Find the Numbers

I'm not a "huge" football fan but What a Weekend... The Colts WON! And then of course I had to watch Minnesota and the Saints. Imagine... getting to the superbowl for the first time ever based on a field goal!

Okay... back to work. I wanted to share a tip that one of my customers emailed me. I thought you might find it useful. I call it FIND THE NUMBERS.

If you have a spreadsheet with numbers and formulas and you need to update certain "input" numbers each month and

1) you want to make sure that they are all updated
and
2) you don't want to waste time clicking on a cell only to discover it is a formula or worse yet- overwrite it in error

then this tip is for you.

• Open the spreadsheet
• Go to Edit >Goto Special if you have Excel 2003 or go to Find & Select >Go to Special if you have Excel 2007
• In the dialog box, put a checkmark in constants and one in numbers

• Click OK - Excel then selects just the cells that contain numbers - the Input cells you need to change
• Click the fill button (paint can) and apply a color or change their font color.
• As you update and change the number, remove the color formatting you applied.

By the end of the month, all the colors should be gone and you can be confident that your spreadsheet is up to date.

Nice tip Chris. Thanks.

Additional Comment Added : 1/26/10

If you have Excel 2007, you can do this even a little bit faster. Click on Find and Select and click on Constants. It will select all the constants. Apply a color such as light blue or green and you are done.

If you have a tip to share, drop me a line at patricia@cpaselfstudy.com