Conditional formatting for insight

Conditional formatting for insight: what Excel is actually doing

Conditional formatting should encode an explicit rule using data bars, colour scales, icons, or formulas. Formula-based rules are evaluated relative to the top-left cell of the applied range.

Your desk challenge for lesson 81

Highlight overdue open items with one formula and verify it on boundary dates and closed records.

• Define the audience, decision, and small set of measures.
• Build and reconcile the summary layer before drawing charts.
• Use consistent scales, labels, and exception cues.

Read this Conditional formatting for insight example

Start with the business need: Highlight unusually high costs and overdue items. Read each argument, reference, field, or control in the example before copying it into a larger model.

=B2>AVERAGE($B$2:$B$100)*1.5

Evidence that your Conditional formatting for insight result is trustworthy

Every chart and KPI should trace to a checked summary and make its period, unit, and comparison basis explicit.

• Explain how the result supports this task: Highlight unusually high costs and overdue items.
• Retain one known-result check and one boundary or exception check.
• Record the source, period, unit, and refresh assumption beside the output.