Need help tracking a project using a seperate worksheet as company index

[hmc907]

I am an excel novice. I am trying to set up sheets to be able to reference an index sheet. Worksheets are set to track company ownership in a lease. On the index page I put company name and assign a number. On the worksheets instead of writing the name of the company that owns it i put in the formula ='Company Index'B12. The problem is I need to keep adding companies to the company index sheet and be able to sort it. When I do this under the current formula it changes the number to reflect what is now in B12 instead of the company "x" I am hoping to track. Is there a way to permanently assign companies a number that can be inserted into other worksheet page. Further, if I sort that company name, can I get my assignments to maintain the proper number?

[FDibbins]

Hi, welcome to the forum

Take a look at using the VLOOKUP() or INDEX/MATCH functions

If you still have a problem, upload a small (clean) sample workbook (not a pic) of what you are working with, and what your expected outcome would look like.

[hmc907]

Thanks for the advice. I am still a bit lost. You can see on the upload what I am working with. If I go to re-sort my company index all the numbers are altered in the Unit spreadsheet that it is attached to. Is there a way that no matter what cell Pan American 16 is in, it can be referenced on the Unit page. I tried to use the index, but am a bit confused by the array thing. Any clues on how to fill out the formula properly would be great!