calculate the difference between negative and positive values
 

I need to show the difference between costings for last month, compared
with this month.

For example, last month a particular costing showed a profit of $100.
This month is showing a loss of -$200. I need to show that this month
the difference between the costings is therefore -$100, or, $100
dollars less than last month.

Can anyone offer me the formula to do this?

Sneaky second question!... it would be useful to display, in the above
example, "$100 less", rather than "-$100". Can this be done?

Many thanks

Answer: calculate the difference between negative and positive values
 

To calculate the difference between negative and positive values in Excel, follow these steps:

1. In a new cell, subtract the current month's costing from the previous month's costing. For example, if the previous month's costing was $100 and the current month's costing is -$200, the formula would be "=100-(-200)".
2. Excel will automatically calculate the difference and display the result in the cell.
3. To display the result as "$100 less" instead of "-$100", you can use the IF function. Here's how:
   1. In a new cell, type "=IF(cell<0, "$"&ABS(cell)&" less", "$"&cell)". Replace "cell" with the cell reference of the cell where you calculated the difference.
   2. Excel will display the result as "$100 less" instead of "-$100".

calculate the difference between negative and positive values
 

When I went to school:

100-(-200)=100+200=300

[If it was $100 dollars less it would be 0 (zero) this month]

so I contend the difference is $300 so the formula is:

=A1-B1 A1=Last month, B1=This Month

For your second question, try:

=IF(B1-A1<0,ABS(B1-A1) & " less",IF(B1-A10,B1-A1 & " more",B1-A1))

A1/B1 as above

HTH


"watty" wrote:

I need to show the difference between costings for last month, compared
with this month.

For example, last month a particular costing showed a profit of $100.
This month is showing a loss of -$200. I need to show that this month
the difference between the costings is therefore -$100, or, $100
dollars less than last month.

Can anyone offer me the formula to do this?

Sneaky second question!... it would be useful to display, in the above
example, "$100 less", rather than "-$100". Can this be done?

Many thanks

calculate the difference between negative and positive values
 

watty wrote:
For example, last month a particular costing showed a profit of $100.
This month is showing a loss of -$200. I need to show that this month
the difference between the costings is therefore -$100, or, $100
dollars less than last month. Can anyone offer me the formula to do this?

Ah, the difference is -$300, not -$100. The signed difference is
"newValue - oldValue". By "signed difference", I mean: negative for
less; positive for more. In this case, (-200) - 100 = -300. If
"oldValue" is in A1 and "newValue" is in A2, the difference (A3) is:

=A2 - A1

Sneaky second question!... it would be useful to display, in the above
example, "$100 less", rather than "-$100". Can this be done?

In A3:

=if(A2-A1 < 0, text(A1-A2,"$0") & " less", if(A2-A1 0,
text(A2-A1,"$0") & " more", "no change")

Note the reverse order "A1-A2" in the "less" case. This produces a
positive number like "$100 less" instead of a negative result like
"-$100 less".

calculate the difference between negative and positive values
 

watty wrote:
I need to show the difference between costings for last month, compared
with this month.

For example, last month a particular costing showed a profit of $100.
This month is showing a loss of -$200. I need to show that this month
the difference between the costings is therefore -$100, or, $100
dollars less than last month.

Can anyone offer me the formula to do this?

Sneaky second question!... it would be useful to display, in the above
example, "$100 less", rather than "-$100". Can this be done?

Many thanks

calculate the difference between negative and positive values
 

Thanks for those very useful responses - I have been able to solve the
problem.

One question following - using your suggested formulas I am also
setting up fields to show that, for example, this month employee A is
working for 1 hour 20 minutes longer that last month. This value is
expressed as a decimal, i.e. the employee is working 1.33 hours more.

The formula however only returns "1 hour more" and does not recognise
the fractional part of the number. How can I adjust the formula to
display this.

Many thanks (and sincere apologies for my terrible maths in the
original question!)

watty wrote:
I need to show the difference between costings for last month, compared
with this month.

For example, last month a particular costing showed a profit of $100.
This month is showing a loss of -$200. I need to show that this month
the difference between the costings is therefore -$100, or, $100
dollars less than last month.

Can anyone offer me the formula to do this?

Sneaky second question!... it would be useful to display, in the above
example, "$100 less", rather than "-$100". Can this be done?

Many thanks

calculate the difference between negative and positive values
 

watty wrote:
This value is
expressed as a decimal, i.e. the employee is working 1.33 hours more.
The formula however only returns "1 hour more" and does not recognise
the fractional part of the number. How can I adjust the formula to
display this.

=text(A1-A2, "0.00") & " more"

calculate the difference between negative and positive values
 

That works! Thank you

wrote:
watty wrote:
This value is
expressed as a decimal, i.e. the employee is working 1.33 hours more.
The formula however only returns "1 hour more" and does not recognise
the fractional part of the number. How can I adjust the formula to
display this.

=text(A1-A2, "0.00") & " more"