Calculate Discounts and Costs After Discounts

In this video, you will use formulas to calculate your discounts and the cost of each item after discounts.

When you are ready to calculate the discounts and costs of your items, make sure you are accurate.

If you are making a number of purchases for an event or activity, you will want to know exactly how much money you or your group will need.

Using formulas in your spreadsheet to calculate percentages for you will help keep your calculations error-free.

Discounts and coupons allow you to reduce the cost of an item by a certain percentage.

The dollar value of that percentage will vary depending on the cost of the item.

Knowing what the dollar value is can give you a better understanding of just how much you will save when the discount is applied.

To begin, add a formula to the first cell in your “Dollar Amount of Savings” column to calculate your first discount amount.

Formulas in a spreadsheet use cell references, such as C2, for their calculations.

Formulas will automatically use the numbers within the cells being referenced, so if you change the numbers, the calculations will automatically update.

Continue adding formulas for each discount calculation, changing the cell references for each.

Because the discount rates are formatted as percentages, formulas take care of the conversions.

Otherwise, you’d have to convert to decimals first.

You can also copy a cell with your formula...

and paste it into another cell in the same column.

The formula will stay the same...

but the cell references will automatically update to match the new row.

If you have to change any of your prices or discount percentages, you do not have to redo any of the calculations.

You can update the numbers in the Cost or Discount columns, and the formulas will update automatically.

Next, use a different formula to calculate the total cost of each purchase after the discount percentage has been applied.

To do this, subtract the dollar amount of savings from the original cost of the item.

Repeat this formula for each item, changing the cell reference when necessary.