Right this is probably going to sound really silly..but I'm not very good
with Excel. Basically..I'm an accounting student and for one of my classes
I've got to produce a balance sheet etc etc. but I'm having problems with the
formatting of my cells for negative numbers. Basically rather than them
showing up as a - (say -2) I want brackets around the number (2), but
whenever I try and do this..it just converts to -2...any ideas on how I get
it to stay as (2) without changing the format of the cells to just text? i.e.
so it still means negative 2?

Any help would be greatly appreciated!

select the cell | go to format | cells | number tab | category :
number | decimal places :0 | choose negative format (1234) | ok |



On Oct 24, 8:13*pm, xlouisedoll
wrote:
Right this is probably going to sound really silly..but I'm not very good
with Excel. Basically..I'm an accounting student and for one of my classes
I've got to produce a balance sheet etc etc. but I'm having problems with the
formatting of my cells for negative numbers. Basically rather than them
showing up as a - (say -2) I want brackets around the number (2), but
whenever I try and do this..it just converts to -2...any ideas on how I get
it to stay as (2) without changing the format of the cells to just text? i.e.
so it still means negative 2?

Any help would be greatly appreciated!

Highlight the cells you want to change and hit CTRL+1. On the menu that pops
up, choose 'Number' from the left, then on the right you'll see the format
you want in a list.

"xlouisedoll" wrote:

Right this is probably going to sound really silly..but I'm not very good
with Excel. Basically..I'm an accounting student and for one of my classes
I've got to produce a balance sheet etc etc. but I'm having problems with the
formatting of my cells for negative numbers. Basically rather than them
showing up as a - (say -2) I want brackets around the number (2), but
whenever I try and do this..it just converts to -2...any ideas on how I get
it to stay as (2) without changing the format of the cells to just text? i.e.
so it still means negative 2?

Any help would be greatly appreciated!

With a cell that is displaying something like (-23.78) as you active cell:
Use format | Cell and open the customise tab and you see you have something
like
#,##0.00;(-#,##0.00)
Edit this to read
#,##0.00;(#,##0.00) ' I have deleted the negative sign
Use this cell with Format Painter (look like paint brush) to format another
cells
best wishes
--
Bernard V Liengme
Microsoft Excel MVP
http://people.stfx.ca/bliengme
remove caps from email

"xlouisedoll" wrote in message
...
Right this is probably going to sound really silly..but I'm not very good
with Excel. Basically..I'm an accounting student and for one of my classes
I've got to produce a balance sheet etc etc. but I'm having problems with
the
formatting of my cells for negative numbers. Basically rather than them
showing up as a - (say -2) I want brackets around the number (2), but
whenever I try and do this..it just converts to -2...any ideas on how I
get
it to stay as (2) without changing the format of the cells to just text?
i.e.
so it still means negative 2?

Any help would be greatly appreciated!

If negative brackets are not available in the NumberNegative Numbers or
Currency dialog.

This is a function of your Regional Settings in Windows OS.

StartSettingsControl PanelRegional and Language SettingsRegional
OptionsCustomizeCurrencyNegative Currency Format. Click on drop-down
arrow and select the ($1.1)

Note: this is under the "Currency" tab in Regional Options. Changing under
the "Numbers" tab only does not do the trick.

Apply and OKApply your way out.


Gord Dibben Excel MVP

On Fri, 24 Oct 2008 08:13:01 -0700, xlouisedoll
wrote:

Right this is probably going to sound really silly..but I'm not very good
with Excel. Basically..I'm an accounting student and for one of my classes
I've got to produce a balance sheet etc etc. but I'm having problems with the
formatting of my cells for negative numbers. Basically rather than them
showing up as a - (say -2) I want brackets around the number (2), but
whenever I try and do this..it just converts to -2...any ideas on how I get
it to stay as (2) without changing the format of the cells to just text? i.e.
so it still means negative 2?

Any help would be greatly appreciated!