Debugging complex formulas in Excel 2007

Debugging complex formulas in Excel 2007 can get very tricky, especially when a slight difference in the use of parentheses, for example, can significantly change the result of the calculation.  Excel 2007 provides a handy feature that allows you to debug a formula.

Keep in mind that Excel follows the standard order of precedence for calculations: percentages, exponents, multiplication, and division are performed in that order before calculating addition and subtraction. At other times, if you have IF statements (especially if they're nested), it's very difficult to follow how the formula is being evaluated.  If you'd like to verify how Excel evaluates a formula by stepping through the process, do the following:

1)  Select the cell where the formula is located
2)  Cick the Formulas ribbon, and then click Evaluate Formula in the Formula Auditing section.
3)  Click the Evaluate button to watch as each part of the formula is successively calculated
4)  Verify that each step of the calculation is being performed the way you intend it to.

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