This may sound obvious, but it’s all too easy to dive into creating a spreadsheet without putting much thought into its design. And a poorly designed spreadsheet is bound to make it harder to enter valid data. Without valid data, your spreadsheet will never yield useful results.

Good design doesn’t mean making your spreadsheet look good – although spreadsheet appearance can definitely aid in usability and readability. Good spreadsheet design consists of organising your data logically and ensuring that all your formulae are correct.

A simple spreadsheet design

Spreadsheet cells can contain raw data (numbers, dates, text labels and so on) or formulae. In this spreadsheet, the value in column D (Current Value) is the result of a formula: multiplying Current Shareholding by Current Share Price. The highlighted cell (D4) thus contains the formula =(B4*C4) which you can see displayed in the Data Entry box; while the result of the calculation is displayed in the cell D4 itself.

Let’s take an ultra simple example: a share listing which displays the stock names, stockholding, and current share price of the stocks you own. Our spreadsheet will consist of four columns labelled Company, Current Shareholding, Current Share Price and Current Value. We’ll enter the details for each company in a separate row under these columns.

Thus, if we’re fortunate enough to have shares in Microsoft, IBM, Apple, Google and Amazon, our spreadsheet will have column labels in cells A1 to D1 (remember cells are addressed by their column and row coordinates), thus:

A1: Company

B1: Current Shareholding

C1: Current Share Price

D1: Current Value

The details for Microsoft will be entered in the second row, that is, cells A2 to D2; for IBM in cells A3 to D3; for Apple in cells A4 to D4; and so on.

When you’re entering data, you simply click in a cell to position the cursor, type the value into the cell, and move to a new cell by using the arrow keys or (in most spreadsheets) by pressing the tab key.

Using formulae

Where do the values come from that appear in the Current Value column?

Well, you could manually multiply the Current Shareholding by the Current Share Price. But that’s what your spreadsheet is for: doing the manual labour of calculating. So, instead of working out the value and typing it in the appropriate row in column D, we insert a formula in column D instead of a value.

The formula for the Current Value of our Microsoft stocks, for example, is B2*C2 (that is, the value contained in cell B2 multiplied by the value in cell C2) and the result is placed in cell D2. The value of our IBM stocks is derived by the formula B3*C3, and the formula is placed in cell D3.

Once you’ve placed a formula in a cell, you no longer have to bother about working out the calculation yourself. More importantly, any time you change the contents of a cell referenced by that formula, the contents of the cell containing the formula will be updated to show the new result.

For instance, if we have 1000 Microsoft shares which we bought yesterday at $31.00 per share, and the price rises today to $31.36, all we need to do is type in the new share price in cell C2 and the Current Value in cell D2 will be automatically updated to a healthy $31,360.00.

That’s the benefit of using formulae: you enter the formula once in the appropriate cell, and from then on the value displayed in that cell will reflect the latest data typed into your spreadsheet.

Eliminating repetitive work

This is all very well, but it still seems like a fair amount of work.

What if we had a portfolio of 60 different shareholdings, instead of our measly (but valuable) five? Would we have to type in 60 different formulae in column D to find out the current value of each of our shareholdings?

No. Spreadsheets are much smarter than that. Instead of creating a series of formulae such as B2*C2, B3*C3, B4*C4 and so on, you create the first formula, and then copy and paste it. The spreadsheet will not only copy the formula to the destination cells you select, but it will update the formula to reflect its new position.

For example, we place the formula B2*C2 in cell D2 to get the Current Value of our Microsoft shareholding. We select that formula and copy it (the copying method differs from one spreadsheet program to another), and then select cells D3 to D6 and paste the formula into them.

Of course, we don’t want the exact formula (B2*C2) copied, or the Current Value column will repeatedly show the value of our Microsoft shareholding. Fortunately, spreadsheets are smart enough to adapt the formula to its current position, filling in the appropriate B3*C3, B4*C4 and so on. If we have 60 different stocks, all we do is create the formula, copy it, select the next 59 cells in column D, and paste the formula. The spreadsheet will do all the hard work of pasting the appropriate formula in each cell.

