Biff,
Thanks for the suggestion. Unfortunately, I need to put the formula in
column CX (for a variety of reasons).
It appears that the solution offered by Toppers (see the post after yours)
is the one I need to use.
Thanks again for your help.
Bob

"Biff" wrote:

Hi!

To solve the circular reference error, don't put the formula in column CX.

Try this:

=SUMPRODUCT(--(LEFT(CX1:CX100)="B"))
=SUMPRODUCT(--(LEFT(CX1:CX100)="O"))

You can't use entire columns as range arguments with Sumproduct (unless
you're using Excel 2007 beta).

Biff

"Bob" wrote in message
...
Column CX contains entries that either begin with a "B" or "O". I need to
count the number of cells whose contents begin with "B", and count the
number
of cells whose contents begin with "O".
I wrote the following formula, and even saved it as an array formula, but
I
keep getting a circular reference error:

=COUNTIF(CX:CX,LEFT(CX:CX,1)="B")

Any help would be greatly appreciated. Thanks.
Bob