Using Data Validation With multiple columns

Question

Hi,

I've spend quite some time on the net looking for an answer to my particular question. (keep in mind I'm no expert at excel but understand the basics).

I'm trying to make an excel Budget sheet for my family. I have two different tables for both credit and debt accounts on the first page (credit being savings and chequing accounts witch generally have a positive value in them, and debt being visa, line of credit, loans etc. which are almost always negative). 

I have a second page with a table that is intended for imputing receipts.

PAGE 2

in the second page I have a column header called "Accounts". 

example of headers for table:

Person / expense Category(transportation) / sub category(gas, insurance...etc..) / Account / Amount

PROBLEM

The Account I pay with could either be a credit or a debt account. We can pay with our chequing or savings accounts (CREDIT) or we could pay with our visa or line of credit (DEBT ACCOUNT).

QUESTION

How do I data validate the account cell to select from either the "CREDIT account table" and the "Debt Account table"

I want both the credit column and debit column to show up under the SECOND PAGE account drop menu table. 

any help would be greatly appreciated!

Justin :)

Answer 1

Hello,

don't overthink this. Create a list of all your accounts somewhere in the workbook, maybe on Sheet3. Select the list, and assign a range name, for example "Accounts". Use that range name in the data validation as the list source, like =Accounts to see all accounts in the data validation drop-down.