count the number of nulls for a specific employee

Hi,

Column A contains employee names. Column B contains a value indicating they have completed a particular task. If they have not, column B contains a null. I want to count the number of nulls for a specific employee. For example: If column a = Jones count number of Nulls in column B. I am unable to find a solution to this in Help.

Thanks

Something like:

=SUMPRODUCT(--(J2:J18="Jones")*(B2:B18=""))

adjust ranges to suit and replace "Jones" with cell reference containing the name, if desired.

Did you adjust the ranges to match your data...

Are they true nulls in column B or are they spaces (entered with spacebar)? does this work: =SUMPRODUCT((J2:J18="Jones")*(B2:B18=" "))

Are the Jones entries void of extra spaces at either end? does this work?
=SUMPRODUCT((Trim(J2:J18)="Jones"))*(B2:B18=""))

Actually, the first -- is redundant... use original =SUMPRODUCT((J2:J18="Jones")*(B2:B18=""))