Excel : Extra decimal places only when needed

Question

I have a column in excel that will be divided by an inputted #. This is a currency column. I would like it to display the minimum number of decimal places that is needed. But if it needs more decimal places, I'd like it to display that.

Is this possible?

For example. $88510.79 is one of the numbers in the column. The divisor is 2. Obviously most of the time for currency you want 2 decimal places. So if I choose that column to be 2 decimal places, it will say $44,255.40. I'd like it to say $44,255.395 - but I don't want the whole column to have to show 3 decimal places (when not needed). Obviously, with a different divisor this could result in many decimal places, so I'd perhaps like to limit it to 5 at most. So, I guess a simpler question would be : Can I format a column to display 2-5 decimal places? (instead of just a specific #)

This probably is not possible. But I'm always amazed at just what you can do with Excel, so I figured it can't hurt to ask!

Answer 1

Re: show 2 to 5 decimal places

Format as:  0.00###

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Jim Cone

Portland, Oregon USA

https://www.dropbox.com/sh/ttybwg5e9r31twa/AAAnyBTHPX5XsTDp10ItTcw4a?dl=0

(free & commercial excel programs

Answer 2

Re:  where/how

Follow Rick's instuctions and also add a $ symbol...  $0.00###

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Jim Cone

Answer 3

Jim proposed a Custom Format for the cell... when you bring up the Cell Formatting dialog box, click the Custom item (not the Currency one) and then put his proposed 0.00### pattern in the field labeled "Type".

Answer 4

Thanks Jim, 

But I think I need a more detailed answer. Haha. How do I do that? When I go to format cells, under currency, there is only a box with arrows that I choose the number of decimal places. I don't see any place where I can actually type in 0.00###

Thanks