"cascading" formula

[Kathy A]

I am summing a row of cells to calculate return mail over
a range of days. Each day's outgo number is multiplied by
a different return rate (this is vertical); each day's
incoming mail is a "slice" across a different point in
each day's outgo. This sum needs to be in column format
to link to another sheet which forecasts daily totals
across different types of mail. Is there any way when
dragging this formula down the column, that I can have it
include one additional column to the right with each row
down? (Other than changing the cell reference manually in
the formula bar, which is incredibly tedious...) There
has to be a way to automate this.
Thanks,
Kathy

 

[Vasant Nanavati]

To keep it simple, let's say cell A1 contains the formula:

=B1

and when you drage it down, instead of:

=B2
=C2

etc., you want:

=C1
=D1

and so on.

Change the original formula in A1 from:

=B1

to:

=OFFSET($B$1,0,ROW()-ROW($A$1))

Dragging this formula down column A will give you the results you need. Be
careful, though; inserting rows and columns may mess up the references.