Here's another way to look at it. Say you have a list of prices, and you want to figure out what the tax on each item is at a 7.5% rate. You could put your list in column A. Then in B2, put the formula below:
| A | B | C | D | E | F | G | H | I | J |
---|
Cost | Tax | Cost | Tax | Cost | Tax | | | | | |
| | | | | | | | | | |
| | | | | | | | | | |
| | | | | | | | | | |
| | | | | | | | | | |
| | | | | | | | | | |
<colgroup><col style="width: 25pxpx"><col><col><col><col><col><col><col><col><col><col></colgroup><thead>
</thead><tbody>
[TD="align: center"]1[/TD]
[TD="align: right"][/TD]
[TD="align: right"]7.75%[/TD]
[TD="align: right"][/TD]
[TD="align: right"]7.75%[/TD]
[TD="align: center"]2[/TD]
[TD="align: right"] $ 20.00 [/TD]
[TD="align: right"] $ 1.50 [/TD]
[TD="align: right"][/TD]
[TD="align: right"] $ 20.00 [/TD]
[TD="align: right"] $ 1.55 [/TD]
[TD="align: right"][/TD]
[TD="align: right"][/TD]
[TD="align: right"] $ 20.00 [/TD]
[TD="align: right"] $ 1.55 [/TD]
[TD="align: right"][/TD]
[TD="align: center"]3[/TD]
[TD="align: right"] $ 30.00 [/TD]
[TD="align: right"] $ 2.25 [/TD]
[TD="align: right"][/TD]
[TD="align: right"] $ 30.00 [/TD]
[TD="align: right"] $ - [/TD]
[TD="align: right"][/TD]
[TD="align: right"][/TD]
[TD="align: right"] $ 30.00 [/TD]
[TD="align: right"] $ 2.33 [/TD]
[TD="align: right"][/TD]
[TD="align: center"]4[/TD]
[TD="align: right"] $ 25.00 [/TD]
[TD="align: right"] $ 1.88 [/TD]
[TD="align: right"][/TD]
[TD="align: right"] $ 25.00 [/TD]
[TD="align: right"] $ - [/TD]
[TD="align: right"][/TD]
[TD="align: right"][/TD]
[TD="align: right"] $ 25.00 [/TD]
[TD="align: right"] $ 1.94 [/TD]
[TD="align: right"][/TD]
[TD="align: center"]5[/TD]
[TD="align: right"] $ 100.00 [/TD]
[TD="align: right"] $ 7.50 [/TD]
[TD="align: right"][/TD]
[TD="align: right"] $ 100.00 [/TD]
[TD="align: right"] $ - [/TD]
[TD="align: right"][/TD]
[TD="align: right"][/TD]
[TD="align: right"] $ 100.00 [/TD]
[TD="align: right"] $ 7.75 [/TD]
[TD="align: right"][/TD]
[TD="align: center"]6[/TD]
[TD="align: right"] $ 19.95 [/TD]
[TD="align: right"] $ 1.50 [/TD]
[TD="align: right"][/TD]
[TD="align: right"] $ 19.95 [/TD]
[TD="align: right"] $ - [/TD]
[TD="align: right"][/TD]
[TD="align: right"][/TD]
[TD="align: right"] $ 19.95 [/TD]
[TD="align: right"] $ 1.55 [/TD]
[TD="align: right"][/TD]
</tbody>
Sheet1
[TABLE="width: 85%"]
<tbody>[TR]
[TD]
Worksheet Formulas[TABLE="width: 100%"]
<thead>[TR="bgcolor: [URL=https://www.mrexcel.com/forum/usertag.php?do=list&action=hash&hash=DAE7F5]#DAE7F5[/URL] "]
[TH="width: 10px"]Cell[/TH]
[TH="align: left"]Formula[/TH]
[/TR]
</thead><tbody>[TR]
[TH="width: 10px, bgcolor: [URL=https://www.mrexcel.com/forum/usertag.php?do=list&action=hash&hash=DAE7F5]#DAE7F5[/URL] "]B2[/TH]
[TD="align: left"]=A2*7.5%[/TD]
[/TR]
[TR]
[TH="width: 10px, bgcolor: [URL=https://www.mrexcel.com/forum/usertag.php?do=list&action=hash&hash=DAE7F5]#DAE7F5[/URL] "]E2[/TH]
[TD="align: left"]=D2*F1[/TD]
[/TR]
[TR]
[TH="width: 10px, bgcolor: [URL=https://www.mrexcel.com/forum/usertag.php?do=list&action=hash&hash=DAE7F5]#DAE7F5[/URL] "]I2[/TH]
[TD="align: left"]=H2*J$1[/TD]
[/TR]
</tbody>[/TABLE]
[/TD]
[/TR]
</tbody>[/TABLE]
Then copy cell B2, and paste it to B3:B6. Now look at cell B3. The formula becomes =A3*7.5% which is what you want. You don't want it to still say =A2*7.5% because that would give you the same answer as the B2 cell, which we already have. So that's why Excel has relative referencing, so that you can write a formula once, and have it apply to a large range of data.
Now say that the tax rate changes to 7.75%, and you need to change the formulas. You could change the A2 cell again, then paste it down the column again, but that seems like a lot of work, especially if you know the rate may change again in the future. So let's put the tax rate in F1, put F1 in the formula instead of 7.75%, then if it ever changes in the future, we just need to change F1, not all the formulas. So in D put the prices, and in E2 put =D2*F1. Looks good so far, we get $1.55. Now copy E2 and paste down the column. Hey, they're all zero! What gives? Look at the formula in E3. It says =D3*F2. There's nothing in F2, so we get D3*0 = 0. The helpful relative referencing that Excel did for us before is now working against us. How can we tell Excel that we want the D2 reference to change as we paste it to different cells, but keep the F1 cell fixed as we paste it to other cells? In other words, make it an absolute reference?
That's done by putting a $ sign in front of the part that you want to keep fixed. So finally put your prices in H, and =H2*J$1 in I2. Copy I2 and paste down. Now you get the right answers. But if you paste the formula to a different column, you'll get the wrong answer again, because I only fixed the row reference, not the column reference.
It can take a little while to wrap your head around the concept. Sometimes you have to stop and think about which row and/or column you want fixed. Just practice and it will get easier.