decimals or fractions

[Nikki]

HELP! My new job uses Excel for inventory, but the person who had the
job before messed it up a bunch, so I decided to start over. I bought
Excel for Dummies and was having no problems (running Excel 2000)
until I started plugging in my numbers. It said that I could enter
numbers in decimals or fractions and it would change them into what it
needed to do the calculations, so I entered cases of product in
fractions (2/3 case was easier to think about.) All of the cells are
formatted the same, as far as I know. When I enter a whole number
(like 8 cases) and tell it to multiply by the price per case (say
$1.00) it gives me the right answer ($8.00.) But if I enter 8 1/2
cases, it gives the answer in fractions instead of money. I tried
changing the case numbers to decimals, but it changes them back as
soon as I try to use them. I can't find anything in the dummies book
that mentions this, and none of my computer literate friends know how
to fix this. Does anyone know what I'm doing wrong? Thanks--Nikki

 

[Anon]

HELP! My new job uses Excel for inventory, but the person who had the
job before messed it up a bunch, so I decided to start over. I bought
Excel for Dummies and was having no problems (running Excel 2000)
until I started plugging in my numbers. It said that I could enter
numbers in decimals or fractions and it would change them into what it
needed to do the calculations, so I entered cases of product in
fractions (2/3 case was easier to think about.) All of the cells are
formatted the same, as far as I know. When I enter a whole number
(like 8 cases) and tell it to multiply by the price per case (say
$1.00) it gives me the right answer ($8.00.) But if I enter 8 1/2
cases, it gives the answer in fractions instead of money. I tried
changing the case numbers to decimals, but it changes them back as
soon as I try to use them. I can't find anything in the dummies book
that mentions this, and none of my computer literate friends know how
to fix this. Does anyone know what I'm doing wrong? Thanks--Nikki

I'm not sure exactly what has happened, but I suspect this will help you.

If you start with cells formatted as General (which is the default), Excel
has a habit of automatically changing the format according to what you enter
in the cell. So, if you enter 8 1/2 it will change the format to a fraction
format. However, if you now clear that cell (delete key on the keyboard -
note that this clears the cell contents without altering the format) and
enter (say) 7.5 you will see 7 1/2 . To see 7.5 you need to explicitly
change the format back to General (or to a decimal number format). (Use the
Format menu, Cells... entry to view or change the format of selected cells.)
Excel can similarly change formats when you enter formulas, according to the
format of cells referenced in the formula.

The important thing for you to understand is that different number formats
simply change the way a number is displayed. They have no effect on the
number itself, which is used in calculations. Thus, for example, in a cell
formatted as General put 4.253 and that is exactly what you will see.Format
this cell as number with zero decimal places and you will see 4 . Now format
as fraction (up to one digit) and you will see 4 1/4 . Now format as
currency and you will see $4.25 . For all of these, the underlying value
used in calculations is still 4.253.

Probably all you need to do if your result is not displayed as you want is
to change the format of the cell after you have entered the data/formula.