Referring to lookup arguments - best practice?

[Graemea]

Hi,


I have tabular data in A5:H11 and in rows 1:3 there are column heading references that are used in formulae in the table below to extract
data from other worksheets in the workbook.


I would like to move the lookup references out of rows 1:3 so that my table is a single range with no blanks in it.


There are two options:


1. Put the labels from rows 1:3 in the columns to the right of column H so that each product has its own set of lookup parameters in its row.
The downside is that this will greatly increase the number of columns and I'd like as far as possible for the table to be "clean" as colleagues
may use it for reference.


2. Put the lookup parameters from rows 1:3 in a another, dedicated worksheet and point the lookup formulae in the table to them. The downside
of this is that the complexity of the lookup formulae increases which may increase the chance of errors.


Can anyone please suggest which of these is the better way to proceed, or even offer a superior solution?


Finally, can anyone please suggest reading material that explains best practice when developing spreadsheets.


Thanks!