tracking changes in percent

[thestackmonkey]

I need some help. The boss has asked me to create a spreadsheet that will track changes from month to month. I am close but my percent of change is not making any sense when there is a decrese form one month to the next. I am using formulas to make the cell color red for a decrease and green for an increase, however everything is coming up as green. Can anyone help? This is most likely simple for most, but I am a field tech, self teaching excel.
Thanks

Example
Value % of Change
Jan 300

Feb 100

March 200

 

[dixon1983]

Use conditional formatting.

Highlight the column from the second value to the last.

In conditional formatting use the formula is option and use : =A2>A3 then set the format to Red font.

add another conditon being =A2<A3 with Green font.

This should do it I think. Hth.

 

[Peter_SSs]

thestackmonkey

Is this what you want?

1. Format column C as Percentage (Format|Cells...|Number|Percentage|OK)
2. Formula in C3 (copied down): =(B3-B2)/B2
3. Select C3:C7 (Adjust to suit)
4. Format|Conditional Formatting...|Condition 1|Cell value is|Greater than|0|Format...|Patterns|choose green|OK|Add>>|Condition 2|Cell value is|Less than|0|Format...|Patterns|choose red|OK|OK

Mr Excel.xls
	A	B	C	D
1		Value	% Change
2	Jan	300
3	Feb	100	-66.67%
4	Mar	200	100.00%
5	Apr	200	0.00%
6	May	250	25.00%
7	Jun	200	-20.00%
8
Percentage Change

 

[thestackmonkey]

Thanks for the help. PERFECT!!