Creating a Formula with conditions

[princess1_116]

I apologize if this is a repeat.

I am trying to compare a monetary value from one column to another column.
However, I am running a worksheet with auto-filters because I have quite a
bit of data including every line item from a 76 page invoice. I am trying to
find the difference between different months and years. For example, I want
to compare the total of one line item from July 2008 to the same line item in
July 2009. But then lets say I want to be able to compare the same line item
from July 2008 to July 2007. However, I want to be able to filter out
everything but that one line item. I want to be able to do this for every
single line item (rows) and for all and individual months(columns). I hope
this makes sense. Can anyone help me write a formula? Obviously, I'm not
very proficient at Excel. I have Excel 2003. Please help!

 

[Sean Timmons]

This would depend on the actual format of the file you have.

Are all dates in one line?

Is every month listed across all columns?

If so, sounds like you're just needing to do a quick =M1-A1 in a blank
column? That would be Jan vs. Jan (assuming you started with January in
column A and have one month per column).

Then, you can just copy and paste along the columns to get Feb 07 vs Feb 08,
March 07 to March 08, etc...

 

[princess1_116 via OfficeKB.com]

It looks something like this:
July 08 Qty Jun 08 $ July 08 Qty July 08 $ July 09 $ Difference
510008.96 $413,290.97 $493,325.71


However, what if I want to compare June 09 to June 08? If I have a formula
for July, do I have to change the formula for June, etc? I want something
that I don't have to change the formula every single time. I just want to
enter some type of comparison critera. Is this even possible? Do I have to
put a difference column after each month? Thanks for your help.

This would depend on the actual format of the file you have.

Are all dates in one line?

Is every month listed across all columns?

If so, sounds like you're just needing to do a quick =M1-A1 in a blank
column? That would be Jan vs. Jan (assuming you started with January in
column A and have one month per column).

Then, you can just copy and paste along the columns to get Feb 07 vs Feb 08,
March 07 to March 08, etc...

I apologize if this is a repeat.

[quoted text clipped - 9 lines]

this makes sense. Can anyone help me write a formula? Obviously, I'm not
very proficient at Excel. I have Excel 2003. Please help!