# Excel help needed (again!) **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [October 25, 2005, 7:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/excel-help-needed-again/327787 "2005-10-25T07:01:38Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 7\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Dog80](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/6bbea6/32.png) [@Dog80](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dog80)\ **Post date:** [October 25, 2005, 7:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/excel-help-needed-again/327787/1 "2005-10-25T07:01:38Z")
It is for the [tire price calculating sheet](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=333536). My suppliers have a fixed discount on tires, about 25%. This is the value in the M column. But once a month, there are some special offers on selected tire sizes, usually an extra 5%. Is there any way to have a separate column for those special offers (eg. column P) and modify the formula so that if column P is empty the formula uses the regular discount from column M. But if P has a value it uses that instead of M? Is this possible/easy to do? Or am I better off by editing the M column directly? ---
**Author:** ![Mbossa](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/73ab20/32.png) [@Mbossa](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mbossa)\ **Post date:** [October 25, 2005, 7:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/excel-help-needed-again/327787/2 "2005-10-25T07:19:35Z")
I think the basic structure you are looking for is: =IF(ISBLANK(P1),M1,P1) where P1 is the special discount and M1 is the ordinary discount. Without looking at your linked thread in too much detail, I would say that the easiest way would be to put this formula in a new column, fill down, and refer to that new column in any discount calculations. ---
**Author:** ![QuizCustodet](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/q/7ba0ec/32.png) [@QuizCustodet](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/QuizCustodet)\ **Post date:** [October 25, 2005, 7:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/excel-help-needed-again/327787/3 "2005-10-25T07:31:42Z")
> [@Dog80](#): > > It is for the selected tire sizes, usually an extra 5%. Is there any way to have a separate column for those special offers (eg. column P) and modify the formula so that if column P is empty the formula uses the regular discount from column M. But if P has a value it uses that instead of M? I might be missing something, but it seems to me that the easiest way to do this is to have a ‘standard discount’ column and an ‘extra discount’ column. Say Tire Y is 30% off this week; you put 5% in the extra discount column and then multiply the original price by ‘standard discount’ + ‘extra discount’. For cases with no extra discount, you simply put zero in the ‘extra discount’ column. ---
**Author:** ![Dog80](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/6bbea6/32.png) [@Dog80](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dog80)\ **Post date:** [October 25, 2005, 9:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/excel-help-needed-again/327787/4 "2005-10-25T09:53:01Z")
Thanks for the answers! 😃 > [@Mbossa](#): > > Without looking at your linked thread in too much detail, I would say that the easiest way would be to put this formula in a new column, fill down, and refer to that new column in any discount calculations. I have already done this two-column thingie for another calculation so I would like to avoid doing it again. The sheet is too cluttered as it is. I think **QuizCustodet’s** solution is a bit simpler. Now I have a new question: I want to have on a different column the wholesale price of tires, but somehow disguised. If for example the price is 250,00 euros, I would like it to look like a code number such as A00250. The wholesale price is stored on column R ---
**Author:** ![don\_t\_ask](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e68b1a/32.png) [@don\_t\_ask](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/don_t_ask)\ **Post date:** [October 25, 2005, 9:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/excel-help-needed-again/327787/5 "2005-10-25T09:59:59Z")
Just use something like the RIGHT function. In column A you may have BR250 or BZ1001 so in column B put =RIGHT(A1,LEN(A1)-2) ---
**Author:** ![don\_t\_ask](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e68b1a/32.png) [@don\_t\_ask](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/don_t_ask)\ **Post date:** [October 25, 2005, 10:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/excel-help-needed-again/327787/6 "2005-10-25T10:01:00Z")
which uses all but the first 2 caharacters of the cell. ---
**Author:** ![Dog80](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/6bbea6/32.png) [@Dog80](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dog80)\ **Post date:** [October 25, 2005, 10:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/excel-help-needed-again/327787/7 "2005-10-25T10:18:30Z")
don’t ask, I want to do the opposite. I have the wholesale price and I want to disguise it 🙂 I managed to do it by right-clicking and Format Cells and choosing Custom. I 've put something like A00000 which, if the wholesale price is 250 euros gives A00250. Now the problem is that the cells do not transfer correctly to Access. They transfer as numbers.