In Microsoft Excel, there’s an even easier shorthand method: After having typed the formula =(B2*C2) into cell D2, click in D2 and drag the small handle at the bottom right of the cell down across D3, D4, D5 and D6. Voila! The formula is copied to those cells and updated to match its context. Use the same technique for copying a formula to five cells or 500.

Automatic numbering and labelling

Spreadsheets are wonderful at eliminating repetitive work. Not only can you automatically copy formulae in this fashion, but you’ll find most spreadsheets also have a feature called ‘auto-series’ which automatically inserts series of numbers, dates, days or months.

For instance, to place the months of the year across the top of a spreadsheet, type “January” in the first column, select the next 11 cells and click the auto-fill button (with Excel, you can simply click-and-drag the ‘handle’ in the bottom right corner of the cell to get the same effect).

Apart from these auto-series and formula shortcuts, every spreadsheet includes an auto-sum shortcut. Probably the most common type of spreadsheet task is the quick totting up of a row or column of numbers. Spreadsheets turn this calculation into a one-click task: click beside or beneath the numbers you want summed, and click the auto-sum button on the toolbar. A formula summing the numbers is placed in the cell immediately to the right or beneath the appropriate numbers.

Other spreadsheet shortcuts

Depending on the power of the spreadsheet program you’re using, you’ll find endless variations on such shortcuts. Most spreadsheets, for example, don’t force you to type in cryptic ranges such as D9:L27. Instead, you can click and drag to select the range of cells your formula will reference, and the spreadsheet inserts that range automatically in the formula.

Microsoft Excel gets really fancy and lets you choose names for individual cells or ranges of cells, or refer to cells by their row and column labels.

For example, if we have the months listed across our columns and budget items such as Petrol, Rent, Phone and so on as our row labels, in Excel we can refer to a cell’s contents as January Rent or March Phone. Not only does this make formulae much easier to understand, it also eliminates many errors that result from trying to get our cell addresses correct.

Useable spreadsheets

This leads us back to our starting point: good spreadsheet design.

As you can see, it’s not at all difficult to get disoriented in the maze of cell references. You need to pay close attention to ensure that your spreadsheet formulae perform the right actions on the correct range of cells.

Before you start creating any spreadsheet, think ahead and decide how you want to label your columns and rows. Sometimes the number of rows or columns in a spreadsheet will be fixed, sometimes it will increase over time. In our share tracking spreadsheet, for example, the columns are fixed but we’ll add (or subtract) rows as we change the stocks in our share portfolio. You can always insert or delete rows and columns later on, and copy formulae to the newly created cells.

When you enter formulae, check and double-check the row and column coordinates. You’ll often find it easier to check your formulae if you enter some test data in your spreadsheet, check the results, alter the test data and re-check the results. If your software lets you, use descriptive labels wherever possible instead of column and row coordinates, so your formulae are easier to understand and check.

Checking your design

Make sure you not only check the cell’s contents but also use the data entry and address boxes at the top of the screen to double-check your position and the entire contents of a cell. Sometimes the contents of a cell are not totally visible, and the data entry box will provide a quick means to see the entire contents.

If you find a cell contains a series of hash marks (#), it means the value the cell contains is too large to be displayed. You can remedy this by resizing the column (usually a matter of positioning the cursor at the top of the worksheet on the line separating one column from another, and clicking and dragging the double-headed arrow until the column is the desired width).

Finally, you can use different typefaces and colour to make your spreadsheet easier to read. You can choose different background and font colours for different segments of your spreadsheet, enabling you to highlight important information and distinguish different areas of the spreadsheet. Make sure you use these formatting features judiciously: the aim is not to dazzle, but to make your spreadsheet easier to use and understand.

If you take care in your spreadsheet design, the task of data entry will be that much easier. It’s the combination of good design and correct data entry that will yield you useful results.

Advanced tools

This is just a taste of the design and data tools available to you. Programs like Microsoft Excel also provide data validation rules to help ensure the data you enter falls within permissable ranges; and a range of tools for checking that the formulae you type really do the job you want.

