Excel has many options for displaying numbersthink of percentages, fractions, or money. Recall that Excel refers to the various ways to write numbers as number formats. Some common number formats are those used for reporting financial information like the purchases for a restaurant.
Formatting is the process of determining the appearance of cells and the overall layout of a worksheet. Formatting is accomplished through commands on both the Formatting toolbar and in the Format Cells dialog box.
Activity 1.10. Formatting Financial Numbers
The General format is the default format for a number that you type in a cell. Unless you apply a different number format to a cell, Excel will use the General format. The General format displays a number exactly as you type itwith three exceptions, as noted in the table in Figure 1.47.
Number Format |
Description |
---|---|
General |
The General format is the default format for a number that you type in a cell. The General format displays a number exactly as you type itwith three exceptions:
|
Number |
Number format is used for the general display of noncurrency numbers. The default format has two decimal places, and you may choose to check the option for using a comma as a thousand separator. Negative numbers can display in red, be preceded by a minus sign, be enclosed in parentheses, or display both in red and in parentheses. |
Currency |
Currency format is used for general monetary values, and you can select from a list of worldwide currency symbolsthe U.S. dollar sign is the default symbol. When you click the Currency Style button on the Formatting toolbar, you apply the default Accounting format, which uses the U.S. dollar sign. |
Accounting |
Accounting format is similar to Currency format with two differencesthe dollar sign (or other currency symbol) always displays at the left edge of the cell, rather than flush against the first number. Thus, both dollar signs and numbers are vertically aligned in the same column. Also, Accounting format adds a blank space equal to the width of a close parenthesis on the right side of positive values to ensure that decimal points align if a column has both positive and negative numbers. This may cause misalignment with other formats that use different methods to indicate negative numbers. |
Date |
Date format provides many common ways to display dates. The default format in the Format Cells dialog box is month, day, and year, separated by a slash. The year displays as four digits by default, but may be changed in the Control Panel to a two-digit display. |
Time |
Time format provides many common ways to display time. The default format in the Format Cells dialog box is the hour and minute. |
Percentage |
Percentage format multiplies the cell value by 100 and displays the result with a percent sign. The default is two decimal places. |
Fraction |
Fraction format displays fractional amounts as actual fractions rather than as decimal values. The first three formats use single-digit, double-digit, and triple-digit numerators and denominators. For example, the single-digit format rounds to the nearest value that can be represented as a single-digit fraction. |
Scientific |
Scientific format displays numbers in scientific (exponential) notation. This is useful for extremely large numbers. |
Text |
Text format treats a number as if it were text. The number is left aligned like text. |
Special |
Special formats are used primarily with database functions. You can type postal codes, telephone numbers, and taxpayer ID numbers quickly without having to enter the punctuation. |
Custom |
Custom format is used to create your own number format. For example, perhaps your organization has a special format for invoice numbers. |
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1. |
From the Format menu, click Cells to display the Format Cells dialog box, and then click the Number tab. Click each format under Category, and as you do so, take a moment to study the information about each Number format in the table in Figure 1.47. |
2. |
In the Format Cells dialog box, click Cancel. Select the range B3:G3. On the Formatting toolbar, click the Currency Style button . |
3. |
Select the range B4:G7, and then on the Formatting toolbar, click the Comma Style button . |
4. |
Click cell B3. On the Standard toolbar, click the Format Painter button . With the Format Painter pointera small paint brush attached to the mouse pointerselect the range B8:G8. Compare your screen with Figure 1.48. Figure 1.48. (This item is displayed on page 627 in the print version) The Currency Style is applied to the totals. When preparing worksheets with financial information, the first row of dollar amounts and the total rows of dollar amounts are formatted in the Currency Style; that is, with thousand comma separators, dollar signs, two decimal places, and space at the right to accommodate a parenthesis for negative numbers, if any. Rows that are not the first row or the total row should be formatted with the Comma Style. |
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5. |
On the Standard toolbar, click the Save button . NoteUsing Negative Numbers in a Worksheet You can see a small amount of space to the right of each of the formatted number cells. The formats you applied allow this space in the event parentheses are needed to indicate negative numbers. If your worksheet contains negative numbers, display the Format Cells dialog box and select from among various formats to accommodate negative numbers. As you progress in your study of Excel, you will practice formatting negative numbers. |
Activity 1.11. Formatting Text from the Dialog Box or the Toolbar
Format text in an Excel worksheet using techniques similar to those you use in other Microsoft Office applications such as Word. For example, you can change fonts; add emphasis by using bold, italic, and underline; and align text in the center, or at the left or right edge of a cell. Applying borders to cells is also useful to visually separate cells. In this activity, you will format the title to increase its visibility and inform the user of the worksheet's purpose as soon as the worksheet is displayed.
