I have the below formula which makes reference to another workbook in the same folder but when the file is open it just works fine, the problem is when the other excel file
Excel Functions like COUNTIFS and SUMIFS does not recalculate when referenced to closed workbook. You could try using Excel Query Designer which work like ADO codes. Allows retrieval from closed books, db etc. Hope this helps.
the simplest way to achieve this without using advanced tools will be to use the code below to open the file, do the calculation and close the file back. Not sure if this help. Please change the 'H:\My Documents\4674576.xlsx' to your source file path. Paste this code in new module of your excel workbook. run the code and see if this helps.
Sub loadfileandCalc()
Dim acWb As Workbook
Dim wb As Workbook
Set wb = Workbooks.Open(Filename:="H:\My Documents\4674576.xlsx", UpdateLinks:=False, ReadOnly:=True)
Set acWb = ActiveWorkbook
ActiveSheet.Calculate
Set acWb = Nothing
wb.Close False
Set wb = Nothing
End Sub