Excel indicator for when a future date is reached!

  • Thread starter Thread starter glenrayel
  • Start date Start date
G

glenrayel

I have a finance company which works on a 30 day pay period. Th
spreadsheet I created for this is getting very large and it is becomin
difficult to scan for accounts that need attention. The spreadsheet i
set up on the date the client first takes money and at 30 days into th
plan there is some action that needs to be taken by us. Because o
this we have to look through the entire spreadsheet date by date, eac
and every day to see if the client has reached the thirty day mark yet
I have tried sorting by dates which seems to be the obvious resolv
but it becomes rather hectic.

What I would like to know is if there is a way to have the cell, whic
contains the date 30 days down the road, flash or do something t
signal this event is about to happen. In other words, say on the 28t
day, is there a way for it to let me know that the clients 30 days ar
up in two days or maybe 3 days ahead to get around weekend problems?

An example of what I currently have might look something like this:
A1 = 01/01/2004
A2 = A1+30
If there is a way to make cell A2 flash or do something to let me kno
that date is about to occur, how do I type it in and into what cell d
I enter the instruction? As you can tell, I am new to Excel and I a
not real familiar with the terminology, so please keep it as simple a
possible for this simple mind.

Oh and by the way - I keep seeing these comments about Excel VB
problems - what in the world is a VBA?

Thank you in advance - I hope someone can help me!

glenraye
 
Hi

You can set up the cell with Conditional formatting (format menu) to change
color when this and that happens. No flashing, though. It would look awful
anyway.

VBA is Visual Basic for Applications, the macro language of MS Office.
Macros are pieces of programming code that automates tasks or otherwise
extend or customize Office functionality.
 
is if there is a way to have the cell ... flash or do something

Yes, with VBA (Visual Basic for Applications, pseudo-programming), but many
warm against this as it'll play havoc with your system resources.

Have a go first with conditional formatting. Select A1, choose Conditional
Formatting from the Format menu. Set Condition1 to Formula Is, in the text
box enter

=TODAY()-28>A1

, click Format. Set some options (eg: font = red & bold, pattern = black),
click OK. Back in the Conditional Formatting dialog, click OK.

Back in the worksheet, enter 14-Jan-04 in A1. Then change it to 13-Jan-04 to
see the CF take effect.

HTH,
Andy
 
Hi,

since you dont know anything about VBA and if you are using excel2000
or higher, you could use the "conditional formatting option" in the
format menu,

condition 1: value of cell higher a2

then choose the format (color etc) you want it to appear. (you wont be
able to make it flash )

good luck
 
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