The Book-keepers Forum (BKF)

Post Info TOPIC: Rounding on Excel spreadsheets


Senior Member

Status: Offline
Posts: 180
Date:
Rounding on Excel spreadsheets
Permalink Closed


Hi

I've been having a problem with some "pre-course" excersises.

By default, Excel seems to round up.
As far as I know,  VAT is always rounded down.
How do you get around this ?


cheers




__________________
Bob Sharp


Forum Moderator & Expert

Status: Offline
Posts: 11981
Date:
Permalink Closed

Use the function ROUNDDOWN rather than ROUND in your formulae.

.......A
1 26.9
2 (8.8)
3 15.5492

For example, in column B1 put the formula =rounddown(a1,0) would result in 26, not 27 being returned
Similarly =rounddown(a3,2) would result in 15.54 rather than the 15.55 that would normally be returned when taking precision down to two decimal places.

Shaun.

P.S. had to edit it as it scrunched all of the spaces together. In the real world ignore the dots. Basically A is the column, 1,2,3 are the rows.


-- Edited by Shamus on Tuesday 19th of January 2010 02:00:26 PM

__________________

Shaun

Responses are not meant as a substitute for professional advice. Answers are intended as outline only the advice of a qualified professional with access to all relevant information should be sought before acting on any response given.



Senior Member

Status: Offline
Posts: 180
Date:
Permalink Closed

Shamus wrote:

Use the function ROUNDDOWN rather than ROUND in your formulae.


Similarly =rounddown(a3,2) would result in 15.54 rather than the 15.55 that would normally be returned when taking precision down to two decimal places.



Great,   thanks mate.  handshake.gif

 

This is what I've used for the VAT column ...  =ROUNDDOWN((F15*0.175),2)

 

 

 



__________________
Bob Sharp


Senior Member

Status: Offline
Posts: 180
Date:
Permalink Closed

Hi

My Problem has been that my VAT answers rarely matched the textbook answers.

Now I have another problem,  2 results don't match ...  
a)  calculating VAT on individual items and totalling.
b)  calculating VAT on invoice total.



Net VAT Gross
0.21 0.04 0.25
0.21 0.04 0.25
0.21 0.04 0.25
0.21 0.04 0.25
0.21 0.04 0.25
1.05 0.20 1.25
1.05 0.18 1.23


Which is the correct method ?  

What formular is used so that both results are the same ? confuse

cheers




__________________
Bob Sharp


Forum Moderator & Expert

Status: Offline
Posts: 11981
Date:
Permalink Closed

Morning Bob,

I assume that the 0.04 came from the book?

The actual answer to .21 *.175 is .3675 * 5 is .18375 rounded down is .18.

Both answers are correct. On an individual basis .04 is the closest. On an accumulated basis it's .18.

Calculated in reverse from .25 the answer is different. .25 *7/47 = .037234 resulting in a net figure of .212766 which would have resulted in a total of 1.06 rather than 1.05.

In this instance where every value is the same you have a problem in that rounding up and rounding down don't average the figures as would be the case in most real life situations.

If you want the figures to add correctly the answer for your case is to use the calculations in the VAT field rather than typing .04 in the field. When totaled the 5 * .04 will total .18, not .20.

Same with the Gross column. Add calculations rather than typed in values from the book.

You could show the precision to more than two decimal places but we don't tend to do that in normal bookkeeping and rounding errors are something that is born providing that such is reasonable.

If you think about the VAT return they don't even want to know about the pennies, only the pounds.

Hope that this helps mate,

cheers,

Shaun.







__________________

Shaun

Responses are not meant as a substitute for professional advice. Answers are intended as outline only the advice of a qualified professional with access to all relevant information should be sought before acting on any response given.



Senior Member

Status: Offline
Posts: 180
Date:
Permalink Closed

Thanks for that,  but I'm still not clear about the right way to set up VAT calculations on a spreadsheet to do some BK excercises. 



Maybe I'm being confused by   ...    on an invoice it is possible to have items that should go to different Accounts in the books.  
eg:   supply of a new computer that also has paper and spare ink, staples. etc.    




