1

CreatingaBudgetinExcelWewillbelearninghowtocreateabudgetusingsimpleformulasinExcel.

1.Createlists:• Title“Item”inC5• Undertheitemlistthepurchase

andtypethemintoexcelunderacolumntitled“Item”.

• Create5rowsofitems,C6throughC10.

• Then,createtwomorecolumnstitled“Cost”,“Quantity”,“TotalCosts”.

2.Entertheitem’scostandquantitydesiredundertheappropriatecolumn.

3.FormulaofTotalCostsColumn:Next,wewillenteraformulathatwillcalculatethetotalcostofeachitem.

• Writetheformulainthe“TotalCost”column.

• Selectthecellthatyouwanttheformulatogoin(inthiscase“F6”).

• Type“=”(Thisistellingthecomputerthatweareenteringaformulaintothecell.)

• Then,typethetwocellsyouwanttomultipletogether.Example:=(D6*E6).TheasterisksymbolinExcelmeanstomultiply,whichmeanswearetellingthefiletomultiplythevalueofD6andE6.

2

4.Pressthe“Enter”keyandthefilewillmultiplythevaluesofthetwocellstogether.

5.Draggingtheformula:BecausethesameformulaisneededinF7,F8,F9,andF10,wecandragtheformulafromF6intotheothercells.

• Selectthecellthatcontainstheformulayouwanttodrag(inthiscase,F6).

• Takeyourcrosshairatthebottomrighthandcornerofthecell,clickanddragitdowntothelastcellyouneedtheformulatoappear.Theformulahasbeencopiedtoeachcellandwillnowmultiplythevaluesdirectlytotheleft.

6.GrossCost:Createacellwiththewords“GrossCost”atthebottomofthecharttotheright.

• Inthecellunderneathit,type“6%PAsalesTax”.

• Belowthat,type“NetCost”.

3

7.CalculatingGrossCost.TheGrossCostisthecostoftheitemsminussalestaxandShippingandhandling.Therefore,weneedtoaddtogetherthecostsoftheitemstofindoutthegrosscost.

• SelectthecellthatyouwanttheGrossCosttoappearin.ClicktheΣ symbollocatedinthetoolbar.Aformulawillappearinthecell.

• Highlightthecellsyouwanttoaddtogether(inthiscaseF6‐F10).Thecellnameswillautomaticallybeputintotheformula.Pressenterandthefilewillautomaticallyaddtogetherthetotalcostofyouritems.

8.SalesTax:PAsalestaxis6%orindecimalform(.06).Inordertofindwhatoursalestaxwillbe,wemustmultiplyourtotalcostby6%.

• Sinceourtotalcostappearsincell“H12”,weneedtomultiplythatcellby6%.

• Selectthecellyouwantthesalestaxtoappearin.Type“=(“,whichagainmeansthatwearetypingaformula.Then,type“=(H12*.06)”.Again,the*inExcelmeansmultiplication,whichmeanswearetellingthefiletomultiplythevalueofH12by6%.Push“Enter”andthesalestaxwillappearinthecell.

4

9.NetCost:Next,wewilltotalthe“NetCost”,whichisthetotalcostincludingtax.

• SelectthecellyouwanttheNetCosttoappearin.

• ClicktheΣsymbolatthetopofthepage.Highlightthecellsyouwanttoaddtogether(inthiscaseH12‐H13).

• Push“Enter”andtheNetCostwillbecalculatedinthecell.

10.Using$symbol:Lastly,weneedtoincludethedollarsymbol($)nexttoallofourmoneyvalues.

• Highlightthecellsthatcontainmoneyvalues.

• Thenclickthe“$”symbolinthetoolbarabovethedocument.Thevalueswillthenincludetwodecimalplacesandthe“$”symbolinfrontofit.