Hi Lewis,

You are correct about the () and the actual results.

In the example of (.33)-(.37)=.04 I am showing a discount taken (.33) - the
discount that should have been taken (.37) resulting in .04 or what we are
owed and displayed as postive.

In the example of 12.28-9.72=(2.56) I am showing a payment made 12.28 - the
payment that should have been paid 9.72 and would like the result to display
as a negative (2.56) or what we owe.

Since both types of data are gathered from the same fields, I need a way to
download, do the comparisions for each record and calculate the differences
for each and a total we either owe or are owed for all records.

So far I can only end up with either all positive or all negative results.
So any help is appreciated.

Thanks.
Linda


"Lewis Clark" wrote:

When you subtract a positive number from another positive number (or a
negative from a negative), the result can be positive OR negative depending
on the relative sizes of the two numbers.

In your examples, I assume the () indicate negative numbers. Your first
example correctly shows the answer is + .04, but in your second example, the
correct result is + 2.56, not - 2.56 (since 12.28 is larger than 9.72).

Please post some sample data and explain in more detail what you are trying
to do.

"Linda" wrote in message
...
I am trying to do some calculate differences between results in columns
containing a mix of negative or postive numbers. I can't seem to write
the
formula to display the results that are expected.

So far....I get the correct answer but all are postive results, and I can
add the minus sign, but then get only negative results. When summing the
answer columns results...then the difference is inflated.

For example: (0.33)-(0.37)=0.04 and 12.28-9.72=(2.56)

I would like the formula to take a negative number subtract another
negative
number and display the result as a positive AND the same formula to take a
positive number and subtract another postive number and display the result
as
negative.

Thanks for your help.
--
Linda