Are you familiar with SUMIF? For example, =SUMIF(A:A,"=" &
DATE(2008,6,1),B:B) would inspect all cells in column A for dates on/after
6/1/08, and add up the corresponding cells from column B.
You could use the same idea to select a specif date range. =SUMIF(A:A,"="
& DATE(2008,1,1),B:B)-SUMIF(A:A,"=" & DATE(2009,1,1),B:B) would add up all
those from 2008.

"Excel semi-smart" wrote:

I have over 10,000 rows of data, some of it in columns corresponding to
years. I want to make a sum in each row that starts with a
different/variable year, and sums to the present. Can I use a sum equation
to do this? Asked a different way, how to I tell the sum where to start, when
the starting column is not fixed?