Excel - Calculate the change between values in percentage

Introduction

Would you like to find the percentage difference between values? Perhaps you want to see the difference between figures from year to year, for example, we have 15% more calls than last year. To do this you can use the formula:

=(B2-A2)/B2

The following are the steps I took to create the above:

• I created two columns, 2012 and 2013
• I entered values for each column
• I entered the formula =(B2-A2)/B2 in C2
• I dragged C2 down so that the formula filled the cells C3 to C5
• I formatted Column C as a Percentage %

I've used simple values so you can see the formula is working. In fact this is a good general tip when you are working with Excel formulas.

NOTE: Instead of formatting the cell as a Percentage %, an alternative is to put % on the end of the formula, for example:
=(B2-A2)/B2%

...the above would give a percentage formatted result without having to use Format Cells.

Absolute or Not?

In our above example cell A4 (2012) has a larger value than B4 (2013). This means our result is a minus (“-11%” in our example). It indicates a drop and that might be what you want. Perhaps you need to distinguish between an increase and decrease between the values. In this case the above formula is fine.

However, there are times when you just want to show the percentage as a ‘change’ or the ‘difference’. In this case you can use the ABS() function. The ABS() function removes the minus ("-") sign from the result. Here's an example formula: 

=ABS(B2-A2)/B2

In the above example you can see the result is now 11% and not -11%.

Excel Version?

I used Excel 2013 in this example but this will work for Excel 2010 and earlier versions too.

Excel 2010 - highlight every two rows

Highlight every other row

Excel 2010 makes it easy to add stripes to your worksheet to help with readability. Click Home | Format As Table (click here for help on this) and select a layout - instantly every other row is a different colour.

Every two rows

But what if you'd like to highlight every two rows? Sometimes this can be useful if data comes in pairs perhaps. In this case you can use conditional formatting. Here's an example:

In my example I have a table of data, the first row is my header (City, Country, County). I don't want my header to be included in the highlighting (stripes) so the first thing to do is:

1.  Select all the data excluding the header (as shown above)

2.  Click Conditional Formatting (on the Home menu)

3.  Click New Rule (as shown in the above screen shot)

4.  Click Use a formula to determine which cells to format

5.  Enter the formula:
=MOD(ROW()+0,4)<2

6.  Click the Format button and select a background colour (in my example above I selected blue)

7.  Click OK - you'll see something similar to the following:

Every two rows are highlighted blue! 

You can adapt this formula for different combinations of rows if you wish. Try it yourself and experiment to find what is useful to you.

References

Highlight every other row (stripes) for readability - use Format as Table.

http://office.microsoft.com/en-001/excel-help/format-an-excel-table-HA010013769.aspx

Epson Stylus Photo R265 all three buttons flashing

If all three lights on your Epson Stylus Photo R265 (or other similar printer) start flashing, here's what to check:



1.  Make sure the paper feed lever is up. If it is down then the printer will expect a CD/DVD for printing. If the lever is in the down position then switch off the printer, move it up and switch on the printer again.



2.  Check the printer driver properties to ensure it is not set to print to CD/DVD (assuming you want to print to paper).



3.  If you are printing from Word check in the Page Setup and ensure paper is set and not the CD/DVD - it should be set to the Default tray. This may seem obvious but I had an experience myself where I opened an old Word document and tried to print it. Previously for sure I'd printed to normal paper but this time all three lights on the printer flashed, I was in trouble! Upon checking Word's Page Setup I found it was set to CD/DVD - very strange. In other words, this is well worth checking, follow the steps below:

a)  In Word 2010 click Page Layout

b)  Click the Page Setup arrow button - as shown in the above screen shot

c)  Make sure your screen looks like the above - Default tray (Sheet)




Reference:
Epson's list of 'flashing light' error codes for the R265 printer:
http://support.epson-europe.com/onlineguides/en/spr265/html/trble_1.htm

Unable to complete the operation BadRequest : The password for user has expired

When you launch an application (PowerPoint for example) if you get the following message:

Unable to complete the operation.
BadRequest : The password for user ' ' has expired. Please contact the Enterprise Connect Administrator for instructions on changing the password.

...it is from OpenText Enterprise Connect. This is the MS Office integration software for the OpenText document management system (which presumably your organisation/company uses).

The solution is to change/reset your OpenText document management password.