How to round to two decimal places (properly)
✓ Verified in LibreOffice 25.8.7.3Round a number to 2 decimals in the value itself — not just the display format.
The formula
| App | Formula | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| Excel | =ROUND(A2,2) | ROUNDUP / ROUNDDOWN force the direction; negative digits round left of the decimal. |
| Google Sheets | =ROUND(A2,2) | Identical. |
| LibreOffice Calc | =ROUND(A2,2) | Identical. |
How it works
ROUND changes the actual value: 3.14159 becomes exactly 3.14. That's different from formatting the cell to show 2 decimals, which only hides digits — the full value still flows into later formulas and totals can appear "off by a cent". Round in the formula when downstream math (invoices, currency) must match what's displayed; use ROUNDUP/ROUNDDOWN when the direction matters, and ROUND(A2,-2) rounds to the nearest hundred.
Verified, not just documented
We ran =ROUND(A2,2) in LibreOffice 25.8.7.3 (headless, with forced recalculation) and it returned 3.14 — exactly the expected result. Every formula here is confirmed by actually executing it.