Ok. How do I format many cells at once to creat a formula?

For example I want to subtract a buch of cells in a vertical column. Not it do =d2-d3-d4-d5-d6-d67 and so on. If I want to format like 200 cells in a column how do I do that so I dont have to type forever to achieve the same thing.

This is waht I am trying to do or trying to get it to look like. Without the hash lines of course.

---200

20
20
20
---140

 

You click a cell like A1..while holding the mouse button down you move it to cover all the cells you wish to include

Then go to Tools for Format and select what you want to do.

I can take a pic if like

 

Here you go:
Formula below is entered in last cell where you want the total.
=A1-SUM(A2:A200)
where A1 is the first cell and A200 is the last one you want to subtract, no need to format cells in between. Just enter the numbers you want to subtract.

 

I assume you're talking about Excel?
If so, I'll use your example but assume which column and rows you have the info in:
A1 = 200
A2 = 20
A3 = 2-
A4 = 20
A5 = 140

A1 thru A4 are typed in numbers, A5 will be the following formula
=-SUM(A2:A4)+A1

Another way to do this is in the column next to the amounts you want to subtract put -and arrow over to the cell you want to be a negative and hit enter. Should give you an Neg 20 (formula format is =-A2) in Column B. While still in this B2 cell, notice that the cell is highlighted and there is a little box on the bottom right corner of this highlighted box. Hover your mouse over this box and it will appear as a + sign. Double click this box and it will automatically copy the =-A formula all the way down as long as there are no blank rows in the items you want to copy to. Now go back to cell B2 and while holding your Shift key, hit the End key then Arrow Down key. This will highlight all of the cells you just put formulas in. Hit Copy then in cell A2, right click, choose Paste Special and choose values. This will put the negative values in Column A as numbers. Then just delete column B.

Now in Column A, hit End & Arrow Down to the bottom, go to down a couple cells and hit the little sideways M (AutoSum) icon. Your formula for this should look like =SUM(A1..A4). Wha-la.

 

Perfect thanks guys and gals.

I have been doing the books at the office long hand just to keep track of what I have been spending so when the BIG office says I spent X I want to make sure I spent X. The long hand just takes too much time. This is way easier.

 

I did the same with my taxes just for kicks. I wanted to plug in different numbers, and see how different methods came out (Joint, vice seperate, etc...).

Letting the software do the walking is the better way - I like the Mil1on answer best. It's the way I went with it.

 

MS excel is one of my favorite programs, it can do some crazy stuff

 

I've often done the follwing to balance my checkbook, etc.

Enter the starting amount in the first cell
Assume that you're starting with B5
Enter the following in B6 '= B5-C6'
Highlight B6 and all of the cells below that that you want to use
Press ctrl+D (control and D together). This will copy the formula
to all of the cells (ctrl + R copies to the right)
Now enter your deductions in the C column -- starting at C6.

This method also shows a running total.

If you have a credit, just enter it as a negative number in the C column.

One more thing to make your life easier for formatting down. You can split the window vertically by grabbing the little line right above the top arrow on the vertical scroll section). Drag this down to midscreen. Then you can scroll the bottom half of the screen to the last cell you want to use.

Now click on the first cell in the top screen. ( B6 in this example) Then press shift and click on the final cell ( in the bottom half). This will highlight all of the cells in between. You can then use ctrl+D to copy the cells, and then drag the little bar to remove the split. This works well when you want to work with a lot of cells.

Excel is one of my favs. For years I've used it for my taxes by putting all of the formulas from the tax form into a spreadsheet. Tried one of the commercial programs once, but I didn't trust it because I didn't know what it was doing.

ford2go

 

Man after my own kind...

"IF I DIDN'T put it together - God only knows what it will do!"