A running total with SUM
One formula, filled down, that shows the balance after every line.
Task:
You are tracking a project budget week by week and want to see how much has gone out so far after each week, not just at the end. In C2 put a running total of the spend, and fill it down to C7.
Interactive Spreadsheet
Hints
+5 XPno-hints bonusSolve it on your own to keep the bonus. Each hint gets one step closer to the formula.
Variations of SUM
0/4The same formula in the other shapes it takes at work.
- Basic SUM Function
A total is the first thing anyone asks a spreadsheet for.
CoreBeginner - SUM over two separate ranges
Add two blocks of figures without dragging the subtotal between them into the total.
Beginner - A running total with SUM
One formula, filled down, that shows the balance after every line.
Intermediate - SUM across a row and over a block
Totals run sideways as often as they run down.
Beginner
The data in this exercise
This is the grid you start with. Cell references in the task — B6, C2 — point at the row numbers and column letters below.
| A | B | C | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Week | Spend | Spent so far |
| 2 | Week 1 | 1200 | |
| 3 | Week 2 | 850 | |
| 4 | Week 3 | 1430 | |
| 5 | Week 4 | 0 | |
| 6 | Week 5 | 990 | |
| 7 | Week 6 | 1515 |
What this exercise teachesMay contain the answer
The dollar signs fix the top of the range while the bottom moves with the formula. That is the whole trick: the same formula in every row, and each copy reads a range one row longer than the one above it. Adding the previous total to this week's spend works too, but it breaks the moment someone sorts or deletes a row.