Is this what you mean?

Sheet1 A1 = code XX

Find code XX in column A of Sheet2 and return its description from column B
of Sheet2.

=VLOOKUP(A1,Sheet2!A:B,2,0)

Biff

"Quimera" wrote in message
news:d8I3i.40720$Xh3.35416@edtnps90...
This is a common function in application systems, and I am sure there is a
simple way to do it in Excel, but so far I haven't been smart enough to
figure it out.

I have a column of account codes on Worksheet 1. I want to be able to
select a code cell, open Worksheet 2 containing one column for all valid
codes and one column for the descriptions, select a code from Worksheet 2
and have it automatically inserted into the code cell of Worksheet 1.

Thanks for your help.