Total Novice Needs Help

**Onlyblue** · 06-15-2012, 11:36 AM

Hi all,

I have what I'm sure you will think is a very simple question. I've never used excel for anything more than making tables.

I've joined a new company which uses excel to maintain a customer 'database', on each line it has, customer number, company, contact person, telephone etc etc, with each one in a different box. The customer list is very long and it is saved as its own file.

They keep a record of what each customer spends in another excel file. At the moment they have a print out of the customers and EVERY field is inputted manually into the new excel files which are created daily.

Is there a way to input any one of the pieces of info (name or contact etc) into the spending sheet and then the remainder of the line to be filed in by reading from the customer 'database' file?

Many thanks in advance,

Alan

**jeffreybrown** · 06-15-2012, 11:44 AM

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**amotto11** · 06-15-2012, 11:46 AM

Yes there is a way, all you need is a vlookup.

What you are going to do is open the 'database file' then open the new file that you are filling in. In A1, or whichever you choose, place the customers name. Then in the next cell over, you are going to write this formula

=VLOOKUP($A1,The file name and the cells that you are needing, the number of column you are looking for, False)

The A1 is to reference the cell with the users name, then the file name part all you have to do is switch over to the other file via Alt+tab, then select all of the names by clicking the first one and drag all the way down, then all the way over to the last column in the database, this should put something like this into your formula ('Database!'A1:F2000), you are going to want dollar signs around all of the values to look like this $A$1:$F$2000, then put a comma and enter the column of the data you want including the first column, then comma then FALSE, the false is so that excel will search for the exact name.

Example formula would be =vlookup($A1,'Database!'$A$1:$F$2000,2,FALSE)

Next keep writing the names of the people in and dragging your formula down in the other column. to go accross the columns you will drag your formula over and just change the number , third thing in formula, to the numbered column on the other sheet. Please let me know if this makes sense. If not please attach your two doccuments and i will do it for you.