How to Add or Subtract Percentages in Excel – Step by Step Guide

Introduction to Percentage Operations in Excel

Percentage Operations

It is important to understand percentage calculation as it is used in everyday tasks. Percentages are used in budget planning, sales data, survey reports, etc. They not only help you in number crunching but also in making smart decisions.

How Excel stores Percentage

When I type in a percentage in Excel, it automatically converts it into a decimal form. For example, if you 10%, Excel will store it as 0.1. This allows you to maintain consistency across calculations and avoid frequent misunderstandings that can occur when performing manual adjustments.

Add or Subtract Percentage in Excel

Addition

You can use basic arithmetic operations to add a percentage to a number. The formula will be:

= number * (1 + percentage)

This method will efficiently add a percentage to the value.

Subtraction

To subtract a fixed percentage from a value, you can use the formula:

= number * (1 – percentage)

This formula is helpful when you need to reduce a price, budget, or any numerical value by a fixed percentage.

Advanced Calculations

Increase Column by a Percentage

When you are working with large datasets where you need to add or subtract a percentage from the entire column, follow the steps below:

• Select the column
• Enter the formula
• Use the fill handle to apply it to the entire column

All the values in the column will be updated. This method is useful as it saves time and provides consistency across the data.

Negative Percentages

Negative percentages are handled in the same way as positive percentages, but you need to keep a sharp eye. The difference lies in how you interpret the results. They are used to show declines, losses, or unfavourable variances.

Tips & Tricks

Format Numbers as Percentages

Clear data presentation is important in data analysis. You need to format numbers as percentages to make them easier to understand. This allows you to comminicate message clearly without any confusion.

Avoiding Common Errors

It is important to avoid common errors so that you get an accurate result in Excel. You should use brackets in the formula according to the order of operations. This forces Excel to follow the order as per the brackets only. This method is useful when your formula has multiple steps or combined calculations.

FAQs

How to add percentages in Excel?

You can add a percentage in Excel by multiplying the original number by (1 + percentage). For example, to add 10% to 100, you can use the formula:

= 100 * (1+ 0.1)

= 110

How to subtract a percentage from multiple cells?

To subtract a percentage from multiple cells in Excel, follow the steps below:

• Input the values in column A.
• Input percentage as a decimal in cell C1.
• Use the formula: =A1*(1-$C$1)
• Drag the fill handle down.

This will subtract a percentage from the entire column.

How to reduce a number by a fixed percentage?

You can subtract a percentage in Excel by multiplying the original number by (1 – percentage). For example, to subtract 10% to 100, you can use the formula:

= 100 * (1 – 0.1)

= 90

How to take 20% off a price in Excel?

You can reduce the price by 20% using this formula:

=Price*(1-0.20)

For example, if an item costs $50, the discounted price will be:

= 50 * (1 – 0.20)

= 40

How does Excel handle percentages?

Excel treats percentages as decimal values. For example, when you type 10% in a cell, Excel converts it to 0.1.

John Michaloudis

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John Michaloudis is a former accountant and finance analyst at General Electric, a Microsoft MVP since 2020, an Amazon #1 bestselling author of 4 Microsoft Excel books and teacher of Microsoft Excel & Office over at his flagship MyExcelOnline Academy Online Course.