A percentage increase/decrease is just the fractional change multiplied by
100

Let A1 be sales in December and B1 be saes in January
The change is =B1-A1 (we normally subtract old from new)
So the fractional change is =(B1-A1)/A1 --- the change over the original
In school you would multiply this by 100 but in Excel you just format with
the % format tool

If B1 is higher than A1 we have a positive value indicating an increase
since Dec
If B1 is lower than A1 we have a negative value indicating a decrease since
Dec


Note: we need parentheses in =(B1-A1)/A1 to make Excel do the subtraction
before the addition
best wishes
--
Bernard V Liengme
Microsoft Excel MVP
http://people.stfx.ca/bliengme
remove caps from email

"mary bono" <mary wrote in message
...
I am trying to create a formula that is probably simple for others but not
me. I am trying to find out how to create a formula that will help me
finda
drop in a percentage of a number or an increase of a percentage.