Forum Discussion
Excel formula help
Hi,
I am trying to find a formula that will allow me to tally into one cell.
Ideally, I would like to be able to add any new number into a cell each week and have that number added to the number added the week before.
Eg - Week 1 I enter the number 5 into cell A3. Week 2 I enter the number 4 into cell A3 but have the final number in cell A3 show as 9 (week 1 + week 2).
If this cannot be done within the same cell (which I'm pretty sure it can't) is there a way to do this between two cells?
Eg - Week 1 enter the number 5 into cell A3 and have this number go into cell B3. Then in week 2 enter the number 4 into cell A3 and have the two add to show 9 in cell B3.
I know how to add multiple cells into one final cell, but I am wanting to avoid needing multiple cells for every week.
I hope that makes sense. When I read it back I don't think it does.
12 Replies
The best solution is usually the simplest. When this is not used the solution becomes needlessly complex.
JKPieterse's 1st solution is a good one.
The simplest solution is not always the best solution if it isn't one that will work for the required problem.
The first solution given may have been a good one if that is what I was trying to achieve. However, it wasn't as evidenced by the reasons already given.
- @Jan Karel Pieterse Because I have 600 rows already. I want to tally the total number from each week for each row and I would like to be able to have excel do this for me automatically without me having to mentally calculate each row every week. It is very time-consuming. If I can just type in the numbers each week and have it calculate for me, it will save a lot of time.
Aimee_Anderson Wouldn't the attached work for you?
Thanks, but no. That is not what I am trying to do.
I work in a school. I have 600 students and each week I tally the 'gold tickets (an individual class reward system) they earn. There are roughly 10 weeks per term, and four terms per year. I want to be able to total the number of tickets earned by each student over the course of a term and/or the year without having to use a cell for each week for each student. The sheet would be huge and unmanageable if I did this.
I want to be able to enter the number of tickets earned each week into the same cell per student and have a formula add that number to the previous week's number.
- What is wrong with just entering the weekly numbers beneath each other? It isn't as if there aren't enough rows available in Excel 🙂 If you convert the range of numbers to a table (Format as table option) it is very easy to create a sum formula that always points to all of the numbers.
