Using Formulas in Word Tables
Have you had to complete a task in Excel rather than in Word because you needed to use formulas in your document? Word provides basic spreadsheet capability with tables to perform calculations on numeric entries.

1. Place your cursor in an empty cell.
2. From the Table Menu, click Formula.
3. The formula dialog box will appear, usually with a prepopulated SUM formula.
   To use a different formula, delete the current formula.
   (DO NOT delete the equal sign. If you do, reinsert it.)
4. From the Paste Function drop-down box, select the desired formula.
5. In the Number format box, enter a format for the numbers or select an option from the drop-down box. For example, to display the numbers as a decimal percentage, click 0.00%.

Field Codes View
If you see codes between braces - for example, {=SUM(LEFT)} - instead of the actual result, Word is displaying field codes.

To toggle field code view, highlight the formula field and press SHIFT+F9. Toggle Field Codes option is also available from the right-click menu.

Default Field Codes View
From the Tools Menu \ Options \ View Tab \ Select Field Codes option \ Click OK.

Update Formulas Manually
Unlike Excel, Word formulas must be updated manually.
Right-click the formula field and select Update Field.

Update All Formulas Automatically
Word can update all document fields prior to each printing.
From the Tools Menu \ Options \ Print Tab \ Select Update Fields option \ Click OK.

Additional Tips
In the = (Formula) field, you can use any combination of values, cell and table bookmark references or the following mathematical operators, just to list a few:
+ Addition
- Subtraction
* Multiplication
/ Division
% Percentage
= Equal to
< Less than
AVERAGE( ) Returns the average of a list of values.
COUNT( ) Returns the number of items in a list.
Table rows are referenced alphabetically: a, b, c...
Table columns are referenced numerically: 1, 2, 3...

Sample Formulas
= SUM(Table3 C3)
Sums the contents of the cell in the third column of the third row of the table
marked by the bookmark "Table3."
= SUM (a1, b4)
Sums the contents of cell a1 and b4
=average(a1:b2)
Displays the average of the contents of the cells in the designated range.