Entering Data

What Can Go in a Cell?

A cell can contain alpha and numeric values that are typed directly into a cell, representing the literal value of the number or character in the cell. An example of a constant number might be something like $43,043 or 9/18/94. A character entry might be a person's name such as "John Smith".

Data can also be entered as formulas (sequences of cell references, names, functions, or operators). Formulas always begin with an equal sign (=). A possible formula would be of the form: =sum(j3:j43), where you are telling Excel to sum the data found in cell j3 through j43. We'll learn more about formulas and how to construct them later.

Entering Data

Now that you have created a new worksheet, you are ready to begin entering data into the cells.

In this sample workbook you create, you will be working on a budget for a fictitious department here at NCSU. The first sheet in the budget will reflect Income and Expenses; the second sheet will reflect a breakdown of TA and RA salaries. This type of project lends itself well to having several sheets within a workbook.

Exercise: Entering Data In cell A1, enter Office Worksheet for the Department. (If you make a mistake, click on the undo arrow on the toolbar.) Press enter to move to the next line. Move to cell A2 and enter Income. Move to cell A3 and enter State Funds; continuing on down in Column A, enter the following categories: Cell A4, Grant Overhead Returns Cell A5, Student Fees Cell A6, Other Cell A7, Total Income Cell A8, Expenses Cell A9, Faculty salaries Cell A10, TA and RA salaries Cell A11, Part-time salaries Cell A12, Computer purchases Cell A13, Office supplies Cell A14, Phone Cell A15, Travel Cell A16, Total Expenses Cell A17, Monies to be Returned Move to cell B3 and enter 500000 (don't enter any commas or $ signs; you will format later) Move to cell B4 and enter 150200 continuing on down in Column B, enter the following amounts: Cell B5, 25000 in student fees Cell B6, 3000 in other Do not enter a total income; you will use the sum function for that. Move to cell B9 and enter 400200 continuing on down in Column B, enter the following amounts: Cell B10, 100000 in TA and RA salaries Cell B11, 50000 in part-time salaries Cell B12, 70000 in computer purchases Cell B13, 3000 in office supplies Cell B14, 5000 in phone Cell B15, 50000 in travel Don't enter data into the Total Expenses or a Monies To Be Returned; we will create a formula that allows Excel to figure that out for us in the Using Formulas section. Also, don't worry about the fact that some of the data and figures spill over into the next column. We will enlarge the columns when we apply formatting to the page.