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Excel case: the monthly budget

October's card export is on Spending; the monthly budget for each category is on the Budget sheet. The export typed some categories with stray spaces and odd capitals, and transfers to savings aren't spending.1. In D2:D41, each category without the stray spaces.2. In G2:G7, how much was spent in each category.3. In H2:H7, each category's budget from the Budget sheet.4. In I2:I7, the share of the budget used; in J2:J7, "Over" when spending went past the budget, otherwise "OK". Spending exactly the budget is OK.5. In G9, the category that used the largest share of its budget.

62 Case: the monthly budget Case, five steps Advanced

spending.xlsx
Ready

Click a cell while typing to insert it, drag to select a range, F4 adds $, Esc cancels.

Tap a cell while writing a formula to insert it, or slide across cells for a range. The strip above the keyboard has = ( ) : , $.

The Case, five steps guide

A month of card transactions, typed categories with stray spaces and odd capitals, transfers to savings mixed in, and a budget on another sheet. The question at the end: which category used the largest share of its budget? It isn't the one that went over by the most money.

AdvancedAbout 3 minutesBy Updated

What the question asks

"Largest share of its budget" is spending divided by budget. A big category can go over by more money and still use a smaller share: $144 over a $600 budget is less, in share, than $120 over $300. Decide which number answers the question before you start.

Step by step

  1. Clean the categories. =TRIM(B2). " Groceries" and "Groceries " with spaces don't match "Groceries" in a SUMIF. Capitals don't matter there, spaces do. See TRIM.
  2. Spent per category. =SUMIF($D$2:$D$41, F2, $C$2:$C$41), on the clean column, with the ranges locked before you fill down. Transfers have no row in the summary, so they stay out by themselves.
  3. The budget. =XLOOKUP(F2, Budget!$A$2:$A$7, Budget!$B$2:$B$7). The Budget sheet lists the categories in another order, so a plain =Budget!B2 picks up someone else's number.
  4. Share and status. =G2/H2 as a percent, and =IF(G2>H2, "Over", "OK"). Spending exactly the budget is OK, so the test is >, not >=.
  5. The answer. =INDEX($F$2:$F$7, MATCH(MAX($I$2:$I$7), $I$2:$I$7, 0)), or =XLOOKUP(MAX(I2:I7), I2:I7, F2:F7).

Check it once by hand

Filter the clean category column to Eating Out and look at the status bar's Sum. If it doesn't match G5, a category is still dirty or a range stops short.

Where it goes wrong

FAQ

How do I make a monthly budget in Excel?
List the transactions with a category, total each category with SUMIF, look up its budget, and compare: spending divided by budget gives the share used, IF(spent>budget,"Over","OK") the status.
Why does SUMIF miss some of my transactions?
Usually stray spaces in the category text. "Groceries " doesn't match "Groceries". Clean the column with TRIM and total the clean column.
How do I calculate the percentage of a budget used?
Divide what was spent by the budget, =G2/H2, and format the cell as a percent. Over 100% means over budget.
How do I find the category with the highest value?
Use =INDEX(categories, MATCH(MAX(values), values, 0)), or =XLOOKUP(MAX(values), values, categories).

