If the user might accidentally type a99, instead of A99, use this formula in
B1 and copy to B2:
=(CODE(UPPER(LEFT(A1,1)))-65)*100+RIGHT(A1,2)


***********
Regards,
Ron


"Ron Coderre" wrote:

Try this non-VBA method:

A1: (Last Ticket Out)
A2: (Last Ticket Served)

Put this formula in B1 and copy to B2:
=(CODE(LEFT(A1,1))-65)*100+RIGHT(A1,2)

B3: =B1-B2

For
A1: B20
A2: A99

B1: 120
B2: 99
B3: 21

Does that help?

***********
Regards,
Ron


"jimtmcdaniels" wrote:

Our office issues Take a number tickets to customers when they are waiting to
be called-served. Hundreds each business day.
These paper tickets are premade, currently with each roll starting with
ticket #A00 and ending with ticket #J99. (why they don't go to the letter "Z"
is a mystery anyway)

I've got an excel sheet that a staff employee enters hourly the current take
a ticket number pulled and the current take a ticket number being served for
statistics.

I want a formula that compares these 2 data entries and counts how many take
a ticket numbers have yet to be served at that time (how many customers are
waiting to be served).
But since the tickets numbers contain a letter, I'm having trouble coming up
with a formula.
Thanks for any help!