Hi
If you want another option try this:
In D1 put your starting balance
In A2 put a description, ( car payment, deposit,etc)
In B2 put your deposit, if there is one.
In C2 put your withdrawal, again, if there is one
In D2 put this formula and copy down as far as you like:
=IF(A2="","",IF(B20,D1+B2,IF(C20,D1-C2,D1)))

The only condition is that there is only one entry per line, in other words
you can't put a deposit and a withdrawal in on the same line !!

HTH
Michael

"Doh" wrote:

Please help, I'm a total Excel newbie. I need to create a spreadsheet that
works pretty much like a checkbook register. I need to be able to make daily
entries of deposits and withdrawals (dollar amounts) and keep a running
balance. I don't want the balance column to extend all the way down the
worksheet either zero (if that's the current balance) or the most recent
balance . Excel help on "Calculate the running balance" says to "copy this
formula into the current balance cell for each new transaction." Is there a
way to extend the formula without having to copy and paste it with each new
transaction? I'll have several identical worksheets for a number of different
accounts. Btw, I'm using Excel 2000. Thanks in advance for your help.