1. |
Click cell A1, which contains the merged and centered text Tableware Purchases Dallas. On the Formatting toolbar, click the Font button arrow , and then compare your screen with Figure 1.49. Figure 1.49. |
2. |
From the displayed list, press to move to fonts whose names begin with C, and then scroll as necessary to locate and then click Century Schoolbook. If Century Schoolbook is not available on your Font list, select Times New Roman. |
3. |
With cell A1 still selected, on the Formatting toolbar click the Font Size button arrow , and then from the displayed list, click 16. |
4. |
With cell A1 selected, on the Formatting toolbar click the Bold button . |
5. |
With cell A1 still selected, display the Format menu, and then click Cells to display the Format Cells dialog box. Click the Font tab. Under Font, notice that Century Schoolbook is selected and that a preview of the font is also displayed under Preview. |
6. |
Under Font style, click Bold Italic, and notice that the Preview changes to reflect your selection. Click the Color arrow. From the displayed color palette, in the first row, click the sixth colorDark Blue. Click OK. |
7. |
With cell A1 still selected, on the Formatting toolbar click the Underline button . You can apply some common formats from buttons on the toolbar like this one. The Underline button places a single underline under the contents of a cell. The Bold, Italic, and Underline buttons on the Formatting toolbar are toggle buttons, which means that you can click them once to turn the formatting on and click again to turn it off. |
8. |
With cell A1 selected, on the Formatting toolbar click the Underline button again. |
9. |
With cell A1 selected, on the Formatting toolbar click the Fill Color button arrow to display the color palette, and then compare your screen with Figure 1.50. Figure 1.50. |
10. |
On the displayed color palette, in the last row, click the fifth colorLight Turquoise. |
11. |
Select the range B8:G8. On the Formatting toolbar, click the Borders button arrow to display commonly used border designs. Compare your screen with Figure 1.51. Figure 1.51. |
12. |
On the displayed table of border options, in the second row, click the fourth border designTop and Double Bottom Border. Click any empty cell to deselect the range, and then compare your screen with Figure 1.52. Figure 1.52. This is a common way to apply borders to financial information. The single border indicates that calculations were performed on the numbers above, and the double border indicates that the information is complete. |
13. |
On the Standard toolbar, click the Save button . |
Objective 6 Chart Data |
Windows XP
Outlook 2003
Internet Explorer
Computer Concepts
Word 2003
Chapter One. Creating Documents with Microsoft Word 2003
Chapter Two. Formatting and Organizing Text
Chapter Three. Using Graphics and Tables
Chapter Four. Using Special Document Formats, Columns, and Mail Merge
Excel 2003
Chapter One. Creating a Worksheet and Charting Data
Chapter Two. Designing Effective Worksheets
Chapter Three. Using Functions and Data Tables
Access 2003
Chapter One. Getting Started with Access Databases and Tables
Chapter Two. Sort, Filter, and Query a Database
Chapter Three. Forms and Reports
Powerpoint 2003
Chapter One. Getting Started with PowerPoint 2003
Chapter Two. Creating a Presentation
Chapter Three. Formatting a Presentation
Integrated Projects
Chapter One. Using Access Data with Other Office Applications
Chapter Two. Using Tables in Word and Excel
Chapter Three. Using Excel as a Data Source in a Mail Merge
Chapter Four. Linking Data in Office Documents
Chapter Five. Creating Presentation Content from Office Documents