Cell Format Problem

[jcliquidtension]

I'm working with a spreadsheet that is exported from a phone time-clocking
service. Basically, employees call a phone number, choose an option to
either punch in or out, and the service tracks these punches throughout the
week. At the end of the week, all data is exported into an Excel file that I
need to change into a different format to import into my payroll service's
software.

The problem I'm having is that the export sheet is some sort of text format.
For example, if I highlight a number of cells, the "sum" function in the
task pane will not add the numbers. However, if I hit "F2" and then "Enter"
in each cell, the format is changed and the numbers will calculate. If I try
to format the cells from the formatting tool (tools> format cells), nothing
changes. I actually have to hit F2 in each cell.

What can I do to change the entire spreadsheet in one step? I have 220+
rows and 8 columns of information that I'd have to F2 in each cell!!! Please
help!!

Thanks in Advance,
Jason

 

[Dave Peterson]

For some reason, these cells are being treated as text.

One way to fix the range
select an empty cell
Edit|copy
Select the offending range (all 220+ rows and 8 columns)
Edit|paste special|Add and values

You may even want to make sure the cells are formatted as numbers -- just in
case you need to modify an entry.

Format|cells|number tab|General (or anything but text).

You can double check your work...
=counta(a1:h222)
will return the number of cells with anything in them (text, numbers,
formulas--anything)

=count(a1:h222)
will return the number of cells that have numbers in them (values or what the
formulas evaluate to).

If there's nothing else (like headers/instructions/descriptions), these two
formulas should return the same value.