➤ How to use Solver to solve equations, mathematical and financial operations in Excel 🎮

Solver is a powerful tool that presents Microsoft Excel, through it you can facilitate the resolution of complex operations. This is particularly useful for establishing limits and controlling forms for budget sheets.

In any case, the program does not stop there, if you put a little creativity into it, you can extend its capacity, as you will see below.

How to use Solver to solve equations, mathematical and financial operations in Excel

Solver is an exceptional tool that Excel presents to us, thanks to it we can solve equations mathematics and operations of varying degrees of difficulty. Anyway, today we will show you in a very simple way how to use the solver.

If, on the other hand, you find that Excel is very complicated for you, it is also possible to use Word to enter or write mathematical equations and formulas, a process relatively similar to what we will show you below. Without further ado, read the following steps to use Solver

Enable Solver

First go to the upper area, where the start, insertion, etc. tabs are located. Right-click after these tabs (in a space with no icons) and then on the option Customize bar Multifunction o Customize Quick Access Toolbar.
Go up complements, then click «Vai…» and turn on Solver. You will be asked to install the tool, press accept and wait for the process to complete. After this Solver will appear in the tab Data.

Learn how to use Solver in a practical way

In this case we will use the Solver tool to calculate what we can buy with a budget established. In our example it will be € 8000, while there will be three products that we will have to buy: Headphones for € 12, Charger for € 16 and Protections for € 12.

As you will see, the example we use is applicable to practically any business, so if you go to this tutorial and you have a small business, it is also convenient to know how to calculate a future or due date in Excel, which together with the solver tool, will help you. certainly to better organize your work.

Going back to the previous example, the Solver tool will have the task to show us the amount of products we need to purchase to reach that budget. In this case we have to buy at least 150 headphones, 200 protectors and 100 chargers.

Using the solver to solve equations

The first step is to open the tool Solver.
After this set the target cell. In our case the target is the budget, which in our example is in the cell E8.
Select the option » Value of » in our case we will set the limit of 8000 as this is our budget.
Now you have to change the cell variable, select the icon on the right. At this point it is necessary to select the units in which the restrictions will be, in our case we will select the three cells of Headphones, Chargers and Protections that are in the table, in D4, D5 e D6.
Now you need to add the restrictions, press Add.
The add restriction screen will jump, in the references you need to select the cell corresponding to the restriction.
In our case the first cell is D4, its value must be > = and the restriction is 150, click add. We use 150, as this is the minimum of hearing aids we need to purchase. Set it with each product as required and close the window.
After the above, click Solve. By clicking on the resolution option and then on accepting, the Solver tool will actually show how many hearing aids, protectors and chargers we need to purchase to reach the budget of €8000.

As you may have noticed after the previous process, the results will appear in numbers with decimals, but there is also a way to fix it:

Results in Solver with integers

To put the results in integers you will have to open the Solver again.
Once there, go up Add.
In the cell reference select the unit table, in our case it would be D4, which is where the number of hearing aids is. Now select int, after which the result will appear in whole numbers.
Repeat the process with each of the cells and click Solve.

This is the way to start using the Solver tool, as you will see it is very useful to facilitate the resolution of problems complex mathematicians. Start using it now and investigate all of its possibilities more.