I can't find an excel formula to subtract. Help please

mabbus-cattus1 · 28/06/10 - 19:55

I'm sure there must be one but for the life of me I can't sort it. I've never used excel before but thought it might be useful to keep a running total of what my son owes me. I cannot figure how to do a simple minus calculation B2 - B3 and get the total in B4. Everyone says excel is easy but I'm just drawing a blank. Can anybody help?

Thank you.

[Deleted User] · 28/06/10 - 19:57

If you highlight b4 and then type

=SUM(B2-B3)

That should give it

Smokeychan1 · 28/06/10 - 19:58

Click on B4, click the = button, the cell will then be highlighted. Then click on B2, the minus button, then B3.

EDIT: judes formula is correct also, my way is easy if you don't know/are bad at remembering formulas (forumuli?).

[Deleted User] · 28/06/10 - 20:01

All you have to do is type in =B2-B3 then press enter in cell B4.

You can also do it by selecting the cell, typing in = then selecting the first cell add a minus sign (no spaces) then clicking the second cell. It does the same thing but often easier to see what you are calculating.

With simple calculations just remember the forumula:

= cell1 sign cell2 (with no spaces)

E.g:

=B1-B2 (minus)
=B1+B2 (plus)
=B1/B2 (divide)
=B1*B2 (multiply)

mabbus-cattus1 · 28/06/10 - 20:04

I must be doing something wrong. Tried all your suggestions and all I get is =B2-B3 in the formula box.

Think I might start again and see if it works in a completely new spreadsheet. Thank goodness I've only got two entries.

Thanks anyway. The formula must be right - its the idiot trying to use it thats not!!!

[Deleted User] · 28/06/10 - 20:07

Did you press enter afterwards?

Smokeychan1 · 28/06/10 - 20:07

mabbus-cattus1 wrote: »

I must be doing something wrong. Tried all your suggestions and all I get is =B2-B3 in the formula box.

Think I might start again and see if it works in a completely new spreadsheet. Thank goodness I've only got two entries.

Thanks anyway. The formula must be right - its the idiot trying to use it thats not!!!

Hmm, well if the formula is there, then just try hitting enter to move into the next box. Hopefully the sum will appear.

[Deleted User] · 28/06/10 - 20:08

mabbus-cattus1 wrote: »

I must be doing something wrong. Tried all your suggestions and all I get is =B2-B3 in the formula box.

Think I might start again and see if it works in a completely new spreadsheet. Thank goodness I've only got two entries.

Thanks anyway. The formula must be right - its the idiot trying to use it thats not!!!

Make sure all the cells are formatted to number also

moza · 28/06/10 - 20:09

There's an option that toggles between showing the formula in the cell, and showing the result. In Excel2007, it's under options/advanced/display options. Be worth checking that's set correctly.

[Deleted User] · 28/06/10 - 20:09

You just put the cursor in B4 and then type =B2-B3 and hit enter. The result should then be in B4

mabbus-cattus1 · 28/06/10 - 20:11

Sorted - I started the calculations again in a new spreadsheet and it worked first time.

This forum is amazing. Where else could you get free help so quickly.

Thanks everyone:D

[Deleted User] · 29/06/10 - 13:57

Who said it's free? Please PM me your credit card details

Kidding.

swingaleg · 29/06/10 - 15:34

Whilst we're at it..............:D

I've got a spreadsheet on the go ( it's Works Spreadsheet) and I'd like to enter a calculation to work out percentages

eg........I'd like to put a command in box B4 so that it works out the number in box B3 as a % of the number in box C8

.........and it would change as I change the numbers in boxes B3 and C8

Is that possible ?

[Deleted User] · 29/06/10 - 15:45

Not sure of the syntax with it being a Works Spreadsheet but the basic forumula would be something like:

(C8 / 100) * B3

(I think that's right anyway... - it could be 100 / C8...)

I would assume that when you change the value of C8 or B3 it will change, but I did have an Excel spreadsheet a while ago that didn't change automatically and you had to save the sheet to get the updates. No idea why, all other files worked fine except this one...

JeffG1 · 29/06/10 - 16:44

In B4, =B3/C8*100

You can check a formula beforehand by substituting actual numbers when you know the answer. In this case say B3 is 2 and C8 is 8, then 2/8 = 0.25. Times 100 is 25 (= 25%).

swingaleg · 29/06/10 - 19:07

Thanks guys !

It works.......................:D

I've been working them out manually for over a year.........:eek:

I looked on 'Help' and I've got a book - idiots Guide to microsoft Works.......but nothing in either of them, so I'd always assumed it wasn't possible to do percentages..........:mad:

JeffG1 · 29/06/10 - 20:36

It's always possible to do percentages. It's just a number between 0 and 1 multiplied by 100

Kinell · 29/06/10 - 20:38

For percentages you don't actually need to bother with all the multiplying by 100 nonsense.

Just do =B3/C8 and format the number type of the cell to Percent.

swingaleg · 29/06/10 - 21:57

Kinell wrote: »

For percentages you don't actually need to bother with all the multiplying by 100 nonsense.

Just do =B3/C8 and format the number type of the cell to Percent.

Thanks !.........that's even better !

anfortis · 30/06/10 - 08:56

Dissonance wrote: »

I would assume that when you change the value of C8 or B3 it will change, but I did have an Excel spreadsheet a while ago that didn't change automatically and you had to save the sheet to get the updates. No idea why, all other files worked fine except this one...

Sounds like you had automatic calculation turned off. In Excel 2007, go to Excel options on the Office button, select Formulas from the sidebar, and select the Automatic option under Workbook Calculation in Calculation Options. I no longer use Excel 03, but I guess that there will be a similar setting under Options.

[Deleted User] · 30/06/10 - 09:33

anfortis wrote: »

Sounds like you had automatic calculation turned off. In Excel 2007, go to Excel options on the Office button, select Formulas from the sidebar, and select the Automatic option under Workbook Calculation in Calculation Options. I no longer use Excel 03, but I guess that there will be a similar setting under Options.

Thanks for that. It didn't really bother me at all, so I just left it to it. Bizzarely though, I still use the same template (it's somehing I use at work) yet seems to be working fine now.

Computers eh? Don't you just love them

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I can't find an excel formula to subtract. Help please

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