simple formula formatting question

  • Thread starter Thread starter Cinci_Shawn
  • Start date Start date
C

Cinci_Shawn

Hello,

My boss puts plus signs (+) in front of her cell references on
financial reporting. For example: a summing formula would look like

=+SUM(E10:E40)

or when she adds two cells she'll precede the references with a plus
sign

=+J687/$Q$687

I cannot find a technical reason why this is necessary in Excel.
Can anyone explain this or confirm that it is unnecessary?

Thanks for reading,
-Shawn
 
Exactly.
What you will probably find is that she is only typing the + without an
= (which as Bob said is the indicator for a formula in Lotus 123). Excel
puts in the = in front of it, leaving the redundant + sign.

For negation I've even seen =+-A1 style of formulas - utter madness!

The + makes no difference at all and can be removed if you feel it
tidies things up.
 
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