The number format of the first cell in the range that the formula refers to is applied to the cell that contains the formula. This behavior also occurs when you click the
AutoSum button to sum a range of cells. For example, when you type the following data in your worksheet
A1: $45.00
A2: 3
A3: 2
A4: =SUM(A1:A3)
the value $50.00 appears in cell A4 because of the currency number
formatting applied to cell A1.
NOTE: The formatting is not dynamic; that is, when you change the
number formatting for a cell that is referenced in an existing formula,
the formatting of the cell that contains the formula is not changed.
Microsoft Excel Versions 7.0 and Later
In Excel 7.0 and later, the formatting in the first cell is also used by the
AutoCalculate value displayed on the status bar.
NOTE: In Excel 7.0 and later, this behavior is more visible than in earlier versions of Excel because of the special number formats: Social Security, Phone Number, and Zip Code. For example, if your
worksheet contains the following values
A1: 123456789
A2: 1
A3: 2
A4: 3
A5: 4
and then the Social Security number format is applied to cell A1, your
worksheet appears as:
A1: 123-45-6789
A2: 1
A3: 2
A4: 3
A5: 4
When you select the range A1:A5, the status bar displays the following value (assuming that the SUM function is selected for the AutoCalculate feature):
SUM=123-45-6799