Is there a way to insert a formatted calculation into Excel 2010 without using an image?

Posted by Ryan Taylor on Super User See other posts from Super User or by Ryan Taylor
Published on 2012-03-29T15:03:49Z Indexed on 2012/03/29 17:33 UTC
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I am maintaining a list of database column names, notes, and their calculations in an Excel 2010 spreadsheet. The calculations are included so as to document how to derive the values for the various columns and not for calculations within the spreadsheet.

I have been entering the calculations into the cells simply as unformatted text like so:

100 - ((FiscalYearRegionConsumption - BaselineRegionConsumption) / (GoalRegionConsumption - BaselineRegionConsumption)) * 100

However, for long and/or complex calculations this could become rather unreadable. To improve readability and comprehension I would like to "pretty" print the calculation in an Excel cell. This would result in formatting that would like like this:

Pretty printed calculation

The only solution I have come up with is to:

  1. Write the calculation in another application such as Word
  2. Take a screenshot of said calculation
  3. Past the screenshot into Excel

The primary concern with this approach is maintenance. Should the calculation change or need correction I have to update two different sources of information.

Is there a better way included a formatted calculation into an Excel cell?

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