Related posts:

1. Spreadsheeting I: Basic concepts
2. Understanding Excel references
3. Shading every other row in Excel

In 1979, two blokes – Dan Bricklin and Bob Frankston – developed the first spreadsheet. Their creation was called VisiCalc and it helped turn the Apple II computer into something more than simply a hobbyist’s plaything. In fact, VisiCalc was the first application developed for a microcomputer that really sold the computer. Four years later, the launch of Lotus 1-2-3 did the same thing for the IBM PC, turning the still developing new product into a must-have item in the business world.

What spreadsheets do

What made spreadsheets so hot? Well, to understand that you need to be able to picture the type of problems spreadsheets solve and what life was like before the advent of computer spreadsheets.

Imagine you own a business that manufactures widgets. As in any business, in order to make a profit you need to ensure your income exceeds your expenses. You need to track things such as the cost of your raw materials, labour costs, utilities, maintenance, employee benefits, government fees, advertising, distribution costs and so on. On the income side, you need to charge prices that cover your costs and allow for a profit, while maintaining your competitiveness in the market.

Trying to track this information by hand involves listing all the different expense categories, the amounts you spend in each, the cost of producing each item in your inventory, the margin you sell it at, your sales volume on each type of widget, and so on. Picture all these figures in a grid of rows and columns, with categories listed down the side and months across the top to track expenses over time. Numbers in one cell will depend on the values in others, and so the whole grid will be dynamic.

Before computer spreadsheets, companies needing to track this sort of information would create vast grids of figures, either on long blackboards (sometimes stretching the length of rooms) or on massive, unwieldy sheets of paper. As one figure was updated, any dependent numbers would need to be adjusted to reflect the changes, necessitating much rubbing out and rewriting. Because the grid contained not just simple figures but also relationships between figures (formulae) you can imagine how easy it was in a spreadsheet of any size to let an error slip in.

Computerised number crunching

Enter computer-based spreadsheets. In a way, spreadsheets and computers are the perfect fit. You’ve probably heard computers referred to as “number crunchers”. Well, with spreadsheets that’s exactly what they do: ingest masses of numbers, perform calculations at dazzling speed, and spit out the answer.

In a computer-based spreadsheet, you define your row and column categories, and then in each cell you type in the appropriate value, or a formula showing how the value in that cell should be derived from other values in the spreadsheet.

Once you’ve set up the relationships between figures in the spreadsheet (which could be as simple as summing a column of figures to arrive at a total, or could involve much more complex formulae) and entered your initial data, you’ve done the bulk of the work. If you have to update a number, you type the new value in the appropriate cell and the spreadsheet performs all the necessary recalculations. No rubbing out, no massive recalculations, no need to remember all the dependent relationships and make sure you update each one.

Getting the design right

Obviously what you do need to ensure is that your original spreadsheet design is correct, that you’ve used both accurate modelling of your information as well as the correct formulae applied to the correct numbers, and that data you type in is accurate.

While computers take the vast bulk of the grunt work out of creating and maintaining spreadsheets, the old GIGO adage (garbage in, garbage out) still applies, something you’ll need to focus on when you start creating your own spreadsheets.

What you can do with a spreadsheet

While tracking the income and expenditure of a large company may be out of your league, spreadsheets can be put to a myriad different uses.

You can use a spreadsheet to budget your personal finances or keep track of your investments. You can follow loan repayments or compare the benefits of different mortgages. You can analyse the weather patterns in your area, perform classroom or meeting room timetabling, assess the performance of students in a class, create invoices, and much, much more.

Not only are spreadsheets great for tracking your current financial position, they also excel at “what if?” scenarios. What will my bottom line look like if I take an extended holiday this year? How soon can I pay off that loan if I pay fortnightly instead of monthly?

The great thing for beginners is that most spreadsheet programs come with a swag of pre-designed ‘solutions’ which have all the basic layouts and formulae worked out for you. All you need to do is customise them (if need be) and enter your own data.

