The word “format” is often used to describe the way in which numbers are displayed.
Decimal Places
In a new Excel worksheet, numbers are displayed exactly as they are typed in. The only exception to this is that any zeros at the beginning or the end of the number will be ignored.
For example:
Typing 001239.3 would display 1239.3 in the cell (removing the leading zeros)
Typing 1239.3000000 would display 1239.3 in the cell (removing the trailing zeros)
If the trailing zeros are to be displayed, the spreadsheet will need to be changed so that it knows the number of decimal places to display.
For example, if the spreadsheet is dealing with currency, it will be likely that the cells are needed to display to two decimal places (pounds and pence).
In the example below, representing a simple bank account, the figures appear as they were originally entered.
