countif left cells are blank

[Apexeon]

I'm trying to figure out how to set up a formula that would count the number of numbers in a column, only if the cells before those cells are blank. In plain English: total the number of occurences in each column, provided the value in cellrow is the first occurence in that row starting at column A. E.G

	A	B	C	D
John	x	x
Dave			x	x
Kyle		x		x
Bob			x	x

Count would return under Column A, 1; under Column B, 1; (because row John has a value in AJohn it is ignored), under Column C, 2; under Column D, 0.

[6StringJazzer]

What version of Excel are you using? (Also, update your profile to indicate this.)

[Apexeon]

Office 2014

[6StringJazzer]

Here is a simple implementation that requires a non-blank cell immediately to the left of the A. If your situation is more complicated than your example then you might need a more complicated solution.

[Apexeon]

Here is a simple implementation that requires a non-blank cell immediately to the left of the A. If your situation is more complicated than your example then you might need a more complicated solution.

This solution works for a small dataset, but for, say 100 columns, it would take too long to reiterate the formula to add new columns

[6StringJazzer]

Can you give a more complete description of your actual situation? All I had to go on was your example. How many rows, how many columns, what data is in the cells?

[Apexeon]

Can you give a more complete description of your actual situation? All I had to go on was your example. How many rows, how many columns, what data is in the cells?

Very much what I'm showing, but 36 rows and 55 columns. Although I have a number rather than x, as a marker. I also have the first instance in that row highlighted red.