Finding your way around

Considering there are dozens of spreadsheet programs on the market, it’s a tribute to Bricklin and Frankston’s original design that almost all of them look pretty much the same and work in similar ways. Lotus 1-2-3 also set its stamp on how a spreadsheet should appear and function, so much so that it later tried to prosecute other spreadsheet developers for stealing its “look and feel”.

While you’ll find different features, twists and approaches in the various spreadsheets, if you get to know one you’ll have a flying start in using almost any other spreadsheet available. Even the simple spreadsheets included in low-end integrated products such as Microsoft Works have a lot in common with up-market offerings such as Microsoft Excel.

Spreadsheet jargon

All spreadsheets basically consist of a grid of cells. The columns are labelled across the top, usually from A to Z, and then from AA to AZ and so on. The rows are numbered down the side. Even simple spreadsheet programs let you have at least 256 columns and at least that many rows. The more powerful spreadsheets increase these limits to thousands of columns and rows (and yes, some people actually make use of such power).

Each cell in the spreadsheet can be uniquely identified by its cell address, which is the intersection of the column and row. For example, the first cell in column A is called A1. The 29^th cell in column H is H29. When you click in a cell, you’ll see its address displayed in the address box, usually near the top left of the window.

You can also refer to a range of cells by specifying the first and last cells in the range, separated by a colon. Thus, L12:R19 refers to a range of cells starting in column L, row 12 and extending to column R row 19. To select a range of cells, click in the first cell and, keeping the mouse button depressed, drag the mouse pointer to the last cell you want to select and then release the mouse button. The address of the selected range will appear in the address box.

You can also select a whole column by clicking the column label (A, B, C and so on) or select an entire row by clicking the row label (1, 2, 3, et cetera). To select multiple rows or columns, click-and-drag from the first column or row to the final column or row you wish to select.

A window on your data

Obviously, you’re not going to be able to see at a glance any spreadsheet that spreads across even a few dozen columns or rows: that’s too much information to display in a single window on screen.

Instead, you should think of the screen as displaying a movable window that you can pan across your spreadsheet, using the scroll bars at the bottom and right sides of the window.

Advanced spreadsheets provide ways of hiding some of the details in your spreadsheet so you can quickly see summary or totals columns and get a better overall picture of your information. Such programs also let you split information across multiple “worksheets”, and then consolidate the figures into summary worksheets, so your information is viewable in more easily digested chunks.

Entering data

Near the top of the spreadsheet window, usually immediately below the toolbars, you’ll find a white box that stretches most of the way across the window. This is the data entry area.

What? Don’t you enter information directly into the grid of cells? Well, the answer is “yes and no”. Certainly you can type data and formulae directly into the cells themselves, but, as you’ll soon discover, the cells are often too small to display the complete contents of what you need to type.

For instance, if a cell contains a formula summing the values in cells C1 to C10 (which will appear something like =SUM(C1:C10), depending on which spreadsheet you’re using), you’ll find that there isn’t enough room to display this complete formula when you type in the cell. While it’s an easy task to change the width and height of cells, it’s even easier to use the data entry box to enter the contents of a cell.

You’ll find you can type a value or formula into either the data entry box or the cell itself – the choice is yours. In a way, it’s easiest to use both: type directly into the cells (as this helps you ‘position’ yourself mentally in the spreadsheet and ensures you are placing a value in the correct cell), but check the complete entry as it appears in the data entry box.

Values and contents

The other reason for having the data entry box is that usually cells display the final results of calculations, not the formulae on which they’re based. For instance, if you have a series of values in cells C1 to C10 and want to display the sum of those values in C11, the contents of C11 is SUM(C1:C10). While this formula remains the same and will be displayed in the data entry box whenever you select cell C11, the value of the contents in C11 will change depending on the numbers contained in cells C1 to C10.

Not only can spreadsheet cells contain numbers or formulae, they can also contain text, dates, times and currency values. You can alter the appearance of cells by changing their size, by selecting a specific type of number, currency or date format, by altering the alignment of the contents of cells, or by applying formatting such as bolding, italicising, and coloured text or backgrounds.

