[Solved] Weird value 2.8422E-14 from column sum

[TheOldThug]

I copy another page and then Paste Special. This is the page. The other page I copy Has $0.00 in B56. It is the total of column B4:B53. For some reason I get this weird number in B56. Any idea why? The page I copy from Is format cell number as currency, negative number to 2 decimal spots.

[FJCC]

It looks like you set Paste Special to not paste the cell format, so you get the result of the calculation, which is 0.000000000000028421709430404, displayed with maximum precision. That is displayed as 2.8422E-14. If you set the cell format to show only two decimal places, you will get the expected 0.00.
Computers can't store the exact value of many non-integer numbers, so you often get tiny residual values like this one. It's totally normal.

[TheOldThug]

OK ty. Weird though because been doing this all year and first time it ever happened

[MrProgrammer]

I copy another page and then Paste Special. The other page I copy Has $0.00 in B56. It is the total of column B4:B53. … The page I copy from Is format cell number as currency, negative number to 2 decimal spots.

If you paste the formats as well as the values you should see $0.00. We can't test because you didn't attach the other page.

Paste Special dialog

202406200908.gif (18.83 KiB) Viewed 3550 times

Perhaps you want to use one of the rounding functions, for example =ROUND(SUM(B4:B53);2). It is common when working with dollars and cents to need values which are exact to two decimal places. You could use Precision As Shown if you have the correct format set for the cell.

Weird though because been doing this all year and first time it ever happened

There are no doubt a hundred posts like this on the Calc forum. Your lucky day. You learned something new. You can also read about E notation which is very common with calculators and computers. It's been used since 1956.

[Tutorial] Ten concepts that every Calc user should know

[TheOldThug]

Thank you for the input, very helpful and informative.

[robleyd]

For further detail you might find Calc: Accuracy problem helpful.