Ron,

Thanks again! I never would have figured that one out. I've not heard of
ISNA before.

Thanks also for the Data Validation suggestion. I have that in place in
other areas of the spreadsheet, and it would do weel in this use, too.

You've been a huge help! Have a good weekend!

Thanks,
Doug

"Ron Coderre" wrote:

> First, a technical point: a formula will NEVER leave a cell blank. "Blank"
> means contains nothing. A formula is not nothing.
>
> Second...continuing with my posted example:
>
> Try this standard approach to avoiding displayed errors:
> B1: =IF(ISNA(VLOOKUP(A1,LU_TaxID,2,0)),"",VLOOKUP(A1,LU_TaxID,2,0))
>
> That formula makes the cell appear blank.
>
> Does that help?
>
> ***********
> Regards,
> Ron
>
> XL2002, WinXP-Pro
>
>
> "blasds78" wrote:
>
> > Thanks, Ron! That helped.
> >
> > I have one last thing I'd like to change. If I input nothing into a cell,
> > how do I get rid of the "#N/A" and just have a blank cell?
> >
> > Thanks,
> > Doug
> >
> > "Ron Coderre" wrote:
> >
> > > Yes, it seems like VLOOKUP will do what you want.
> > >
> > > Try this:
> > >
> > > On a separate sheet, create a 2-column list of state abbreviations and TaxIDs
> > > Since it's good practice to use range names in these situations:
> > > select the 2-col list
> > > <Insert><Name><Define>
> > > Names in workbook: LU_TaxID
> > > Refers to: (your already selected list range)
> > > Click the [OK] button
> > >
> > > Next, on your input sheet...
> > > Assuming you input a State Abbreviation in A1
> > > B1: =VLOOKUP(A1,LU_TaxID,2,0)
> > >
> > > That formula will search the first column of the LU_TaxID range for the
> > > state abbreviation in A1 and return the corresponding TaxID.
> > >
> > > One other tip. You might want to consider using Data Validation for the
> > > State Abbreviations to ensure that only valid abbreviations are used.
> > > See Debra Dalgleish's Contextures website for instructions:
> > >
> > > http://www.contextures.com/xlDataVal01.html
> > >
> > > Does that help?
> > >
> > > ***********
> > > Regards,
> > > Ron
> > >
> > > XL2002, WinXP-Pro
> > >
> > >
> > > "blasds78" wrote:
> > >
> > > > I'm a novice at this function.
> > > >
> > > > We send money to the department of revenue for each state. Each state has
> > > > an assigned "account" number. My spreadsheet has a column in which a state
> > > > abbreviation should be typed. If I enter the state abbreviation "MO", I
> > > > would like to have the corresponding "account" number appear in the adjacent
> > > > cell.
> > > >
> > > > Is this the best function to use? And, if so, how do I get it to work? I
> > > > keep getting error messages with this.