Excel 2019 Bible

239

C H A P T E R

10

Using Formulas for Common

Mathematical Operations

IN THIS CHAPTER

Calculating percentages

Rounding numbers

Counting values in a range

M

ost Excel analysts working in the corporate world will be asked to perform mathematical

operations that provide insight into key operational metrics. In this chapter, you’ll get to

explore a few mathematical operations commonly used in the world of business analytics.

Calculating Percentages

Calculations such as percent of totals, variance to budget, and running totals are the cornerstone of

any basic business analysis. In this section, you’ll explore some examples of formulas that will help

with these types of analyses.

This book’s website, http://www.wiley.com/go/excel2019bible, includes a copy of the sample

workbook for this chapter. The file is named Mathematical Formulas.xlsx.

Calculating percent of goal

When someone asks you to calculate a percent of goal, they are simply asking you to compare the

actual performance against a stated goal. The math involved in this calculation is simple: divide

the actual by the goal. This will give you a percentage value that represents how much of the goal

has been achieved. For instance, if your goal is to sell 100 widgets and you sell 80 widgets, your

percent of goal is 80% (80/100).

Figure 10.1 shows a list of regions with a column for goals and a column for actuals. Note that the

formula in cell E5 simply divides the value in the Actual column by the value in the Goal column.

=D5/C5

Excel® 2019 Bible, First Edition. Michael Alexander, Dick Kusleika and John Walkenbach.
© 2019 John Wiley & Sons, Inc. Published 2019 by John Wiley & Sons, Inc.