
Next, we'll need to create a conditional formatting rule that looks for cells containing a value less than zero. In our example, we’ll add conditional formatting.įirst, make sure the values in column D are selected. You may want to experiment with different methods to see which one you think is the clearest.

We could filter the data to only show rows that have a negative result.There are a few different ways we could make the over-budget items more noticeable. …Do you think you could make the over-budget items stand out more?"Ĭarter is right: Although this spreadsheet gives us an answer, it isn't very easy to read. "Hmm… this works, but it's hard to tell which items are over budget at a glance… So for the first category, the formula to compare these values would be: Our projected expenses are in column B, and our actual expenses are in column C. We could also say this category is $1,000 over budget. In our example, we expected to spend $14,000 on Facilities, and we actually spent $15,000. If the result is negative, then we know that category is over budget.

In our example, we could simply subtract the actual cost from the projected cost. One way to compare two values is to subtract one from the other. Now we just need to decide how to represent this idea in a formula.

If the actual cost is higher than the projected cost, then it is over budget. How do we know if something is over budget? In this example, we can compare the projected and actual costs. Before we try to create our formulas, let's think about the question we're trying to answer: "Which expenses are over budget?"
