Formulas and Functions in Excel

You can calculate a percent variance by subtracting the original number from the new number, then dividing that result by the original. For example, if the baseline number is 100, and the new number is 110: =(110-100)/100 This formula can be used to calculate things like variance between this year and last year, variance between… read more »

If you need to decrease a number by a certain percentage, you can use a simple formula that multiplies the number times the percent – 1. Formula =number*(1-percent) Explanation In the example, the active cell contains this formula: =C6*(1-D6) In this case, Excel first calculates the result of 1 – the value in D6 (.2)… read more »

If you have a total and a percentage that presents some amount of the total, you can calculate the amount represented by the percentage with a simple formula that multiples the total by the percentage. Formula = total * percent Explanation In the example, the active cell contains this formula: =C6*D6 To calculate the amount,… read more »

To calculate the original number based on current value and known percentage change, you can use a simple formula that divides the current value by the percent plus 1. Formula =current/(percent+1) Explanation In the example, the active cell contains this formula: =C6/(B6+1) In this case, Excel first calculates the result of B6 + 1, then divides C6 by the… read more »

If you have a discounted price and know the discount percentage, you can calculate the original price with a simple formula that divides the discounted price by the result of 1 minus the discount percentage. See example below: Formula =price/(1-discount) Explanation How the formula works In the example, the active cell contains this formula: =C6/(1-D6)… read more »

If you need to calculate the percentage change between two values in Excel, you can use a formula that divides the change itself by the “old” value. A classic example would be to calculate the percentage between sales last month and sales this month. Formula =(new_value-old_value)/old_value Explanation In the example, the active cell contains this… read more »

If you have a discounted price and an original price, and you want to know the discount as a percentage, you can calculate the percentage discount using a formula that divides the discounted price by the original price and then subtracts the result from one. Formula = 1-(discount_price/original_price) Explanation In the example, the active cell… read more »

To calculate percent of a total (i.e. calculate a percent distribution), you can use a formula that simply divides an amount by the total. Formula =amount/total Explanation In the example shown, the formula in D6 is: =C6/$C$11 Note: the result is formatted with Percentage number format to show 25%, 10%, etc. How the formula works In the… read more »

If you need to calculate a profit margin, you can easily do so with a simple formula that uses the sale price and the cost. Formula =(price-cost)/price Explanation In the example shown, the first formula looks like this: =(B4-C4)/B4 Make sure you use parentheses to control the order of operations. Note that the result will… read more »

If you have an amount and the percentage that the amount represents of a total, you can calculate the total with a formula that simply divides the amount by the percentage. Formula = amount / percent Explanation In the example, the active cell contains this formula: =C6/D6 Excel simply divides the value in cell C6… read more »