Error in a formula with several if

Question

I am trying to create a formula field to display a "clean" value for our revenue. It is a formula based on opportunity fields and it's a field displayed in the opportunity itself. We have several record types in our org and I am testing different fields including the record type. I am receiving this error message when I check the syntax

Error: Incorrect parameter type for function 'if()'. Expected Number, received Text

and I don't understand why.

if(RecordType.Name="New Biz - Site Level",

if(Is_Natural_Expansion__c=true,  MRR_estimated__c, 

if(ISPICKVAL(Type, "Upsell"), MRR_estimated__c, 

if(MRR_at_deployment__c>0, MRR_at_deployment__c, MRR_at_deployment__c))),

if(ISPICKVAL(Type, "Upsell"),

MRR_estimated__c,
""))

Answer 1

From the documentation on the IF() function

Make sure your value_if_true and value_if_false expressions are the same data type.

So

IF(
    ISPICKVAL(Type, "Upsell"),
    MRR_estimated__c,
    ""
)

is invalid because the "value if true" is a number, and your "value if false" is a string. Indeed, this is what the error says.

So instead of "", something like 0 would be appropriate.

Beyond that, you ought to be able to simplify this formula. Multiple layers of using the same field (in the condition or the true/false results) is a hallmark of "you should take a step back and try to think if there's a better way to do it".

Also, IF(<boolean value> = true, ...) can always be simplified to IF(<boolean value>, ...)