How do I find a % difference between two numbers (comparing 2005 .
 

How do I find the percent difference between two numbers. I am working in a
police department and am comparing our last year 2004 stats to our 2005
stats. I want to use 2005 as the baseline and show either a % increase or %
decrease to 2004 stats. Sometimes I have a zero which throws the forumlas
I've used off.

I would sure appreciate any help on this matter.

Thanks.

Answer: How do I find a % difference between two numbers (comparing 2005 .
 

Finding the Percent Difference

To find the percent difference between two numbers, use the following formula:

((New Value - Old Value) / Old Value) * 100

Example:

Let's say your 2005 value is in cell A1 and your 2004 value is in cell B1. You can use the following formula in a new cell to calculate the percent difference:

=((A1-B1)/B1)*100

If the result is positive, it means there was an increase from 2004 to 2005. If it's negative, there was a decrease.

Handling Zero Denominator

If you encounter a zero in the denominator (i.e. the old value is zero), you may get an error or a #DIV/0! message. To avoid this, you can add an IF statement to check if the old value is zero and handle it accordingly. Here's an example:

=IF(B1=0,"N/A",((A1-B1)/B1)*100)

This formula checks if B1 (the old value) is zero. If it is, it displays "N/A" instead of trying to divide by zero. If it's not zero, it calculates the percent difference as before.

How do I find a % difference between two numbers (comparing 2005 .
 

Steve,

If you have 2004 in column A, and 2005 values in column B, your formula (in
column C) should look like:

=(B2-A2)/A2

The error you are getting from Excel when you have a zero in the 2004
column is because mathematically, you can't take a % of zero.

So, if you had 0 crimes in 2004 and 3 in 2005, you mathematically can't do
a % change on that. What you could say instead is that there were 3 more
crimes in 2005 than 2004.

Good luck. Hope most of your numbers are negative!

Heidi

"Officer Steve" wrote:

How do I find the percent difference between two numbers. I am working in a
police department and am comparing our last year 2004 stats to our 2005
stats. I want to use 2005 as the baseline and show either a % increase or %
decrease to 2004 stats. Sometimes I have a zero which throws the forumlas
I've used off.

I would sure appreciate any help on this matter.

Thanks.

How do I find a % difference between two numbers (comparing 2005 .
 

Hi Steve,
First off, typically the older stat is the base line. That said, use this
formula, substituting the Cell Coordinates for the years...

=if(2004=0,"",(2005 - 2004)/2005)
or
=if(2004=0,0,(2005 - 2004)/2005)

using 2004 as a base line...
=if(2004=0,"",(2005 - 2004)/2004)
or
=if(2004=0,0,(2005 - 2004)/2004)

Format the cell with the formula as a '%'.

HTH,
--
Gary Brown

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"Officer Steve" wrote:

How do I find the percent difference between two numbers. I am working in a
police department and am comparing our last year 2004 stats to our 2005
stats. I want to use 2005 as the baseline and show either a % increase or %
decrease to 2004 stats. Sometimes I have a zero which throws the forumlas
I've used off.

I would sure appreciate any help on this matter.

Thanks.

How do I find a % difference between two numbers (comparing 2005 .
 

"Officer Steve" wrote:
How do I find the percent difference between two numbers.

=(A1-B1)/B1

where column B is "before" (old) and column A is "after" (new).
Remember to format the cell as Percentage if you want "%".

Sometimes I have a zero which throws the forumlas
I've used off.

=IF(B1 = 0, "something", (A1-B1)/B1)

The question only you can answer is: what is "something"?
I like the following:

=IF(B1 = 0, A1, (A1-B1)/B1)

Thus, if B1 is 0 and A1 is 3, the result will be 300%. Purists
will tell you that is wrong: you cannot have a percentage
increase over 0; and mathematically, they are correct. But
the alternative is to display something that is inconsistent
with all other cells where B1 is not zero. If you are okay
with that, fine. I prefer consistency, and I think 300% is
not unreasonable; compare with B1=1 (200%).

How do I find a % difference between two numbers (comparing 20
 

Ok but what happens then if you are trying to use the data to predict future
data...let's say for sales projections based on prior year percents of change
and then using the average of those percents of change? If you suddenly have
300% growth this will throw all other years out of alignment and the average
will be way too high.

" wrote:

"Officer Steve" wrote:
How do I find the percent difference between two numbers.

=(A1-B1)/B1

where column B is "before" (old) and column A is "after" (new).
Remember to format the cell as Percentage if you want "%".

Sometimes I have a zero which throws the forumlas
I've used off.

=IF(B1 = 0, "something", (A1-B1)/B1)

The question only you can answer is: what is "something"?
I like the following:

=IF(B1 = 0, A1, (A1-B1)/B1)

Thus, if B1 is 0 and A1 is 3, the result will be 300%. Purists
will tell you that is wrong: you cannot have a percentage
increase over 0; and mathematically, they are correct. But
the alternative is to display something that is inconsistent
with all other cells where B1 is not zero. If you are okay
with that, fine. I prefer consistency, and I think 300% is
not unreasonable; compare with B1=1 (200%).

How do I find a % difference between two numbers (comparing 20
 

On Oct 27, 1:49*pm, lstreet wrote:
Ok but what happens then if you are trying to use the data to predict future
data...let's say for sales projections based on prior year percents of change
and then using the average of those percents of change? If you suddenly have
300% growth this will throw all other years out of alignment and the average
will be way too high.

Did you have zero sales last year? I fail to see how this issue will
impact normal calculations, as there would be no need for an altered
formula. Even if you are talking about a business that doesn't exist
yet, perhaps creating a business plan, you will start from actual
assumptions, not $0.

And you do know that the thread is more than 2.5 years old.