All challenges

  1. 01Starter, 3 min Add it upSUM
  2. 02Starter, 3 min Find the averageAVERAGE
  3. 03Starter, 3 min Smallest and largestMIN, MAX
  4. 04Starter, 3 min Count what's thereCOUNT, COUNTA, COUNTBLANK
  5. 05Starter, 3 min Write once, fill downRelative references
  6. 06Core, 3 min Lock it with $Absolute references
  7. 07Starter, 3 min Percent of a totalPercentages
  8. 08Starter, 3 min Make the numbers readableNumber formats
  9. 09Core, 3 min Up or down by how much?Percent change
  10. 10Core, 3 min What you see vs what's storedROUND
  11. 11Core, 3 min The typical valueMEDIAN
  12. 12Core, 3 min Select to the end in one moveCtrl + Shift + arrow
  13. 13Starter, 3 min Sort without breaking rowsSort
  14. 14Starter, 3 min Filter to what mattersFilter
  15. 15Starter, 3 min Copy and paste a formulaCtrl+C, Ctrl+V
  16. 16Core, 3 min Paste values onlyPaste Special → Values
  17. 17Core, 3 min Highlight what's over targetConditional formatting
  18. 18Core, 3 min Spot the duplicatesDuplicate Values rule
  19. 19Core, 3 min Pass or fail?IF
  20. 20Core, 3 min Both or either?AND, OR
  21. 21Core, 3 min Exactly one of the twoXOR
  22. 22Core, 3 min Grade bands with nested IFNested IF
  23. 23Core, 3 min Count the ones that matchCOUNTIF
  24. 24Core, 3 min Add up the ones that matchSUMIF
  25. 25Core, 3 min Use a cell as the conditionCriteria in a cell
  26. 26Core, 3 min Partial matches with * and ?SUMIF, COUNTIF with wildcards
  27. 27Core, 3 min Count with two conditionsCOUNTIFS
  28. 28Core, 3 min Add up with two conditionsSUMIFS
  29. 29Core, 3 min Look it upVLOOKUP
  30. 30Core, 3 min Find the right bracketVLOOKUP approximate match
  31. 31Core, 3 min XLOOKUP, the modern wayXLOOKUP
  32. 32Core, 3 min Where is it in the list?MATCH
  33. 33Advanced, 3 min INDEX and MATCH togetherINDEX + MATCH
  34. 34Advanced, 3 min Lock just the row or the columnMixed references
  35. 35Advanced, 3 min Growth per year (CAGR)CAGR with ^
  36. 36Core, 3 min Use a rate from another sheetReferences to other sheets
  37. 37Core, 3 min Catch the error, not the bugIFERROR
  38. 38Core, 3 min Which invoices are missing?Compare two lists
  39. 39Core, 3 min Reconcile the ledger with the bankXLOOKUP or VLOOKUP + IFNA
  40. 40Core, 3 min Join text together&, CONCAT, PROPER
  41. 41Core, 3 min Split first and last namesLEFT, MID + FIND
  42. 42Core, 3 min Stray spaces that break a countTRIM
  43. 43Core, 3 min Flag the bad entriesTRIM, LEN, EXACT
  44. 44Advanced, 3 min Clean a bank descriptionTEXTBEFORE, TEXTAFTER, PROPER
  45. 45Core, 3 min Mistake hunt: #N/A everywhereFixing #N/A
  46. 46Core, 3 min Mistake hunt: hard-coded numbersReferences instead of typed numbers
  47. 47Core, 3 min Mistake hunt: numbers stored as textNumbers stored as text
  48. 48Core, 3 min One of each, then the totalsUNIQUE
  49. 49Core, 3 min Your first pivot tablePivot tables
  50. 50Advanced, 3 min Which category went up most?SUMIFS, change, lookup
  51. 51Core, 3 min How many days late?Date arithmetic
  52. 52Core, 3 min Turn text into real datesDATEVALUE
  53. 53Advanced, 3 min Month ends and working daysEOMONTH, NETWORKDAYS
  54. 54Core, 3 min Renewal datesEDATE
  55. 55Core, 3 min Days overdue and aging bandsDate difference, aging bands
  56. 56Core, 3 min How many late orders?Pick the tool
  57. 57Core, 3 min Sales per repPick the tool
  58. 58Core, 3 min Whose part is it?Pick the tool
  59. 59Core, 3 min Who gets the bonus?Pick the tool
  60. 60Core, 3 min Each region's sharePick the tool
  61. 61Advanced, 3 min Case: the supplier reportCase, five steps
  62. 62Advanced, 3 min Case: the monthly budgetCase, five steps
  63. 63Advanced, 3 min Case: the reorder listCase, five steps

The whole course, in order.

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