Some thoughts to effect this, unambiguously:
.. I want the cell to stay blank, until we reach that month, then populate 0

Let's say the desired control is for March 2010
=IF(TEXT(TODAY(),"mmmyyyy")="Mar2010",0,"")
which returns zero only if it's within March 2010, blank otherwise

=IF(TODAY()<--"1 Mar 2010","",0)
which returns zero once its March 2010 and beyond, blank otherwise
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--
Max
Singapore
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"jb" wrote:
I have a spreadsheet that we update monthly to show actual data vs. targets.
I have two worksheets, one being my "cheatsheet" and other being my actual
reporting table. The cheatsheet houses the data. Each month data is entered
into the cheatsheet, which provides the month end results to the actual
report. For example, I put 3 new hire names in the cheatsheet and the results
sheet will populate with a number "3".

Problem: If there is no result for the month, (such as no employees hired)
I want "0" to populate in the cell. However, I dont want this to happen
until we reach that month. I think I have to do something with the count
feature or with a month formula, but I am stuck. (I know how to do IF
statements, however I dont know how to work one for this situation, without
each month populating "0" right now at the beginning of the year.) I want the
cell to stay blank, until we reach that month, then populate 0.

This is a huge worksheet so I would like everything to be automatic, with no
manual adjustments besides the cheatsheet.

Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated.