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Keep a single tax rate fixed when filling an Excel formula down. Compare relative and absolute cell references using a fictional three-order calculation.
Use the fictional practice data and answer check. Work in a copy.
Before you start
The companion video uses a selected labelled capture from an English Excel for the web workbook with fictional data, alongside illustrative diagrams. Menu wording may vary with app version or account. Keep the source file available for comparison.
1. Set up three fictional orders
Paste the practice CSV into a new sheet so B2:B4 contains 100, 80, and 50. Enter 10% in F1. Use column C for tax amount. The expected amounts are 10, 8, and 5 because each subtotal is multiplied by 0.10. Keeping the rate in one visible cell makes a future rate change easier to review.
Check: B2:B4 → 100, 80, 50; F1 → 10%; C column → tax.
2. See why the relative formula fails
If C2 contains =B2*F1, filling down changes both references: C3 becomes =B3*F2 and C4 becomes =B4*F3. In our exercise F2:F3 is blank, so the copied result is wrong. This is normal relative-reference behavior, not a broken multiplication function.
Check: C2: B2F1; C3 becomes B3F2; Rate is no longer F1.
3. Make the rate absolute
Replace the formula in C2 with =B2*$F$1. The dollar signs lock both the rate's column and its row. Fill the formula through C4. Excel changes B2 to B3 and B4, but keeps $F$1 unchanged in every formula. Read one copied formula to verify the reference actually stayed fixed.
Check: C2: =B2*$F$1; Fill through C4; F1 stays fixed.
4. Reconcile the amounts
Check the arithmetic: 100 × 10% = 10, 80 × 10% = 8, and 50 × 10% = 5. The three tax amounts sum to 23. If your values are one hundred times larger, check whether F1 contains 10 rather than 10% or 0.10.
Check: 100 × 10% = 10; 80 × 10% = 8; 50 × 10% = 5.
5. Lock the right part, not everything
Only the shared rate should use an absolute reference here. If you lock B2 as $B$2, every copied row will use the first order's subtotal. Mixed references such as $F1 or F$1 lock only a column or row and are useful in other layouts. For this straight column fill, $F$1 is unambiguous.
Check: B2 stays relative; $F$1 stays absolute; Do not lock both inputs.
Expected result
With a 10% rate in F1, =B2*$F$1 returns 10, 8, and 5 when filled down from C2 to C4. The subtotal reference moves; the rate reference stays fixed.
Common mistakes
- Do not lock B2 in this example; each row needs its own subtotal.
- Enter 10% as a percentage or 0.10, not 10, if you expect ten percent.
- Using a relative F1 reference makes the copied formulas point at F2 and F3.
Official references and evidence
References checked 15 October 2026. The sample and answer check are original fictional material. A marked video capture shows the copied =B3*$F$1 formula and fictional results in English Excel for the web. Other panels are illustrative diagrams; the capture verifies the fixed-reference result, not every formula-editing step.
Practice downloads.
The exercise files contain invented information. Save a local copy before editing.