Please Note: This article is written for users of the following Microsoft Excel versions: 97, 2000, 2002, and 2003. If you are using a later version (Excel 2007 or later), this tip may not work for you. For a version of this tip written specifically for later versions of Excel, click here: Displaying a Number as Years and Months.

Displaying a Number as Years and Months

Written by Allen Wyatt (last updated November 17, 2018)
This tip applies to Excel 97, 2000, 2002, and 2003


1

Robert has a formula that determines the payback period for certain investments. For instance, with $20,000 investment in energy-savings equipment and an annual energy savings of $3000, the simplistic payback period to recoup the investment is 6.6667 years. Robert wonders how he can make this payback period (6.6667) show as years and months instead of as a decimal number.

This can be done by simply multiplying the portion of the answer at the right of the decimal point by 12, which results in a number of months. Here is one way to get the desired result, assuming that the payback result is in cell A1:

=INT(A1) & " years / " & INT((A1-INT(A1))*12) & " months"

With the value 6.6667 in cell A1, the formula would return "6 years / 8 months".

ExcelTips is your source for cost-effective Microsoft Excel training. This tip (6960) applies to Microsoft Excel 97, 2000, 2002, and 2003. You can find a version of this tip for the ribbon interface of Excel (Excel 2007 and later) here: Displaying a Number as Years and Months.

Author Bio

Allen Wyatt

With more than 50 non-fiction books and numerous magazine articles to his credit, Allen Wyatt is an internationally recognized author. He is president of Sharon Parq Associates, a computer and publishing services company. ...

MORE FROM ALLEN

Superscript and Subscript at the Same Place

Do you want a superscript and subscript character to appear directly above each other without using the Equation Editor? ...

Discover More

Recording a Macro

One of the most common ways of creating macros is to use Excel's macro recorder. This tip shows how easy it is to use the ...

Discover More

Getting Notification a Recalculation is Necessary

Want to be notified whenever your worksheet needs to be recalculated? Excel may already have you covered, as described in ...

Discover More

Excel Smarts for Beginners! Featuring the friendly and trusted For Dummies style, this popular guide shows beginners how to get up and running with Excel while also helping more experienced users get comfortable with the newest features. Check out Excel 2013 For Dummies today!

More ExcelTips (menu)

Incrementing Months in Dates

Excel can easily store dates. If you want to increment a date by one month, there are a number of ways you can accomplish ...

Discover More

Converting Between Buddhist and Gregorian Calendar Systems

Converting from one calendar system to another can be a challenge. The key is identifying the differences between the ...

Discover More

Calculating Weekend Dates

Do you look forward to the weekend? Well, you can use Excel to let you know when the next weekend begins. Here's how you ...

Discover More
Subscribe

FREE SERVICE: Get tips like this every week in ExcelTips, a free productivity newsletter. Enter your address and click "Subscribe."

View most recent newsletter.

Comments

If you would like to add an image to your comment (not an avatar, but an image to help in making the point of your comment), include the characters [{fig}] (all 7 characters, in the sequence shown) in your comment text. You’ll be prompted to upload your image when you submit the comment. Maximum image size is 6Mpixels. Images larger than 600px wide or 1000px tall will be reduced. Up to three images may be included in a comment. All images are subject to review. Commenting privileges may be curtailed if inappropriate images are posted.

What is two more than 7?

2019-09-17 08:35:44

Dick

This formula will give incorrect months for 4.083333333 years (or 49 months), it shows 0 months and should be 1.
I got it to work this way...
=INT(A1) & " years / " & ROUND((A1-INT(A1))*12, 1) & " months"


This Site

Got a version of Excel that uses the menu interface (Excel 97, Excel 2000, Excel 2002, or Excel 2003)? This site is for you! If you use a later version of Excel, visit our ExcelTips site focusing on the ribbon interface.

Newest Tips
Subscribe

FREE SERVICE: Get tips like this every week in ExcelTips, a free productivity newsletter. Enter your address and click "Subscribe."

(Your e-mail address is not shared with anyone, ever.)

View the most recent newsletter.