Related posts:

1. Spreadsheeting II: Good Spreadsheet Design
2. Understanding Excel references
3. Shading every other row in Excel

Take, for example, the auto-formats supplied with pre-2007 versions of Excel. Who designed these things? Not only are they ugly, they also don’t address basic formatting needs such as coloring every other row in order to make a table more readable. Yes, there’s one auto-format option which gives you this – sort of – but it comes with unattractive headings and footer formatting and it’s inflexible.

The solution? Do the job yourself, using conditional formatting. Conditional formatting lets you apply formatting based on the value contained in a cell or based on the result of a formula.

Here’s how you can use it to apply shading to alternate rows:

1. Select the range of cells you wish to format.
2. Click Format -> Conditional Formatting.
3. In the drop-down box, select Formula Is.
4. In the box type:

=MOD(ROW(),2)=0

1. Click the Format button and then click the Patterns tab.
2. Select a color for the shaded rows and click OK twice.

There you have it: a table with banded colors. If you find you don’t like your chosen color, simply select the range once more, open the Conditional Formatting box and choose another color.

The real beauty of this method is that even if you delete a row in your table, the banding will be maintained automatically.

Conditional formatting explained

If you’re not familiar with conditional formatting, a little explanation is in order.

Conditional formatting is applied to a cell when the condition you specify is true. The condition may relate to the cell’s contents. For example, you could set all cells containing negative values to be displayed in a red font. Alternatively, you can use a logical expression or formula which evaluates as TRUE or FALSE, as we did in the example above. In Excel, a 0 value equates to FALSE, while any number greater than 0 equates to TRUE.

The MOD() and ROW() functions

The formula we used contains two functions, ROW(reference) and MOD(number,divisor). The ROW function returns the number of the row contained in reference or, if the reference is omitted (as in our example) it returns the number of the row containing the function. So, if you place the formula =ROW() in cell A9, the value returned is 9.

The MOD function returns the remainder of the number divided by the divisor. So, the formula =MOD(7,6) returns a value of 1, while =MOD(6,7) returns 6.

Evaluating Logical Expressions

Now take a look at the formula we used to create shading on every other row:

=MOD(ROW(),2)=0

In this case, ROW() provides the number while 2 is the divisor in our MOD() function. In English, we divide the current row number by 2. The remainder will either be 0 for even numbered rows or 1 for odd-numbered rows.

We then compare the result to 0. For even numbered rows, we end up with the expression 0=0, which is TRUE. Because the condition evaluates to TRUE, we apply the selected formatting. For odd-numbered rows, the result is 1=0, which is clearly FALSE, and thus the formatting is not applied and the row remains the default color.

Astute readers may be wondering, “Why do we need the =0 on the end of this expression, when we could simply evaluate =MOD(ROW(),2)?” It’s true, we could leave off the =0 and we’d still end up with an expression with alternating values of 0 and 1 and the same bands of color (although the shaded/non-shaded rows would be reversed). But by adding the =0 we make it very easy to extend this expression to coloring every third or fourth or fifth row, and so on. For example:

=MOD(ROW(),3)=0

will color every third row. This is easy to check by evaluating the expression for rows 1 through 6:

=MOD(1,3) = 1 1 = 0 is FALSE (not shaded)
=MOD(2,3) = 2 2 = 0 is FALSE (not shaded)
=MOD(3,3) = 0 0 = 0 is TRUE (shaded)
=MOD(4,3) = 1 1 = 0 is FALSE (not shaded)
=MOD(5,3) = 2 2 = 0 is FALSE (not shaded)
=MOD(6,3) = 0 0 = 0 is TRUE (shaded)

And so on.

So what happens if you leave the =0 off the expression? Instead of shading every nth row you’d color n-1 rows then leave the next row unshaded, something that might come in handy, too. In the case above, you’d shade rows 1 and 2, leave row 3 untouched, shade rows 4 and 5, and leave row 6 untouched.

