Hi Dave,

I’m not exactly sure how you want the figures to display in columns – whether the two example figures you have given e.g. 43,853 and the 0.5% are required to be in separate columns or together in one column?
Anyway, going on the assumption first that its two separate columns you want to format, here goes:
1. Select all the cells or the entire column you want to enter the numbers into
2. Right-click on the selected cells and choose ‘format cells’
3. From the Format Cells dialogue box, on the Number tab, click ‘custom’
4. In the ‘type’ box, above the drop down list, clear it and enter: +_-*(hit the space bar once) #,##0
5. The plus sign is left aligned unfortunately, but putting it right next to the number knocks the thousand comma out of the correct place!
6. To make the column look tidier, you can always narrow the width which brings the + sign nearer to the number.

For the column containing the percentage number:
1. Again, select all the cells or the entire column you want to enter the numbers into
2. Right-click on the selected cells and choose ‘format cells’
3. From the Format Cells dialogue box, on the Number tab, click ‘custom’
4. In the ‘type’ box, this time enter: +_-*(hit the space bar once) 0.#%
5. The plus sign is again left aligned, but just narrow the column width to bring it closer to the number.

Therefore, when you enter just the numbers, the plus sign will automatically appear in front of the figure and the thousand comma and percentage sign will also be entered automatically. With the percentage figure you still have to enter the decimal point e.g. 0.5 otherwise if you just type the 0 and the 5 it displays as 5%.

If you want the entire string you wrote e.g. +43,852+0.5%, together in one cell, then enter in the ‘type’ box: +0+0.#% The only problem with this I found is that the thousand separator comma doesn’t display. To give the two numbers more space between each other in the column for ease of reading and understanding, you can enter in the 'type' box: +0*(hit the space bar once) +0.#% You can then widen the column as much as you want to drag the figures to opposite sides.

Hope this is of some help.