Sorting ranked data in Excel while listing duplicates as different whole numbers

Question

I have a spreadsheet that I am putting together for some coworkers who are not tech savvy at all, so it needs to be super easy to use.

Column A shows each store's rank [formula used is =RANK(C3, C$3:C$16)].

Column B shows each store's name [example A, B, C, D, E all the way to N]. This information will not change.

Column C shows each store's score. This is the ONLY information people can change as the scores change each week.

So the formula in column A looks at the scores in column C and assigns a rank to them, number 1 being the highest score, number 14 being the lowest score.

Then a few columns over I have it setup to streamline the data so the coworkers don't have to do too much with it (I don't want them to have to click "Sort", I just want it to sort it automatically).

Column E has a list of numbers from 1 to 14, this has no formulas, it's literally just a list of numbers.

Column F looks at the number in column E, searches the rankings in column A for the same number and brings the store name over to F [formula used =VLOOKUP(E3,A$3:C$16,2,FALSE)].

Column G shows the corresponding score [formula used =VLOOKUP(F3,B$3:D$16,2,FALSE)].

All of this works perfectly. The only data that needs to change is the scores in column C. Column F and G update accordingly. All my coworkers have to do is copy and paste columns E, F and G into an email and send out the update of everyone's scores.

It's convenient and easy, until there are duplicate scores.

If two (or more) stores have the same scores, it just returns #N/A. I know there is a way to have the Rank formula assign decimals to duplicate rankings, but we don't want it to show someone is ranked 3.5 out of 14. I need everyone to be assigned a number between 1 and 14 with no decimals.

I have played with so many different formulas out of similar posts, but none of them work for what I need. I found one that was promising, but when I changed someone's score to the exact same as someone else, it showed me the same store twice.

Is there anyway to get it to do what I need it to do?

Answer 1

To get all ranks different use this formula in A3 copied down

=RANK(C3,C$3:C$16)+COUNTIF(C$3:C3,C3)-1

so if you have a 3-way tie for 1st place the first instance will be ranked 1, the second 2, the third 3 etc.