I have a budget set up and I want highlight the name of the bill once a
actual cost of the bill has been paid to know if the bill has been paid...

What is the best way to do this? Please list the steps so I can duplicate
it in my spreadsheet.

Thanks for your help in advance.

Chris

Instructions for Excel 2003 and earlier.

Assumptions for the setup for this example:
The name or description of the bill is in column A, and the cell to enter
the amount paid is in column C and we are working on row 3.

Choose A3 (the name/description cell). From the menu choose:
Format
....Conditional Formatting

In the dialog that comes up, change "Cell Value Is" to "Formula Is" and in
the area next to that choice enter this formula just as I've typed it,
including the = symbol.
=$C$3 0
then click the [Format...] button to choose the appearance of the cell when
there is a payment entered into C3. You can change the appearance of the
Font, and from the [Patterns] tab you can choose the color for the cell
itself.

Once you've made the formatting choices, click the [OK] button in the
formatting dialog, and then click the [OK] in the conditional format dialog.
A3 should take on the format you chose when C3 has a value greater than zero
(or is not empty) in it.


"pivot table" wrote:

I have a budget set up and I want highlight the name of the bill once a
actual cost of the bill has been paid to know if the bill has been paid...

What is the best way to do this? Please list the steps so I can duplicate
it in my spreadsheet.

Thanks for your help in advance.

Chris

I need instructions for Excel 2007, please.

"JLatham" wrote:

Instructions for Excel 2003 and earlier.

Assumptions for the setup for this example:
The name or description of the bill is in column A, and the cell to enter
the amount paid is in column C and we are working on row 3.

Choose A3 (the name/description cell). From the menu choose:
Format
...Conditional Formatting

In the dialog that comes up, change "Cell Value Is" to "Formula Is" and in
the area next to that choice enter this formula just as I've typed it,
including the = symbol.
=$C$3 0
then click the [Format...] button to choose the appearance of the cell when
there is a payment entered into C3. You can change the appearance of the
Font, and from the [Patterns] tab you can choose the color for the cell
itself.

Once you've made the formatting choices, click the [OK] button in the
formatting dialog, and then click the [OK] in the conditional format dialog.
A3 should take on the format you chose when C3 has a value greater than zero
(or is not empty) in it.


"pivot table" wrote:

I have a budget set up and I want highlight the name of the bill once a
actual cost of the bill has been paid to know if the bill has been paid...

What is the best way to do this? Please list the steps so I can duplicate
it in my spreadsheet.

Thanks for your help in advance.

Chris

For excel 2007,
Go to the cell you want to highlight.
1. On the Home Tab at the top choose "Conditional formatting" from the
Styles Menu
2. On the drop-down menu go to "New Rule"
3. In the "Select a rule type" choose "Use a formula to determine
which cells to format"
4. In the "Format values where this formula is true:"
5. Enter the formula =if(c1=b1,true,false), assuming B1 is the bill
"amount due" column, and C1 is the bill "amount paid" values
6. Choose the format box to select how you want the cell to look after
the bill "amount paid"="amount due", change color by clicking "Fill"
and choosing a color
7. Click Ok

You could also use the formula that JLatham suggested above if you
want the cell to highlight if any value is inserted. My formula
verifies the values are equal, your choice.