Hi~
I'm using Excel 2007 and ran into a problem when creating a formula that
references two cells (C8 and F8) where users will enter a negative number in
each cell. So for example, the user would enter the following numbers:

Cell C8 ------ -4424.872
Cell F8 ------- -4278.982

To subtract both numbers I created the formula: SUM(C8-F8). But the
problem is that instead of returning a negative number, the result is shown
as a positive number. I'm not sure why this happening. Could someone point
me in the right direction?

Thanks for the time and expertise!

Try:

=SUM(C8,F8)

or just:

=C8+F8

The SUM is actually redundant here. You're just trying to *add* two
negative numbers, not taking one away from the other.

Regards

Trevor


"Les" <Les @discussions.microsoft.com wrote in message
...
Hi~
I'm using Excel 2007 and ran into a problem when creating a formula that
references two cells (C8 and F8) where users will enter a negative number
in
each cell. So for example, the user would enter the following numbers:

Cell C8 ------ -4424.872
Cell F8 ------- -4278.982

To subtract both numbers I created the formula: SUM(C8-F8). But the
problem is that instead of returning a negative number, the result is
shown
as a positive number. I'm not sure why this happening. Could someone
point
me in the right direction?

Thanks for the time and expertise!

Trevor,

Thanks for the quick response. I tried both your suggestions but
unfortunately the results are not

The first example =SUM(C8,F8) returns the value of 0.00

The second example =C8+F8 returns the #VALUE syntax.

Just to clarify, the values I'm working with are -4424.80 (for C8) and
-4,419.28. So the correct answer should be -5.52. (-4424.80 - -4,419.28).
Somehow I can't get Excel to recognize the negative values even though I
formatted the cells as "Numbers" and selected the negative number format.

I appreciate the help.

Les

"Trevor Shuttleworth" wrote:

Try:

=SUM(C8,F8)

or just:

=C8+F8

The SUM is actually redundant here. You're just trying to *add* two
negative numbers, not taking one away from the other.

Regards

Trevor


"Les" <Les @discussions.microsoft.com wrote in message
...
Hi~
I'm using Excel 2007 and ran into a problem when creating a formula that
references two cells (C8 and F8) where users will enter a negative number
in
each cell. So for example, the user would enter the following numbers:

Cell C8 ------ -4424.872
Cell F8 ------- -4278.982

To subtract both numbers I created the formula: SUM(C8-F8). But the
problem is that instead of returning a negative number, the result is
shown
as a positive number. I'm not sure why this happening. Could someone
point
me in the right direction?

Thanks for the time and expertise!

Les

if the answer you are looking for is -5.52 then the formula should be:

=C8-C9

The fact that you are seeing 0 in the SUM option implies that the numbers
are not actually numbers but text that looks like numbers. Are they left
aligned or right aligned in the cells ? If they're left aligned, the
chances are they're text masquerading as numbers.

=C8-C9 should force a numeric evaluation anyway. If it doesn't, format the
cells as General or number and re-enter the values ... that should prove the
point.

Regards

Trevor


"Les" wrote in message
...
Trevor,

Thanks for the quick response. I tried both your suggestions but
unfortunately the results are not

The first example =SUM(C8,F8) returns the value of 0.00

The second example =C8+F8 returns the #VALUE syntax.

Just to clarify, the values I'm working with are -4424.80 (for C8) and
-4,419.28. So the correct answer should be -5.52.
(-4424.80 - -4,419.28).
Somehow I can't get Excel to recognize the negative values even though I
formatted the cells as "Numbers" and selected the negative number format.

I appreciate the help.

Les

"Trevor Shuttleworth" wrote:

Try:

=SUM(C8,F8)

or just:

=C8+F8

The SUM is actually redundant here. You're just trying to *add* two
negative numbers, not taking one away from the other.

Regards

Trevor


"Les" <Les @discussions.microsoft.com wrote in message
...
Hi~
I'm using Excel 2007 and ran into a problem when creating a formula
that
references two cells (C8 and F8) where users will enter a negative
number
in
each cell. So for example, the user would enter the following numbers:

Cell C8 ------ -4424.872
Cell F8 ------- -4278.982

To subtract both numbers I created the formula: SUM(C8-F8). But the
problem is that instead of returning a negative number, the result is
shown
as a positive number. I'm not sure why this happening. Could someone
point
me in the right direction?

Thanks for the time and expertise!

Trevor,

Thanks for the help!

Les

"Trevor Shuttleworth" wrote:

Les

if the answer you are looking for is -5.52 then the formula should be:

=C8-C9

The fact that you are seeing 0 in the SUM option implies that the numbers
are not actually numbers but text that looks like numbers. Are they left
aligned or right aligned in the cells ? If they're left aligned, the
chances are they're text masquerading as numbers.

=C8-C9 should force a numeric evaluation anyway. If it doesn't, format the
cells as General or number and re-enter the values ... that should prove the
point.

Regards

Trevor


"Les" wrote in message
...
Trevor,

Thanks for the quick response. I tried both your suggestions but
unfortunately the results are not

The first example =SUM(C8,F8) returns the value of 0.00

The second example =C8+F8 returns the #VALUE syntax.

Just to clarify, the values I'm working with are -4424.80 (for C8) and
-4,419.28. So the correct answer should be -5.52.
(-4424.80 - -4,419.28).
Somehow I can't get Excel to recognize the negative values even though I
formatted the cells as "Numbers" and selected the negative number format.

I appreciate the help.

Les

"Trevor Shuttleworth" wrote:

Try:

=SUM(C8,F8)

or just:

=C8+F8

The SUM is actually redundant here. You're just trying to *add* two
negative numbers, not taking one away from the other.

Regards

Trevor


"Les" <Les @discussions.microsoft.com wrote in message
...
Hi~
I'm using Excel 2007 and ran into a problem when creating a formula
that
references two cells (C8 and F8) where users will enter a negative
number
in
each cell. So for example, the user would enter the following numbers:

Cell C8 ------ -4424.872
Cell F8 ------- -4278.982

To subtract both numbers I created the formula: SUM(C8-F8). But the
problem is that instead of returning a negative number, the result is
shown
as a positive number. I'm not sure why this happening. Could someone
point
me in the right direction?

Thanks for the time and expertise!