Formula Needed to Sum Values for Finance Workbook for Specific Date Ranges & Descriptions

I use an excel workbook as an electronic checkbook for all my credit cards and bank accounts to track spending. Each account uses a different sheet with the same template

Individual Account Sheets (9 Total)
Column A – Blank
Column B – Date (mm/dd/yy)
Column C – Transaction Description (text)
Column D – Category of Transaction (text)
Column E – Charge/Credit ($)
Column F – Balance of Account

Cover Page
Column A – Transaction Description (Organized by Category of Transaction)
Column B-Z – Monthly Date Range (May 2012, June 2012, etc.)

I have a Cover Page that I want to display a breakdown of monthly spending for each transaction description. I have them separated already into the different categories (i.e. food, fuel, etc.).

I need a cell input that will reference all of the different worksheets and add up transaction charges that match the specific transaction description and the date range.

Please Help

Idea of logic that I am looking for

If the Date in ('Sheet1'B:B, 'Sheet2'B:B, etc.) is between ___ & ___ and if the value in ('Sheet1'C:C, 'Sheet2'C:C, etc.) is ___, then sum values of ('Sheet1'E:E, 'Sheet2'E:E, etc.). Note: the date range would be for each Month (May 2012, June 2012, etc.).

I know SumIf doesnt allow for multiple criteria. Range = several worksheets with same layout; criteria = matching Date Range & Transaction Description; output = Sum of charges($) that meets defined criteria in defined ranges.

Try something like this:
=SUMIF(Sheet2!A1:G1,DATE(2012,1,1),Sheet2!E1:E16)

Modify the ranges and maybe insert the AND function; otherwise, load a file showing a data sample

Thanks for the suggestion. If it was just a specific date I could use this as I have in the past, but I want to also reference specific descriptions as part of the criteria as well as a range that includes various sheets. For example.

Date Transaction Description Category Amount Worksheet
04/20/12 Mobil Gas Station Fuel $51.21 Sheet 1
04/29/12 BP Gas Station Fuel $39.49 Sheet 1
05/01/12 Mobil Gas Station Fuel $72.33 Sheet 2
05/12/12 Jimmy Johns Food $8,22 Sheet 1
05/18/12 BP Gas Station Fuel $63.57 Sheet 2
06/01/12 BP Gas Station Fuel $39.55 Sheet 3

I wanted to know how much was spent during the month of May 2012 on Fuel on between all three worksheets.

You will probably have to stage your data. First I would copy all sheets into one (keeping the originals) then sort by Category and leverage the Subtotal command not the function, asking to add a subtotal after each change on the Category(See the picture if your not familiar with Subtotal)

subtotal.jpg

I really dont want to go in this direction as we are talking roughly 15,000 lines between all of the worksheets, and all of the worksheets are updated at least weekly. I want to be able to preprogram my cover page to automatically calculate these values for me. Searching around online it appears that what i want can be done with a formula, but I am having trouble coming up with this formula. That was why I posted on this forum. I believe SUMPRODUCT is the function I might have to use, or possibly a C++ based macro, but I also want to avoid bogging the file down with code, as it is already a large file.