Categories
Check out the Formula Handbook template!