Does VLOOKUP always look at first column in a range?

I've attached a workbook which uses VLOOKUP to match a date to a value.

The formula in VLOOKUP includes TODAY()-1 as the date which needs matching.

I'm posting this question on 2/3/2019. If you look at the attached workbook you see that cell L11 has the formula I'm asking about.

Since Today()-1 is currently 2/2/2019, the value in cell L11 should be some kind of error, since column A does not have any rows beginning with 2/2/2019.

Any ideas on why I am getting a 1 instead of an error?

Thanks.

Because you did not add a parameter for an exact match in your VLOOKUP

It should be =VLOOKUP(TODAY()-1,A6:L8,12,0)

See https://support.office.com/en-us/art...8-93a18ad188a1 par 4

OK I understand. Thank you!