Data entry in RealData’s products follow a simple convention: you should enter numbers or text values into cells displayed in blue or purple only. Do not un-protect sheets and enter data for cells which have black text.
In many places, you can change the text of line item descriptions – for example, income or expenses.
Be careful to not enter text in a cell which expects a numerical value – this will cause an Excel error message to appear.
Why Purple Cells? #
A data entry cell displayed in purple indicates the presence of a formula in the cell which copies the value from the cell immediately to its left. This allows for quick data entry for the case where all values in a row are identical. It is ok to override these formulas if you need to adjust values for changes that occur from year to year.
Changing Protected Values in Black Cells #
On rare occasion, you may need to change a protected cell. If so, be sure to re-protect the sheet afterward. Do not enter a password when adding back worksheet protection.
We recommend that you add a User Worksheet and make your own calculations to extend the RealData product rather than making modifications. We cannot provide support for modified files.