Column and checkerboard shading

You can use a similar technique to create alternating shading on columns. Instead of using the ROW() function, you use the COLUMN() function:

=MOD(COLUMN(),2)=0

Note that the COLUMN() function returns the column number, with column A=1, column B=2 and so on.

Anyone for checkerboard shading? Try:

=MOD(ROW(),2) =MOD(COLUMN(),2)

You’ll end up with a checkerboard shading pattern.

Understanding the logic

If you’re content with this result and don’t need to know the nuts and bolts, class dismissed. If, on the other hand, you’d like to understand how we end up with a checkerboard pattern from this expression, stick with me. Unless you have some programming or a philosophy degree under your belt, trying to get your head around logical expressions can be a little confusing at first.

Note that to produce the checkerboard pattern, we’ve used two formulas one after the other; we’ve also dispensed with the final =0 we used in the earlier formulas.

Why is this so?

Well, instead of comparing the result of an expression to 0, we compare the result of the first expression to the result of the second expression, and determine whether they are equivalent. So, Excel evaluates the first formula and determines whether it is TRUE or FALSE. It then evaluates the second formula and determines whether it is TRUE or FALSE. Finally, it equates the two results and determines whether the end result is TRUE or FALSE.

In other words, you end up with four possible intermediate results:

1. Both expressions are TRUE.
2. The first is TRUE; the second is FALSE.
3. Both expressions are FALSE.
4. The first is FALSE, the second is TRUE.

Now, take the final step and evaluate these four intermediate results. The first and third evaluate to TRUE (that is, TRUE = TRUE is clearly TRUE, just as FALSE = FALSE is clearly TRUE); the second and fourth evaluate to FALSE (TRUE = FALSE is FALSE; FALSE = TRUE is FALSE).

So, if you apply the conditional expression =MOD(ROW(),2) =MOD(COLUMN(),2) to cell A1 (where both the row and column number are equal to 1) you get:

=MOD(1,2) =MOD(1,2)
1 = 1 which is TRUE

For cell A2:

=MOD(2,2) =MOD(1,2)
0 = 1 which is FALSE

For cell A3:

=MOD(3,2) =MOD(1,2)
1 = 1 which is TRUE

For cell A4:

=MOD(4,2) =MOD(1,2)
0 = 1 which is FALSE

For cell B1:

=MOD(1,2) =MOD(2,2)
1 = 0 which is FALSE

For B2:

=MOD(2,2) =MOD(2,2)
0 = 0 which is TRUE

For B3:

=MOD(3,2) =MOD(2,2)
1 = 0 which is FALSE

For B4:

=MOD(4,2) =MOD(2,2)
0 = 0 which is TRUE

And so on, with the alternating TRUE/FALSE/TRUE/FALSE in one column and FALSE/TRUE/FALSE/TRUE in the next building up the checkerboard shading.

Related posts:

1. Understanding Excel references
2. Spreadsheeting II: Good Spreadsheet Design
3. Using Microsoft Word’s hidden calculator

Relative cell references are the most commonly used. A relative cell reference in a formula is based on the position of the formula’s cell relative to the cell to which it refers. That means if you move the formula cell, or copy it elsewhere, the reference changes.

You denote a relative reference simply by using the cell’s column letter followed by its row number: A1. A simple formula that uses relative cell references to add the numbers in cells B1 through B9 is:

=SUM(B1:B9)

If you place this formula in cell B10 and then copy it across from B10 to C10, Excel makes the sensible assumption that you want to total the values in the same relative positions in column C – that is, cells C1 to C9 – and so it automatically adjusts the formula to read:

=SUM(C1:C9)

An absolute reference refers to a cell in a fixed location. Such references come in handy when you want to refer consistently to the same cell, or range of cells, throughout a worksheet.

For example, if you use a worksheet to estimate a mileage allowance for business travel, you could put the allowance rate per mile in cell D2 and then use an absolute reference to that cell anywhere you use a formula based on the mileage rate. To indicate an absolute reference use dollar signs, thus: $D$2.

