Excel Tips

Microsoft Excel

The following examples are extracts from the introductory course manual.

ENTERING A FORMULA

Activate the cell in to which you want to enter the formula.
Enter "= (equals)"
Type in the formula by hand or:
Click in to each of the cells, adding the relevant operators (+/* - etc) where appropriate.
Click on the tick to accept the formula or press enter.

In the example below; column B holds information on the Cost Price of the products listed in column A.  Column C requires a formula to calculate a 10% Mark Up on the Cost Price for each product. Column D requires the total of the Cost Price and the Mark Up columns giving the Retail Price.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Once the Mark Up price has been calculated, working out the Retail Price is quite easy.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Type = in cell D3 (this is the cell where you want the answer to appear), click in to cell B3, select the plus option and click in to cell C3.  The last thing that you should always do is check the formula, if you are happy with it, click the tick or press enter.

 

 

 

 

The next step in the process is utilising the AutoFill feature to fill the formula down each row.

There are always several ways to complete a task in Excel.  In the previous example, the formula that you have just completed to work out the Retail Price can be repeated for each product.  It is quite permissible for you to repeat the process and type each formula out manually on each row.  However, because both parts of the formula are on the same row in this example you can use the AutoFill feature.

 

 

 

 

 

The small black cross will appear when you move your mouse pointer over the bottom right hand corner of any selected cell. 

Once the small black cross appears simply click and drag down the appropriate number of rows and the formula will be copied down.

 

 

 

 

 

The next step in our little example is to total each column.  There are two ways that we can do this.  One, use the formula =B3+B4+B5 etc or two, use a Function called AutoSum.  This function has been designed to add lists or ranges as they are called in Excel.

Both examples will provide the correct result however; you will be restricted by using multiple + symbols. 

The AutoSum function is the most common function used Excel and therefore it appears in more than one place on the Ribbon.

The first thing you must do is click on the spreadsheet where you want the answer to appear. Then click the AutoSum button.  The function will guess what you want to add up, you must check that it is correct before clicking the tick or pressing enter. 

In the example below the function has guessed correctly so it is safe to click the tick or press enter.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Once again, all the elements in this formula are in the same column so you can use the AutoFill feature to drag the formula in to column D.  Make sure that you see the small black cross in the bottom right hand corner before you start to drag.