How do you multiply a percent?

[arkan01d]

I have a program for finding the short rate of a cancellation and I've run into a snag.

Sub ShortRating()
    'for short rate
    Dim Factor As Double
    Dim ShortFactor As Double

    Factor =    0.988950276 
        
    Factor = 1 - Factor
    ShortFactor = Factor * 0.5
    Factor = Factor + ShortFactor
    
    Msgbox Factor
    
End Sub

When I run this, my Factor goes in as 0.01149 then once I multiply the ShortFactor it shows up as 5.745. How do I multiply 50%? I tried adding zeros and as you can see I tried storing the value in a variable and I tried putting quotes around it. I'm kind of at a loss. On a calculator I should be coming up with 0.0005745

[Norie]

Strange, when I run your code ShortFactor comes out as 0.494255 and Factor as 1.482765.

If I calculate, in the debug window, ShortFactor*0.5 I get 0.005745, which is also the result I get on a calculator.

Have you perhaps got a typo here?

ShortFactor = Factor * 0.5

PS Can you please use code tags, it's kind of a forum rule?

[arkan01d]

Sorry for not using code tags. I'm new to the forums and new to programming in general. I cleaned up my code a little bit. I set the value of factor that comes into this sub. If I type this out on the calculator I end with a factor of 0.016574. However this program outputs 1.6574. What am I typing incorrectly here?

[shg]

The number is being displayed in scientific format (1.67...E-2).

Try

MsgBox Format(Factor, "0.0000%")

[Norie]

Eh, you''ve kind of totally changed the code.

Anyway, if I run through your code Factor comes out as 1.65745860000001E-02 which is 0.0165745860000001.

Or 1.6574 * 10^-2 if you like.

[arkan01d]

Oh ok, it's in scientific format. So how do I get it back to a normal number so that I can use it to acurately calculate a total? I'm using that factor * a premium to get the acutal amount that was due at time of cancellation. Say the total premium was $900 I multiply that by the factor to get the actual amount due. With a factor of 0.016574586 it's $14.91. With the factor in scientific format I'm getting $1,491.71. That's a big difference.

Do I need to change the data type of Factor?

[Norie]

The number 0.01657... is the same as 1.657E-2, they are just formatted differently.

If I try this formula in Excel.

=900*1.657E-2

the result is 14.91, not 1,491.

How are you doing the calculation?

[arkan01d]

    premiumdue = Factor * premiumpaid

Well I just ran it again and got the right answer. There seems to be something going on after that, that's outputting the incorrect answer. Thank you very much for your help. At least I know I didn't do that part wrong

[Norie]

I think it might be the formatting that's confusing.

Also, when you are working with very small amounts Excel can sometimes switch to scientific format.

Try using the Format function to get the result formatted as you want it.

MsgBox Format(premiumdue, "Currency")