__________________
Bob Sharp


Forum Moderator & Expert

Status: Offline
Posts: 11981
Date:
Permalink Closed

Hi Bob,

see what you mean in that for some items on an invoice may be VATable whilst others may not.

Good example might be an invoice for Software at 17.5% VAT and books to train you in use of the software at 0% VAT.

The HMRC website states that :

For each different type of item listed on the invoice, you must show:

* the unit price or rate, excluding VAT
* the quantity of goods or the extent of the services
* the rate of VAT that applies to what's being sold
* the total amount payable, excluding VAT
* the rate of any cash discount
* the total amount of VAT charged

Therefore, it would seem for a mixed invoice you need to put the VAT rate (17.5%, 15%, 5% etc.) against each line item rather than on the line directly below net as is normal practice.

The net total would be the total of all line items as normal but the VAT figure would be the sum of all VAT items at each applicable rate. So, in the freaky situation where you had VAT at 17.5% and 5% and Exempt you would have seperate VAT totals for 17.5% VAT and 5% VAT.

There of course wouldn't be any confusion from VAT line items not totaling up to the VAT total.

Example (1) Standard Case
Description .       Price .              Qty
.           Amount
Office 2007 75.00 5 375.00
Net 375.00
VAT @ 17.5% 65.63
Invoice Total 440.63
Example (2) Simple Mixed Case
Description VAT Rate .             Price .                 Qty .  Amount
Office 2007 17.50% 75.00 5 375.00
Teach Yourself Office 2007 0.00% 15.00 10 150.00
Net 525.00
VAT 65.63
Invoice Total 590.63
Example (3) Multi rate mixed case
Description VAT Rate .             Price .                 Qty .  Amount
Planning software 17.50% 75.00 5 375.00
Heating System Valve 5.00% 12.00 2 24.00
Heating System Widgets 5.00% 4.00 20 80.00
Teach yourself plumbing 0.00% 15.00 10 150.00
Net 629.00
VAT @ 17.5% 65.63
VAT @ 5% 5.20
Invoice Total 699.83


Hope that the above makes sense,

cheers,

Shaun.

P.S. had to edit it a couple of times as lost some of it's formatting. Contents are still the same though.

-- Edited by Shamus on Monday 1st of February 2010 01:41:50 PM

-- Edited by Shamus on Monday 1st of February 2010 01:44:40 PM

-- Edited by Shamus on Monday 1st of February 2010 01:48:23 PM

-- Edited by Shamus on Monday 1st of February 2010 02:07:04 PM

__________________

Shaun

Responses are not meant as a substitute for professional advice. Answers are intended as outline only the advice of a qualified professional with access to all relevant information should be sought before acting on any response given.

Page 1 of 1  sorted by
 
Quick Reply

Please log in to post quick replies.

Tweet this page Post to Digg Post to Del.icio.us
Members Login
Username 
 
Password 
    Remember Me  
©2007-2024 The Book-keepers Forum (BKF). All Rights Reserved. The Book-keepers Forum (BKF) is a trading division of Bookcert Ltd. Registered in England Company Number 05782923. 2 Laurel House, 1 Station Rd, Worle, Weston-super-Mare, North Somerset, BS22 6AR, United Kingdom. The Book-keepers Forum and BKF are trademarks of Bookcert Ltd. This forum is a discussion forum only. There will usually be more than one opinion to any question and any posting should not be viewed as a definitive solution. No responsibility for loss occasioned to any person acting or refraining from action as a result of any posting on this site is accepted by the contributors or The Book-keepers Forum. In all cases, appropriate professional advice should be sought before making a decision. We reserve the right to remove any postings which are offensive, libellous, self-promoting or engaged in covert marketing. We will not notify users of removals. The views expressed in the forum posts are those of the individual and do not necessary reflect or agree with those of The Book-keepers Forum. Any offensive or unsuitable posts will be removed by the moderators. Any reader of this forum can request for a post to be looked into by sending an email to: bookcertltd@gmail.com.

Privacy & Cookie Policy  About