Percentages
Every percentage recipe — calculate, increase, decrease, percent of total, year-over-year, market share, percent of target achieved.
22 pages · 21 how-to, 1 error fix
How-to guides
How to calculate a percentage
Work out what percentage one number is of another with a simple division, then format the result as a percent. Same in Excel and Google Sheets.
How to calculate percentage change
Find the percentage increase or decrease between two numbers with (new − old) / old, then format as a percent. Works in Excel and Sheets.
How to add a percentage to a number
Increase a number by a percentage with number × (1 + rate) — handy for tax, markup, or raises. Same in both apps.
How to calculate a cumulative percentage
Use a running SUM divided by the total SUM to build a cumulative percentage column in Excel or Google Sheets.
How to calculate attendance percentage
Divide attended sessions by total sessions and multiply by 100 to get attendance percentage in Excel or Google Sheets.
How to calculate the percentage of target achieved
Divide actual results by the target goal to calculate percentage of target achieved in Excel or Google Sheets.
How to calculate a percentage of a percentage
Multiply two percentages together correctly in Excel and Google Sheets to find a percentage of a percentage.
How to calculate the percentage of a total
Divide each value by the total using SUM with an absolute reference to find every item's share of the whole as a percentage.
How to calculate the percentage difference between two numbers
Calculate the relative percentage difference between two values using (new-old)/old, expressed as a percentage.
How to subtract a percentage from a number
Multiply a value by (1 minus the percentage) to subtract a percentage discount or reduction in one step.
How to increase a number by a percentage
Multiply a value by (1 plus the percentage) to apply a percentage increase such as a price rise or markup.
How to work out what percentage one number is of another
Divide the part by the whole to find what percentage one number represents of another, then format as a percentage.
How to calculate percentage complete
Divide completed units by total units to track progress as a percentage, useful for project management and task tracking.
How to calculate year-over-year growth
Calculate YoY growth by dividing the current year's value minus the prior year's value by the prior year's value.
How to calculate month-over-month growth
Compute MoM growth by comparing each month's value to the prior month using (current - prior) / prior, formatted as a percentage.
How to calculate market share
Divide a company's sales by total market sales to compute its percentage market share using simple division and percentage formatting.
How to calculate actual vs target percentage
Learn how to easily calculate the percentage difference between actual and target values using Excel or Google Sheets.
How to calculate month-over-month change
Learn how to calculate month-over-month changes using simple formulas in Excel and Google Sheets with step-by-step instructions.
How to calculate profit margin percentage
Learn how to calculate the profit margin percentage using simple formulas in both Excel and Google Sheets with step-by-step instructions.
Excel ≠ SheetsHow to calculate employee attendance percentage
Learn how to calculate employee attendance percentages using Excel and Google Sheets with step-by-step instructions and formulas.
How to format a number as a percentage
Learn how to easily convert decimal numbers into percentages in both Excel and Google Sheets with step-by-step instructions.