Using
B5:
=SUMPRODUCT(ISNUMBER(MATCH(ROW($A$1:A5),LARGE(($A$ 1:A50)*ROW($A$1:A5),{1,2,3,4,5}),0))*$A$1:A5)/MIN(COUNT($A$1:A5),5)

After that entering formula in B5 and pressing [Ctrl][Shift][Enter]:
Select B5
EditCopy
Select B6:B100
Press [Enter]

The formulas will average up to the last 5 numeric values in A1:A100,
depending on the cell the formula is in.
B5 will look for the last 5 values in A1:A5
B10 will look for the last 5 values in A1:A10
etc
(You did say you wanted a *running* average, right?)

An alternative would be to use only this formula:
B100:
=SUMPRODUCT(ISNUMBER(MATCH(ROW($A$1:A100),LARGE(($ A$1:A1000)*ROW($A$1:A100),{1,2,3,4,5}),0))*$A$1:A 100)/MIN(COUNT($A$1:A100),5)

Again: commit that formula with [Ctrl][Shift][Enter]

That will return the average of the last 5 numeric values entered in cells
A1:A100

Does either of those help?

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

XL2002, WinXP-Pro


"Troy H" wrote:

That works partially, thanks. However, I need to be able to add another
cell, so that I can have 5 numbers to average. say I'm lookingat numbers in
a3 thru a10, but a9 is blank. I need to be able to average A10, A8, A7, A6,
and A5. And if posible, to throw another wrinkle, if inthe last sequence, A7
is gone along with A9, then I would need to get A4. If possible!

"Ron Coderre" wrote:

Try something like this:

For numbers, or blanks, listed in Col_A, beginning in Cell A1

B5:
=SUMPRODUCT(ISNUMBER(MATCH(ROW($A$1:A5),LARGE(($A$ 1:A50)*ROW($A$1:A5),{1,2,3,4,5}),0))*$A$1:A5)/MIN(COUNT($A$1:A5),5)

Note: Commit that array formula by holding down the [Ctrl][Shift] keys and
press [Enter].

Copy B5 and copy from B6 down as far as you need.

If there are less than 5 numbers, that formula averages as many as there are.


Does that help?

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

XL2002, WinXP-Pro


"Troy H" wrote:

I need to do a running average of the last five numbers, when some numbers is
a sequence can be changed. For example, for days 1 thru 6, I have numbers in
all days except for the 5th day, I need the average for days, 1,2,3,4,and 6.