problem calculating percentages in excel for mac

[Pete]

Hi I am trying to calculate percentage ownership of a company for a school project. we know the total will always equal 100 percent, but the total number of shares may vary if we issue additional shares. i set up 3 columns:
shareholder number of shares percentage
A B C

total 1,500,000

 

[Pete]

Sorry hit send too early:

Hi I am trying to calculate percentage ownership of a company for a school project. we know the total will always equal 100 percent, but the total number of shares may vary if we issue additional shares. i set up 3 columns:

1 shareholder number of shares percentage

2 A B C
3 Joe 500,000 =B3/B6
4 Sally 500,000 =B4/B6
5 Mike 500,000 =b5/b6
6 total 1,500,000 100%

so right now, columns c has the cell to the left of it in column b divided by the total at the bottom of column b. the total can change each time i add or subtract shares.

but every time i try to make the formula automatic, i get an error message that i'm dividing by zero. instead of dividing each time by B6, C4 ends up dividing B4 by b7 (which is blank) and C5 divides B5 by B8, which is also blank. How do i get them all to be divided by the same denominator, B6?

thanks - Pete

 

[Tom]

Sorry hit send too early:








so right now, columns c has the cell to the left of it in column b divided by the total at the bottom of column b. the total can change each time i add or subtract shares.



but every time i try to make the formula automatic, i get an error message that i'm dividing by zero. instead of dividing each time by B6, C4 ends up dividing B4 by b7 (which is blank) and C5 divides B5 by B8, which is alsoblank. How do i get them all to be divided by the same denominator, B6?



thanks - Pete

Have you tried locking the cell you want to divide by (B6)? by using $ signs in front $B$6

That will make it an "absolute reference"