F2 SPREADSHEETS

Before personal computers were readily available, accountancy and bookkeeping were often made easier by the use of large sheets of paper ruled into a grid of rows and columns – spreadsheets. Columns could be totalled, and a number in one box used in a calculation to give a value in another. This activity was a natural one for a computer application, and this type of software has developed in power ever since.

Figure F2.1 A typical spreadsheet

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Figure F2.1 shows a typical computer spreadsheet package in use. The screen is dominated by the cells making up the sheet, which are referred to by their row and column – the selected cell, ...

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