Number formats (currency, percentage, date) in Google Sheets - Real Business Scenario

Scenario Mode

👤 Your Role: You are a sales analyst at a retail company.

📋 Request: Your manager wants a clear report showing sales amounts as currency, commission rates as percentages, and sale dates in a friendly date format.

📊 Data: You have a table with sales data including the sale date, sales amount, and commission rate as a decimal.

🎯 Deliverable: Create a formatted sales report where sales amounts show as currency, commission rates as percentages, and dates as 'Month Day, Year'.

Sample Data

Sale Date	Sales Amount	Commission Rate
2024-01-15	1500	0.05
2024-02-10	2300	0.07
2024-03-05	1800	0.06
2024-04-20	2100	0.05
2024-05-18	1950	0.04
2024-06-12	2500	0.08
2024-07-01	1700	0.05
2024-08-15	2200	0.06

1

Step 1: Select the 'Sales Amount' column cells (B2:B9). Format these cells as currency with the dollar sign and two decimal places.

Format > Number > Currency

Expected Result

Sales amounts display as $1,500.00, $2,300.00, etc.

2

Step 2: Select the 'Commission Rate' column cells (C2:C9). Format these cells as percentages with one decimal place.

Format > Number > Percent, then increase decimal places to 1

Expected Result

Commission rates display as 5.0%, 7.0%, 6.0%, etc.

3

Step 3: Select the 'Sale Date' column cells (A2:A9). Format these cells to show dates as 'Month Day, Year' (e.g., January 15, 2024).

Format > Number > Custom date and time > Type: 'MMMM d, yyyy'

Expected Result

Dates display as January 15, 2024; February 10, 2024; etc.

Final Result

Sale Date         | Sales Amount | Commission Rate
-------------------------------------------------
January 15, 2024  | $1,500.00    | 5.0%
February 10, 2024 | $2,300.00    | 7.0%
March 5, 2024     | $1,800.00    | 6.0%
April 20, 2024    | $2,100.00    | 5.0%
May 18, 2024      | $1,950.00    | 4.0%
June 12, 2024     | $2,500.00    | 8.0%
July 1, 2024      | $1,700.00    | 5.0%
August 15, 2024   | $2,200.00    | 6.0%

✓Sales amounts are easy to read with currency formatting.

✓Commission rates clearly show as percentages.

✓Dates are friendly and clear with full month names.

Bonus Challenge

Add a new column 'Commission Earned' that calculates the commission amount for each sale and format it as currency.

Show Hint

Use formula =B2*C2 in the first row of the new column and format the result as currency.