<p class="Paragraph">With the help of Goal Seek you can calculate a value that, as part of a formula, leads to the result you specify for the formula. You thus define the formula with several fixed values and one variable value and the result of the formula.</p>
<p class="Paragraph">Goal Seek is best illustrated by means of an example.</p>
<p class="Paragraph"><help:key-word value="interest computation; example" tag="kw68143_2" xmlns:help="http://openoffice.org/2000/help"/>To calculate annual interest, create a table with the values for the capital (C), number of years (n), and interest rate (i). The formula is:</p>
<p class="Paragraph">In this example, the investment capital of $150,000 and an interest rate of 7.5% is calculated to result in annual interest income of $11,250. (The cells are formatted after calculation: A5 and E5 as currency, and C5 as percent. The cell width is adjusted automatically.)</p>
<p class="Paragraph">We recommend that you assign names to cells so that you can use these names in the formula.</p>
<p class="Head2">Naming Cells</p>
<ol class="L1">
<li class="">
<p class="P2">Select cell A5 in our example, then choose <span class="T1">Insert - Names - Define</span>. The <span class="T1">Define Names</span> dialog appears.</p>
</li>
<li class="">
<p class="P2">Enter the name "C" in the text field. <text:s text:c="" xmlns:text="http://openoffice.org/2000/text"/>At the bottom of the dialog, you will see the reference: $Sheet1.$A$5. Double-check for accuracy, then click <span class="T1">Add</span>.</p>
</li>
<li class="">
<p class="P2">In the next field, enter an "i," <text:s text:c="" xmlns:text="http://openoffice.org/2000/text"/>place the cursor in cell B5, and again click <span class="T1">Add</span>.</p>
</li>
<li class="">
<p class="P2">Next, enter an "n" in the empty field, place the cursor in cell C5, and click once more on <span class="T1"><text:s text:c="" xmlns:text="http://openoffice.org/2000/text"/>Add</span>. Close the dialog with OK.</p>
</li>
<li class="">
<p class="P2">You can now enter the formula in E5 using the variables = C*n*i instead of <text:s text:c="" xmlns:text="http://openoffice.org/2000/text"/>= A5*B5*C5.</p>
</li>
</ol>
<p class="Head2">Start Goal Seek</p>
<p class="Paragraph">Let us assume that the interest rate (7.5%) and the number of years (1) will remain constant. However, you may want to know how much the investment would have to be modified in order to attain a particular annual return. For this example, calculate how much capital would be required if you want an annual return of $15,000.</p>
<ol class="L2">
<li class="">
<p class="P3">Place the cursor in cell E5, and choose <span class="T1">Tools - Goal Seek</span>. The <span class="T1">Goal Seek</span> dialog appears.</p>
</li>
<li class="">
<p class="P3">The correct cell is already entered in the field <span class="T1">Formula Cell</span>.</p>
</li>
<li class="">
<p class="P3">Place the cursor in the field <span class="T1">Variable Cell</span>. In the sheet, click in the cell (A5) that contains the value to be changed.</p>
</li>
<li class="">
<p class="P3">Enter the expected result of the formula (i.e., the desired value) under <span class="T1">Target Value</span>. In this example, the value is 15,000. Click <span class="T1">OK</span>.</p>
</li>
<li class="">
<p class="P3">A dialog appears informing you that the Goal Seek was successful. The result is indicated for you to use if you want to. Click <span class="T1">Yes</span> to enter the result in cell A5.</p>
