Combine an Excel custom format with data validation and remove the pressure for input perfection from personnel by letting Excel do the work.

Similarly, it's easy to forget to type the currency symbol when you're focusing on the numbers that follow, so using Excel's built-in number format converter is the way forward.

Microsoft Excel depends on data that’s stored correctly. If you receive text values that should be real numbers, use one of these methods to get you back to the real work.