Adding months to dates should account for 28-30-31 day months

[Guest]

When working with the DATE function to subtract one month from a given dat,
using the following string:
=TEXT(DATE(YEAR(Report_Date),MONTH(Report_Date)-1,DAY(Report_Date)),"mmm yy")
& " YTD Actual", the formula doesn't fully take account of different length
months.

If I use the date 31/10/06 the prior month returned is still October. To
correct this I have to use 30/10/6 instead, then check each instance of the
formula to ensure all report headings are correct.

----------------
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[daddylonglegs]

Try

=TEXT(Report_Date-DAY(Report_Date),"mmm yy")


...or if you have Analysis ToolPak installed you can use

=TEXT(EDATE(Report_Date,-1),"mmm-yy") or
=TEXT(EOMONTH(Report_Date,-1),"mmm-yy"

 

[Bob Phillips]

Try

=TEXT(MIN(DATE(YEAR(Report_Date),MONTH(Report_Date)-{1,0},(DAY(Report_Date)*
{1,0}))),"mmm yy")&" YTD Actual"

--
HTH

Bob Phillips

(remove nothere from email address if mailing direct)

When working with the DATE function to subtract one month from a given dat,
using the following string:
=TEXT(DATE(YEAR(Report_Date),MONTH(Report_Date)-1,DAY(Report_Date)),"mmm yy")
& " YTD Actual", the formula doesn't fully take account of different length
months.

If I use the date 31/10/06 the prior month returned is still October. To
correct this I have to use 30/10/6 instead, then check each instance of the
formula to ensure all report headings are correct.

----------------
This post is a suggestion for Microsoft, and Microsoft responds to the
suggestions with the most votes. To vote for this suggestion, click the "I
Agree" button in the message pane. If you do not see the button, follow this
link to open the suggestion in the Microsoft Web-based Newsreader and then
click "I Agree" in the message pane.

http://www.microsoft.com/office/com...dg=microsoft.public.excel.worksheet.functions

 

[Ron Rosenfeld]

When working with the DATE function to subtract one month from a given dat,
using the following string:
=TEXT(DATE(YEAR(Report_Date),MONTH(Report_Date)-1,DAY(Report_Date)),"mmm yy")
& " YTD Actual", the formula doesn't fully take account of different length
months.

If I use the date 31/10/06 the prior month returned is still October. To
correct this I have to use 30/10/6 instead, then check each instance of the
formula to ensure all report headings are correct.

----------------
This post is a suggestion for Microsoft, and Microsoft responds to the
suggestions with the most votes. To vote for this suggestion, click the "I
Agree" button in the message pane. If you do not see the button, follow this
link to open the suggestion in the Microsoft Web-based Newsreader and then
click "I Agree" in the message pane.

----------------------

Microsoft solved this problem a long time ago by distributing the Analysis Tool
Pak. I have heard rumors that it will be an integral part of Excel12 and not
even require that you navigate to Tools/Add-ins and check the already appearing
option.

I suspect that Microsoft does not respond to many suggestions because, if they
are like this and similar messages frequently posted here, there is so much
"noise" embedded with the useful suggestions that even useful one's may get
ignored or overlooked.

Rather than appending a message with useless boiler-plate, it would be best to
first find out if the so-called suggestion has already been fixed.
--ron