Why is the sum formula is not adding correctly?

  • Thread starter Thread starter justmeamw70
  • Start date Start date
J

justmeamw70

The additon in my formula is not adding correctly. When trying to add one
cell(1348.86) to another(556.86) it is equaling 1905.71 but the correct
answer is 1905.72

Can anyone explain why this is happening and how to fix it?
 
Are 1348.86 and 556.86 calcuated from other cells?

If so, it sounds like you probably have cell format set to Number with a two
decimal place limit. If this is indeed the case you are probably
experiencing a rounding fudge factor "error."

For example, if I enter the following into cells formatted to only two
decimals:

A1 B1 C1
10.505 10.505 =A1+B1

I get...

A1 B1 C1
10.51 10.51 21.01

But 10.51 + 10.51 = 21.02

Just a FWIW..
 
The additon in my formula is not adding correctly.
When trying to add one cell(1348.86) to another(556.86)
it is equaling 1905.71 but the correct answer is 1905.72
Can anyone explain why this is happening and how to fix it?
Click to expand...

Since you want the sum of the __displayed__ values, which are rounded
to 2 places apparently by format, you could do the following:

=round(A1,2) + round(A2,2)

You can also set the option to calculate Precision As Displayed (Tools
Options > Calculation in Excel 2003). Generally I discourage the
Click to expand...
use of that option because it can have some surprising results.

If you tend to round results in intermediate cells (A1 and A2), you
might get away with =A1+A2. But even then, I prefer to do
=round(A1+A2,2). That ensures that the internal representation is the
same as if the displayed value were entered directly. That ensures
that two cells with the same displayed value will compare equal.
 
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