For a project manager, it is critical to know immediately
if too much money is being spent somewhere.
Identifying items that are over budget lets you
make adjustments before the whole project gets off track.
This can be difficult, especially on a project that lasts for months
or years and has many line items and expenses.
In this video, you will highlight negative numbers in another color using conditional formatting.
This lets you see potential budget problem areas at a glance.
Conditional formatting changes the format of numbers or text in spreadsheet cells
if a certain condition is true.
In this case, the conditional formatting will turn numbers red if they are negative.
To begin formatting, highlight the numbers in the Net column.
Change the numbers format to accounting
so negative numbers are placed in parentheses.
Conditionally format the cells.
The cell range you highlighted should show in the window.
If it doesn’t, click the range box, and highlight the cells you will format.
The rule that triggers the formatting in this case is a negative number, or less than zero.
Enter less than...
...and zero as the 2 parts of the condition.
The formatting style is the color of the font.
Choose the color you want to display when the conditional formatting rule is met.
In this case, turn the numbers red.
Click done.
Negative numbers in the Net column turn red!
Apply this same conditional formatting to the cells at the top of your sheet
containing the totals, so you can see if your overall budget is on track or in trouble.