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In Excel I'm Trying to Add a Percentage to a Total

Anonymous
2022-02-01T09:20:23+00:00

Hi,

I am trying to add a percentage to a total into a new cell and all it is doing is showing me the formula...I have followed the instructions and not sure what I'm doing wrong...plus I have used this formula to increase our sales price before without a problem???

=H2*4%+H2

So the above is what I see when I add the formula to the empty cell (I have also entered it as =H2*(0.04+H2) as well as =H2*(4%+H2) and all I see is that, and not the calculated total. So the amount I am expecting to see is 160.72 * 4% + 160.72 = 167.15.

I have 4130 line items to increase, so any help in where I'm going wrong would be greatly appreciated.

Cheers,

Justine

Microsoft 365 and Office | Excel | For home | Windows

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  1. DaveM121 870.6K Reputation points Independent Advisor
    2022-02-01T09:54:12+00:00

    Hi Justine

    I am Dave, I will help you with this.

    In Excel it is best to think of percentages as Decimal values, where 1.00 is 100%, 0.50 is 50%... and so on.

    So, to add 4% to a number, multiply by 1.04 to get 104%, you can use this formula and drag downwards in that column.

    =H2 * 1.04

    8 people found this answer helpful.
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  2. Ashish Mathur 101.8K Reputation points Volunteer Moderator
    2022-02-01T23:59:18+00:00

    Hi,

    That cell is probably formatted as text. Format the cell as number. Press F2 on that cell and hit Enter.

    1 person found this answer helpful.
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  3. DaveM121 870.6K Reputation points Independent Advisor
    2022-02-02T07:50:43+00:00

    Hi Justine

    1

    Please check to ensure there is not a space before the = symbol in the formula

    2

    On the Formulas Ribbon, is Calculations set to Automatic?

    On the Formulas Ribbon, is 'Show Formulas' enabled, if so, disable that option.

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  4. Anonymous
    2022-02-02T01:09:06+00:00

    Thanks for the advice Ashish.

    I have found I have to save the document again, close it and reopen, then add the formula, save and close it, reopen it, and only then will it let me copy the formula into the following cells... I have Microsoft 365 and for some reason, simple instructions or things I have done in the past have become incredibly painful and time-consuming!

    Not sure what the problem is??

    Thanks,

    Justine

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  5. Anonymous
    2022-02-01T23:17:36+00:00

    Hi Dave,

    Thanks for that...I have done that, and I'm still not getting the result showing in the column, just the formula?? This is what I see so is there a setting I am missing from the column?

    =H2*1.04
    =H3*1.04
    =H4*1.04
    =H5*1.04
    =H6*1.04
    =H7*1.04
    =H8*1.04
    =H9*1.04
    =H10*1.04

    Thanks,

    Justine

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