Copy, consolidate or link a finance schedule

Protect your existing work first

This walkthrough is for the supported commands in SheetFluency’s ordinary Free Practice, not a graded course task or the full Microsoft Excel application. It awards no score or completion. All figures are synthetic; no accounting policy or time saving is promised.

The Free Practice link can reopen your saved workbook. It does not create a fresh workbook, reset history or insert this example. Use a disposable practice workbook that you control. Keep your own copy of important work; do not clear browser storage, import over a workbook or erase restored work to follow this guide.

Before entering anything, check Practice C2:C3, Scratch C2:C3 and Data C2:C3, F2:F3 and H2:H3. Use this exact example only if those cells are empty and safe to use. A cell that looks blank may contain a formula: inspect its formula bar as well. If any intended cell is occupied or protected, stop the hands-on steps and read the predictions instead. Do not overwrite it to make the example fit.

Finish or cancel any pending edit before opening a command. Use the sheet tabs and the Name Box to select the stated sheet and address. Menu buttons remain available when a browser does not deliver a shortcut; no special Alt sequence is required here. Tab and Shift+Tab move among dialog controls, and Enter activates the focused button. Read each preview before confirming.

1. Enter two aligned source ranges

Enter these four numeric literals with their signs, committing each edit. Leave all six Data destination cells empty. The row labels below explain the example; you do not need to type extra labels.

Position consolidation adds corresponding positions, not matching labels. Keep the same row meaning, units and range shape on both source sheets. It will not detect that one team put an adjustment on a different row.

2. Copy these literals with Fill Across

Predict what Data C2:C3 should contain after copying Practice C2:C3.

1. On Practice, select C2:C3. Open Search commands, search for “Fill Across” and choose Fill Across Worksheets.
2. Select only Data as the destination. This supported Contents operation uses the same coordinates: Data C2:C3. It does not let you move the copy to F2.
3. Choose Review Contents. Check Practice C2:C3 → Data and the two content changes. First choose Cancel and check that Data is still empty.
4. Reopen the same command with Practice C2:C3 selected, select Data, review again, then choose Confirm Apply. Wait for the saved result before continuing.

Contents is not Paste Values. This example deliberately uses literals. Copying supported formula contents can preserve formulas that recalculate; do not generalize this fixed-copy result to every Fill Across operation. Fill Across can replace destination contents, which is why this guide checks empty targets first.

3. Produce one-time totals by position

Predict each matching-row total: 100 + 5, then -20 + -5.

1. Open Search commands, search “Consolidate” and choose Consolidate by position (SUM).
2. Keep 2 source ranges. Set Source 1 to Practice, C2:C3 and Source 2 to Scratch, C2:C3.
3. Set the output sheet to Data and the Full output range to F2:F3. This field needs the whole two-cell rectangle, not just F2. Check both output cells are empty.
4. Choose Preview and inspect both proposed values and ranges. Try Cancel first. Reopen, enter the same ranges, preview again, then choose Apply preview.

Consolidate refuses an occupied output; it is not an overwrite command. If you want another result after inputs change, review the sources and choose another safe, explicitly blank output rectangle. Do not erase an existing result just to bypass the check.

4. Keep a live reference with Paste Link

1. Return to Practice, select C2:C3 and use the simulator’s Copy command. Use a genuine internal copy, not Cut or text copied from this page.
2. Switch to Data and select the single cell H2. Open Home → Paste menu → Paste Special… and select its Paste Link option.
3. Choose Preview Paste Link and check the source Practice C2:C3 and destination Data H2:H3. Unlike Consolidate, Paste Link starts from a single anchor and sizes the destination from the copied range. Check both cells are empty.
4. Try Cancel first. Reopen Paste Special, select Paste Link and choose Preview Paste Link again. Choose OK only after the source and destination match.

This supported link stays inside the same workbook and its existing visible worksheets. It is not an external-workbook link. A same-sheet Paste Link destination must not overlap its copied source. Like Fill Across, Paste Link can replace contents: the empty-cell checks here protect your work.

5. Change one input, then explain the difference

Predict the three results before editing. On Practice, change C2 from 100 to 125 and commit the edit.

In this disposable workbook, use Undo once to undo your source edit and check that the live result returns to 100. Redo restores 125. Undo reverses committed workbook steps; Cancel only dismisses an unapplied preview. Do not keep undoing into unrelated earlier work. After a confirmed save, reload and check the formulas as well as displayed numbers.

When the result or command does not match

• Wrong totals: confirm both source ranges have equal shape and matching row meanings. Keep the negative signs.
• Consolidate rejects F2: enter the full output range F2:F3 and check both cells are empty.
• H2 does not follow the source: inspect whether it contains the quoted reference formula, not a typed number. Confirm the source sheet and cell.
• A preview changed, or a command is unavailable: Cancel, check the message and recheck your context. These operations are Free Practice subsets, not graded lesson permissions. Unsupported formulas, protected or owned ranges, pending edits and browser capabilities can prevent them.
• Saving is uncertain or unconfirmed: keep the tab open and follow its recovery guidance. Do not repeatedly Apply, clear storage or discard history to force success.

Choose the relationship you need: a copied literal for these fixed inputs, a one-time total for aligned ranges, or a live formula when the destination should follow its source.