excel sum function

Question

I am building a worksheet with addition/subtraction functions.i have c2-b2=d2. now I am attempting to total cells d2-d32 in cell d33. the end result keeps coming up as 0. is because of the subtraction function in cells d2-d32 that I cant get d33 to add correctly?

Answer 1

Subtracting c2 from b2. =imsub(c2-b2). Im wondering if thats why the sum function isnt working

Yes, it is.

First, presumably your formula is =IMSUB(C2, B2).  What you posted (minus sign instead of comma) is a syntax error.

Second, IMSUB returns text.  And the SUM function ignores cell values that are text.

The formula in D2 should be =C2-B2 .  Similarly in D3:D32, perhaps.

But SUM might still return zero, or at least display a value that appears to be zero.

You have not provided sufficient information for us to know what result to expect from SUM.  What are the individual values in D2:D32?  What is the format of D33, which contains the SUM formula?

If SUM(D2:D32) still displays zero or any other unexpected result after correcting the formuls in D2:D32, upload an example Excel file (redacted) that demonstrates the problem to a file-sharing website, and post the download URL in a response here.

I like box.net/files.  Others like dropbox.com.  You might prefer onedrive.live.com because it uses the same login that you use for answers.microsoft.com.  In any case, test the download URL first, being careful to log out of the file-sharing website in order to ensure that anyone can access the download link.

Answer 2

The screen shot below shows an example of what you should have.  The formulas that should be in cells D2 and D33 out to the right.

Answer 3

Hi James! I'm Jen, an independent advisor, I'll be happy to help you out today.

In order to get the summation on cell D33, use the formula =SUM(D2:D32).

Or, to simply do this, on cell D33, you could simply put this first =SUM( and then highlight the cells from D2 to D32.

Let me know if this helps.

Best Regards,

Jen :)

Answer 4

In the formula bar enter an equal sign followed by Sum and opening bracket like the following.

= SUM(

Now on the worksheet use the mouse to select and highlight the range D2 to D32 and then press Enter.

If you click in the cell with the formula than on the formula bar you will see  =SUM(D2:D32)

Note that it is not a minus sign between D2 and D32 but it is a colon.

Thank you for your reply. I did attempt that but it didn’t work. In cell d2 i have a subtraction function. Subtracting c2 from b2. =imsub(c2-b2). Im wondering if thats why the sum

function isnt working

Answer 5

In the formula bar enter an equal sign followed by Sum and opening bracket like the following.

= SUM(

Now on the worksheet use the mouse to select and highlight the range D2 to D32 and then press Enter.

If you click in the cell with the formula than on the formula bar you will see  =SUM(D2:D32)

Note that it is not a minus sign between D2 and D32 but it is a colon.