Author:
Laura McKinney
Date Of Creation:
5 August 2021
Update Date:
1 July 2024
Content
Spreadsheets are a great tool to help you sum lots of different things. This article shows how to create a basic spreadsheet in Microsoft Excel as a simple expense report.
Steps
Open Excel.
Note that there are many rows and many columns.- Each column has a capital letter at the top so you know which column it is.
- Each row has a number to the left of the first column so you know which row it is.
- The position of each cell is determined by the letter of the column accompanying the row number. Example: The cell's position is in the first column, the first row is A1. The position of the cell is in the second column, the third row is B3.
- If you click on a cell, its position will appear immediately above column A.
Click cell A1 and type: Item (Item).
Click cell B1, and then type: Cost.
Click cell A2 and type: Printing.
Click cell B2 and then type 80.00.
- After clicking outside of cell B2, the number 80 will appear in cell B2.
Click cell A3, and then type: Postage.
Click cell B3 and then type: 75.55.
- After clicking outside of cell B3, the number 75.55 will appear in cell B3.
Click cell A4 and then type: Envelopes.
Click cell B4 and then type: 6.00.
- After clicking outside of cell B4, the number 6 will appear in cell B4.
Click cell A5 and then type: Total.
Click cell B5 and then type: = SUM (B2: B4).
Click to another cell. The total number 161.55 will appear in cell B5.
- SUM (B2: B4) is the calculation formula. This formula is used to perform mathematical calculations in Excel. You must type an equal sign (=) in front of the formula so that Excel knows it's a calculated formula.
Click Save (Save). advertisement
Advice
- The above method can be applied to Excel 2003 or earlier versions of Excel.
- Select cells B2 through B4.
What you need
- Computer running Windows / Mac OSX operating system
- Microsoft Excel
