Calculating percent change in Excel is a necessary skill for those dealing with data. This article will illustrate the quick way to calculate percent change in Excel, useful for analyzing sales figures, stock prices, and other info.
What is Percent Change?
To calculate percent change, compare two values (e.g. sales figures for two different years) and divide the difference by the original value. Then, multiply the result by 100 to express the change as a percentage.
The Shortcut Method
Calculate percent change in Excel quickly by using this formula:
=((new value/old value)-1)*100
Let’s break down this formula:
- New value: This is the value that you want to compare to the old value. For example, if you’re comparing sales figures for two different years, the new value would be the sales figures for the most recent year.
- Old value: This is the original value that you want to compare to the new value. Using the sales figures example, the old value would be the sales figures for the previous year.
- Divide: Divide the new value by the old value.
- Subtract: Subtract 1 from the result of the division.
- Multiply: Multiply the result by 100 to get the percentage.
Example
Let’s say you want to calculate the percent change in sales figures from 2019 to 2020. The sales figures for 2019 were $100,000 and the sales figures for 2020 were $125,000. Using the formula above, we can calculate the percent change:
=((125000/100000)-1)*100
The result is 25%, which means that the sales figures increased by 25% from 2019 to 2020.
Conclusion
Calculating percent change in Excel is easy with the formula method. This shortcut is useful for analyzing sales, stock prices, and any other data. Knowing how to calculate percent change is an important skill for anyone who works with data.
