How to Use Solver to Solve Equations, Math and Financial Operations in Excel

THE Solver tool is very useful for quite complex operations. If you want to know how to use Solver to solve equations, mathematical and financial operations in Excel, this is exactly the tutorial you need.

Solver is a powerful tool presented by Microsoft Excel, thanks to which it is possible to facilitate the resolution of complex operations. This is a particularly useful option for establishing limits and control of forms for budget sheets .

Either way, the program doesn't stop there, if you put a little creativity into it you can expand its capacity, as you will see below.

How to Use Solver to Solve Equations, Math and Financial Operations in Excel

Solver is an exceptional tool that Excel presents to us, thanks to it we can solve of equations math and operations of varying degrees of difficulty. Anyway, today we are going to show you in a very easy way how to use the solver.

If, on the other hand, you find that Excel is very complicated for you, it is also possible to use Word to insert or write mathematical equations and formulas , a process relatively similar to the one we will show you below. Without further ado, read the following steps to use Solver

Activate the solver

• First, go to the top area, where the tabs for start, insert, etc. are located. Right-click after these tabs (in a space without icons) and then on the option Customize the ribbon ou Customize the Quick Access Toolbar .
• Go to Supplements And click "Go ..." and activate Solver. You will be asked to install the tool, press Accept, and wait for the process to complete. After this Solver will appear in the tab Data .

Learn how to use Solver in a practical way

In this case, we will use the Solver tool to calculate what we can buy with a established budget . In our example, it will be € 8000, while there will be three products that we will have to buy: headphones at € 12, chargers at € 16 and protectors at € 12.

As you will see, the example we use is applicable to pretty much any business, so if you are following this tutorial and have a small business, it is also handy to know how to calculate future or expiration date in Excel , which together with the solve tool they will surely help you to organize your work better.

Returning to the previous example, the Solver tool is will show us how much product we need to buy to meet that budget. In this case, we need to buy at least 150 headphones, 200 protectors and 100 chargers.

Using the solver to solve equations

• The first step is to open the tool Solver .
• After that, set the target cell . In our case, the objective is the budget, which in our example is in the cell E8 .
• Select the option Value" in our case, we will set the limit of 8000 since it is our budget.
• Now you have to change variable cells , select the icon on the right. At this point you must select the units where the restrictions will be, in our case we will select the three cells of helmet, chargers and protectors that are in the table, in D4 , D5 et D6 .
• Now you need to add the restrictions, tap Add .
• The add restriction screen will jump, in the references you must select the cell corresponding to the restriction.
• In our case, the first cell is D4 , its value must be > = and the restriction is 150, click add. We use 150 of them because that's the minimum number of hearing aids we need to buy. Set this with each product as needed and close the window.
• After the above, click on Solve . By tapping on the resolution option and then accepting, the Solver tool will effectively show how many hearing aids, protectors and chargers we need to purchase to hit the budget of 8000 € .

As you may have noticed after the previous process, the results will appear as numbers with decimals, but there is also a way to fix this problem:

Results in Solver with integers

• To put the results in whole numbers, you will have to open Solver again.
• Once there, go to Add .
• In the cell reference, select the units table, in our case that would be D4 , where is the number of hearing aids. Now select int , after that, the result will appear as whole numbers.
• Repeat the procedure with each of the cells and click Solve .

This is the way to start using the Solver tool, as you will see, it is very useful to make solving problems easier. problems complex mathematics . Start using it now and explore all its possibilities further.