incorrect calculation

[Robin]

I am experiencing a bizarre phenomenon in Excel. I received a file from a
customer and there is an instance where, multiplying two cells together, the
answer is incorrect by about 0.02%. I am dealing with large numbers so I
cannot ignore this. I am not a beginner with Excel and have checked all
possibilities such as ensuring cell format is number and not text, etc. Its
almost like its rounding the values off in the background, but its not. Has
anyone got any ideas?

[bj]

is it set for precision as displayed?
what are the numbers that are being multiplied together and what are the
results?

"Robin" wrote:

> I am experiencing a bizarre phenomenon in Excel. I received a file from a
> customer and there is an instance where, multiplying two cells together, the
> answer is incorrect by about 0.02%. I am dealing with large numbers so I
> cannot ignore this. I am not a beginner with Excel and have checked all
> possibilities such as ensuring cell format is number and not text, etc. Its
> almost like its rounding the values off in the background, but its not. Has
> anyone got any ideas?

[Ron Rosenfeld]

On Wed, 21 Sep 2005 04:14:01 -0700, "Robin" <Robin@discussions.microsoft.com>
wrote:

>I am experiencing a bizarre phenomenon in Excel. I received a file from a
>customer and there is an instance where, multiplying two cells together, the
>answer is incorrect by about 0.02%. I am dealing with large numbers so I
>cannot ignore this. I am not a beginner with Excel and have checked all
>possibilities such as ensuring cell format is number and not text, etc. Its
>almost like its rounding the values off in the background, but its not. Has
>anyone got any ideas?

How large are the numbers?

Are you running into Excel precision limitations?

What numbers are you multiplying and what are the results?

When you look at the accuracy of the calculation, you need to look at the
numbers with regard to the precision Excel is using for the process (15 decimal
places) and not the displayed number.


--ron

[Jerry W. Lewis]

I am not aware of any instances where Excel's basic arithmetic does not
work correctly. Please post your equation.

Jerry

Robin wrote:

> I am experiencing a bizarre phenomenon in Excel. I received a file from a
> customer and there is an instance where, multiplying two cells together, the
> answer is incorrect by about 0.02%. I am dealing with large numbers so I
> cannot ignore this. I am not a beginner with Excel and have checked all
> possibilities such as ensuring cell format is number and not text, etc. Its
> almost like its rounding the values off in the background, but its not. Has
> anyone got any ideas?

[Robin]

It turns out the "precision as displayed" box was ticked. This has corrected
the problem. Thanks for the useful tips.

"Jerry W. Lewis" wrote:

> I am not aware of any instances where Excel's basic arithmetic does not
> work correctly. Please post your equation.
>
> Jerry
>
> Robin wrote:
>
> > I am experiencing a bizarre phenomenon in Excel. I received a file from a
> > customer and there is an instance where, multiplying two cells together, the
> > answer is incorrect by about 0.02%. I am dealing with large numbers so I
> > cannot ignore this. I am not a beginner with Excel and have checked all
> > possibilities such as ensuring cell format is number and not text, etc. Its
> > almost like its rounding the values off in the background, but its not. Has
> > anyone got any ideas?
>
>