Bold Excel Subtotals

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Bold Excel Subtotals

One issue that is often encountered when working in Excel is that the Subtotal results, via Data>Subtotals are not bolded or made easily distinguishable. This can make the resulting data very hard to read, especially if the table that we have applied Subtotals to contains many columns. This often means the resulting subtotals are over to the right, while their associated heading are often in the first column.

Consider the small example below where Subtotals have been added to a very small table of data.

Before Subtotals

	A	B
1	Quarter	Cost
2	Quart1	$10.00
3	Quart1	$20.00
4	Quart1	$10.00
5	Quart2	$10.00
6	Quart2	$10.00
7	Quart3	$15.00
9	Quart3	$10.00
10	Quart3	$25.00

After Subtotals

	A	B
1	Quarter	Cost
2	Quart1	$10.00
3	Quart1	$20.00
4	Quart1	$10.00
5	Quart1 Total	$40.00
6	Quart2	$10.00
7	Quart2	$10.00
8	Quart2 Total	$20.00
9	Quart3	$15.00
10	Quart3	$10.00
11	Quart3	$25.00
12	Quart2 Total	$50.00
13	Grand Total	$110.00

In the above table our Subtotal headings have been bolded by Excel, yet their associated results have not. As this table only has two columns, it is not that hard to read and pick-out the Subtotal amounts. The more columns that a table has, the harder it becomes to visually pick-out the Subtotals.

The Solution

The solution to this problem is to make use of Excels Conditional Formatting. Using the above table as an example try this before adding your Subtotals.

Select A1:B10, Ensuring The A1 Is The Active Cell.
Go To Format>Conditional Formatting
Select Formula Is: And Then Add This Formula: =RIGHT($A1,5)="Total"
Now Click The Format Button And Then The Font Tab And Then Select Bold From Font Style:
Now Click OK, Then OK Again

The all important part to the formula is the Absolute of the Column ($A) and the Relative reference of the Row (1). As we Start ed our selection from A1, Excel will automatically change the formula for each cell. For example, cell A2 will have a Conditional Format formula of: =RIGHT($A2,5)="Total", cell B2 will also have =RIGHT($A2,5)="Total" and cell A3 and B3 will have: =RIGHT($A3,5)="Total".

Now add your Subtotals and your Subtotals will look like:

	A	B
1	Quarter	Cost
2	Quart1	$10.00
3	Quart1	$20.00
4	Quart1	$10.00
5	Quart1 Total	$40.00
6	Quart2	$10.00
7	Quart2	$10.00
8	Quart2 Total	$20.00
9	Quart3	$15.00
10	Quart3	$10.00
11	Quart3	$25.00
12	Quart2 Total	$50.00
13	Grand Total	$110.00

When you remove the Subtotals, the bolded font will no longer apply.

Taking It One Step Further

The only problem with the above table now is the Grand Total is bolded the same as the Subtotals. For Grand Totals I prefer to see these formatted different again. Here is how we can do this. Again the steps are based on the above examples

Select A1:B10, Ensuring The A1 Is The Active Cell.
Go To Format>Conditional Formatting
Select Formula Is: And Then Add This Formula: =$A1="Grand Total"
Now Click The Format Button And Then The Font Tab And Then Select Bold From Font Style:
Click Ok, Then Click Add To Add A Second Format Condition
Select Formula Is: And Then Add This Formula: =RIGHT($A1,5)="Total"
Now Click The Format Button And Then The Font Tab And Then Select Bold Italic From Font Style: And Then Single From Underline:
Now Click OK, Then OK Again

Your Subtotals will now look like below

	A	B
1	Quarter	Cost
2	Quart1	$10.00
3	Quart1	$20.00
4	Quart1	$10.00
5	Quart1 Total	$40.00
6	Quart2	$10.00
7	Quart2	$10.00
8	Quart2 Total	$20.00
9	Quart3	$15.00
10	Quart3	$10.00
11	Quart3	$25.00
12	Quart2 Total	$50.00
13	Grand Total	$110.00