Treat Blank cell as zero when dividing

[HakeemJones]

I have a blank cell that i created using an if statement (=IF(A1=0,1,"")), now i want to use the blank cell i created to another formula but i am getting the following error (#VALUE!) how do i solve this problem?

[Glenn Kennedy]

Will you please attach a SMALL sample Excel workbook (10-20 rows of data is usually enough)? Please don't attach a picture of one (no-one will want to re-type all your stuff before starting).

1. Make sure that your sample data are truly REPRESENTATIVE of your real data. The use of unrepresentative data is very frustrating and can lead to long delays in reaching a solution.

2. Make sure that your desired solution is also shown (mock up the results manually).

3. Make sure that all confidential information is removed first!!

4. Try to avoid using merged cells. They cause lots of problems!

Unfortunately the attachment icon doesn't work at the moment. So, to attach an Excel file you have to do the following: Just before posting, scroll down to Go Advanced and then scroll down to Manage Attachments. Now follow the instructions at the top of that screen.

[Monimonika]

There are a few ways this can be done, but first thing to understand is that having the result "" inside a cell is NOT the same as a blank cell. A blank cell has nothing in it, so it can evaluate to zero in calculations. If the cell instead has "", it is text (not a number) so cannot be used in calculations as-is.

Here are two ways to go about this:

1) Change (=IF(A1=0,1,"")) to (=IF(A1=0,1,0)) and just change the formatting of those cells so that zeroes are hidden.
or
2) Keep (=IF(A1=0,1,"")) as is, and instead change the formulas that refer to the cell (let's call it B2), from B2 to IF(B2="",0,B2).