Significant figures

[Ronald C. Antweiler]

Say I have a number like 11745. Is it possible to have Excel display 12000
but internally remember that the real number is 11745? The ROUND function
definitely does NOT work, since it ALWAYS truncates the number. Obviously,
this is possible in the case of a number like 0.11745: it is simple to have
Excel DISPLAY 0.12, but remember 0.11745. Is it possible to do this with big
numbers?

 

[Dave Peterson]

That particular number might be possible.

Try a custom format of #,"000"

the #, says to show in thousands. The "000" means to always add the characters
"000" to whatever the format is.

For the decimal, you can just use a Number format with 2 decimals.

Select your cells and Format|Cells|Number Tab.

I think that the big numbers will work ok. But try that custom format with a
number like 123.

You'll see: 000

Which might not be acceptable for you.