Accounting Number Format in Excel – How to Apply it to Selected Cells

As a full-stack developer and professional coder, you‘re likely no stranger to working with financial data. Whether it‘s budgets, invoices, or revenue reports, properly formatting monetary values is crucial for clarity and professionalism. Excel‘s accounting number format is a powerful tool for this purpose. In this in-depth guide, we‘ll cover not only how to apply accounting format, but also the technical details of how it works and some pro tips for leveraging it in your coding projects.

Understanding Excel‘s Number Formatting System

Before we dive into the specifics of accounting format, it‘s helpful to know a bit about how Excel handles number formatting under the hood.

Internally, Excel stores all numeric data as floating point numbers (specifically, 64-bit double precision floats following the IEEE 754 standard). The number format you apply then tells Excel how to display that underlying value in the cell.

Excel keeps the number format separate from the actual data. You can think of it like a "mask" that Excel puts over the real value when displaying the cell. This is important to understand because it means:

1. Number formatting is purely visual – it doesn‘t change the underlying value
2. You can apply number formatting to any numeric data, regardless of what that data represents
3. If you reference a formatted cell in a formula, Excel uses the actual underlying value, not the formatted display

With that background in mind, let‘s take a closer look at accounting format.

What is the Accounting Number Format?

The accounting number format in Excel is a special case of the more general currency number format. Like currency format, it displays numeric values with:

• A currency symbol (like $)
• Comma separators between groups of thousands (like 1,000)
• Two decimal places by default (like 1,000.00)

However, accounting format has a few unique features that set it apart:

1. It aligns the currency symbols and decimal points of all values in a column
2. It displays zero values as dashes (-)
3. It displays negative values in parentheses

Here‘s a comparison table showing how accounting and currency formats display various values:

Value	Accounting Format	Currency Format
1234.5678	$1,234.57	$1,234.57
0	–	$0.00
-1234	($1,234.00)	($1,234.00)

As you can see, accounting format focuses on aligning values in a column, which is why it‘s the preferred format for financial statements and reports. The dashes for zero and parentheses for negatives also help these values stand out visually.

Applying Accounting Format in Excel

With that understanding of what accounting format is and does, let‘s look at how to actually apply it in an Excel spreadsheet.

Via the Ribbon

The most straightforward way is to use the Accounting button in the Number group on the Home tab of the ribbon:

1. Select the cell(s) you want to format
2. Go to the Home tab
3. In the Number group, click the dropdown arrow next to the Accounting button
4. Choose the desired currency symbol

Via the Format Cells Dialog

For more control over the specific options, you can use the Format Cells dialog:

1. Right-click the cell(s) and choose Format Cells (or press Ctrl+1)
2. In the Format Cells dialog, select the Number tab
3. Choose Accounting from the Category list
4. Specify the desired Symbol, Decimal places, and other options
5. Click OK to apply

Via a Keyboard Shortcut

You can also apply accounting format quickly with this keyboard shortcut:

1. Select the cell(s)
2. Press Ctrl+Shift+$

This applies the default accounting format (currency symbol based on your locale settings, two decimal places).

Programmatically with VBA

As a developer, you may need to apply accounting format programmatically to cells using VBA (Visual Basic for Applications) code. Here‘s how:

‘ Applies accounting format with $ symbol and 2 decimal places
Range("A1").NumberFormat = "_($* #,##0.00_);_($* (#,##0.00);_($* ""-""??_);_(@_)"

The .NumberFormat property sets the number format code for a cell or range. The code for accounting format looks complex, but it‘s just specifying the format for positive, negative, zero, and text values (separated by semicolons).

When to Use Accounting Format

As a general rule, use accounting format anytime you‘re working with financial data that you want to display in a tabular format, like:

• Financial statements (balance sheets, income statements, cash flow statements, etc.)
• Budgets and expense reports
• Invoices and bills
• Tax returns and schedules

Any time you want to clearly align currency values in a column for easy scanning and comparison, accounting format is your best bet.

Accounting Format and Your Coding Projects

Even if you‘re not primarily working in Excel, understanding how to properly format monetary values is an important skill for any developer who deals with financial data.

Many programming languages have built-in types or libraries for handling currency values, like:

• The decimal type in C# and Visual Basic
• The BigDecimal class in Java
• The Money gem in Ruby
• The pythonmoney package in Python

However, when outputting financial data (whether to a file, a report, or a web page), how you format those values matters. Following the conventions of accounting format will make your data easier to scan and understand.

For example, consider this HTML table of invoice totals:

<table>
  <tr>
    <th>Invoice #</th>
    <th>Date</th>
    <th>Total</th>
  </tr>
  <tr>
    <td>INV-001</td>
    <td>2023-01-15</td>
    <td>$1,234.50</td>
  </tr>
  <tr>
    <td>INV-002</td>
    <td>2023-02-01</td>
    <td>($79.99)</td>
  </tr>
  <tr>
    <td>INV-003</td>
    <td>2023-02-15</td>
    <td>$0.00</td>
  </tr>
</table>

By aligning the currency symbols and decimal points, using parentheses for negatives, and displaying $0.00 for a zero value (instead of a dash), this table adheres to the principles of accounting format, making it as clear and professional as it would be in Excel.

Tips for Working with Accounting Format in Excel

Finally, here are a few tips and best practices to keep in mind when using accounting format in Excel:

• Be consistent: Use the same formatting for all financial values in your workbook. Mix and matching formats will only lead to confusion.
• Adjust column widths: Accounting format can sometimes result in values that are wider than the default column width. Be sure to adjust column widths as needed to avoid #### symbols.
• Use cell styles: If you‘re using accounting format frequently, consider creating a cell style for it to make it easy to apply consistently.
• Understand regional differences: Currency symbols and other formatting conventions can vary by country/region. Be aware of these differences and format accordingly if your data will be viewed internationally.
• Keep an eye on decimals: Excel drops insignificant digits after the decimal point, so 0.90 displays as 0.9 with accounting format. Use multiple decimal places to avoid this if needed.

Conclusion

Accounting number format is a vital tool for any Excel user who works with financial data. By understanding what it is, how it works, and when to use it, you‘ll be able to create clearer, more professional spreadsheets. As a developer, you can carry those same principles forward into any coding project that involves handling and displaying monetary values.

Whether it‘s in Excel, HTML, or any other context, well-formatted financial data is essential for effective communication and decision-making. Add the accounting format to your toolkit and use it consistently to ensure your numbers always look their best.