Name that cell

You can make life easier for yourself by naming a cell or range of cells. This is particularly handy when you want to refer to a certain cell repeatedly in formulas. When you name a cell, Excel automatically makes it an absolute reference.

For example, to name our mileage rate cell in Excel 2007:

1. Right-click the cell and select Name A Range from the pop-up menu.
2. Type a name in the Name box, such as MileageRate and click OK. Although you can’t include spaces in the name, you can use underscores (Mileage_Rate), periods/full stops (Mileage.Rate) or slashes (Mileage\Rate). Excel ignores the case, but it can make your worksheets more readable if you mix lower- and uppercase.

To name the cell in Excel 2003:

1. Click the cell.
2. Click Insert -> Name -> Define.
3. Type in the name, MileageRate, and click OK.

Once you’ve named the cell, you can use its name in any formula, thus:

=E7*MileageRate

As you define the name, notice the value in the Refers To box. You’ll see the full absolute reference consists of the worksheet name followed by an exclamation mark and the absolute cell reference, for example:

=’Travel Expenses’!$D$2

That means you can use the named reference – in our case, MileageRate – in any worksheet in your workbook, not just the current worksheet.

Specifying the scope of a name

That’s great, but what if you’ve set your workbook up with a separate worksheet for each employee and each of those employees has a different mileage rate? In that case, you won’t want a reference to MileageRate on Mildred’s worksheet grabbing the value from Darren’s worksheet.

In Excel 2003, you deal with this situation by specifying the worksheet when defining a name: in the Name box, first type the current worksheet’s name, followed by an exclamation mark, followed by your chosen cell name. For example:

Darren!MileageRate

Excel 2007, makes this easier by including a Scope box in the New Name dialog: when you define the name, select the current worksheet from the drop-down Scope box to restrict the reference to the current sheet, and Excel will name it appropriately.

Deleting a name

If you ever need to delete a cell/range name, in Excel 2003:

1. Click Insert -> Name -> Define.
2. In the Define Name dialog, click the name you want to delete then click the Delete button.

In Excel 2007:

1. On the Formulas tab click Name Manager.
2. In the Name Manager dialog, click the name you want to delete and click the Delete button.

Mixed references

Mixed references are a combination of relative and absolute: either the column is relative and the row fixed (absolute), for example D$2, or the column is fixed and the row relative: $D2.

When would you need such a reference? One case is when you create any table where the values are derived by multiplying the x axis by the y axis. A multiplication table is the simplest example of this.

The easiest way to get a feel for mixed references is to give them a try:

1. Place the values 1 through 12 across in cells B2 to M2. This is the x axis of your multiplication table.
2. Place the values 1 through 12 down in cells A3 to A14. This is the y axis of your multiplication table.
3. In the top, leftmost cell of the results grid, cell B3, enter the formula: =B$2*$A3.
4. Copy that formula down and then across to include the entire table.

This formula translates as: multiply the value in row 2, column x by the value in column A, row y. For the first cell referenced in the formula, the row remains constant (row 2, the x axis where you placed the values 1 through 12) while the column changes. For the second cell reference, the column remains constant (column A, the y axis where you placed the values 1 through 12), while the row changes. No matter where you click in the table, you’ll see row 2 and column A referenced in the formula bar, while the other values vary.

Changing reference types

If you find you’ve used the wrong type of reference in a formula, Excel offers a shortcut for changing the reference:

1. Click the offending cell.
2. In the formula bar, click the incorrect cell reference and press F4. Each time you press F4, Excel will cycle the reference through relative -> absolute -> mixed (relative/absolute) -> mixed (absolute/relative).
3. Repeat this process for each incorrect reference in the formula.

A memory jogger to help you remember to use the F4 key for changing references is to take a look at your keyboard: notice how the $ symbol, used to denote absolute references, is above the number 4. Use it as a reminder (a trick I learnt from a Kiwi school teacher).

Related posts:

1. Shading every other row in Excel
2. Spreadsheeting II: Good Spreadsheet Design
3. Spreadsheeting I: Basic concepts