Use Excel’s AutoSum button to add up rows and columns with just one click

Let’s say you have a table containing expenses for each quarter. You need the total of each quarter column and you need the total of each expense row. Did you know that you can sum all the rows and columns with just one click?

To add the rows and columns of this or any table with just one click, start by selecting the table. Be sure to include the column and row that will contain the totals in your selection. Then click on the AutoSum button in the Home ribbon, and your totals for the rows and columns will appear. See below for a screenshot showing you what to select and where the AutoSum button is located.

This is an excellent, time-saving feature if you need to add up several rows and columns of data in your gradebook. It can also be a powerful tool to share with your students as they prepare for their internships.

The AutoSum feature is the same for both Windows and Mac.

— Wendy Tietz, CPA, CGMA, Ph.D., is a professor of accounting at Kent State University in Kent. Ohio; Jennifer Cainas, CPA, DBA, is an instructor of accountancy at the University of South Florida in Tampa; and Tracie Miller-Nobles, CPA, is an associate professor of accounting at Austin Community College in Austin, Texas. See their site AccountingIsAnalytics.com for resources they have developed for teaching data analytics in introductory accounting. To comment on this article or to suggest an idea for another article, contact senior editor Courtney Vien at Courtney.Vien@aicpa-cima.com.