What are the potential challenges faced when centering accounting formats?

The center accounting format, with its center-aligned currency symbols and decimal points, faces the challenges of reduced consistency and readability, conveys a lack of professionalism, decreased precision and comparison, increased complexity of analysis, and does not comply with industry standards and regulations.

Is there a keyboard shortcut for quickly centering accounting format in Excel?

No, there exists no dedicated keyboard shortcut for applying center accounting format in Excel. But, there exists a Center option in the Alignment group of the Home tab of Excel, which is not applicable to the accounting number format. Or, to apply a center format to any other cells, select your data ranges and press Alt + H + AC sequentially to apply a center alignment format (not the center accounting format).

How to Center Accounting Format in Excel

How to Center Accounting Format in Excel – 2 Methods

Written by Tanjim Reza

Reviewed by Tanjim Reza

Last updated: Aug 11, 2024

This is an overview.
Before and After Applying Center Alignment in Accounting Number Format

The sample dataset showcases employees’ names and their respective salary.

The salary amounts are in Accounting Number Format (ANF). Sample Data

Method 1 – Using the Format Cells Dialog Box

Select the cells to center the Accounting format. Here, C5:C12.
Right-click the selected cells and choose Format Cells.
Or, go to the Home tab > Font > Dialog Box Launcher ().
Shortcut: Press CTRL + 1 to open the Format Cells dialog box.
Go to the Number tab > Custom > Type.
Select the following type:_("$"* #,##0.00_);_("$"* (#,##0.00);_("$"* "-"??_);_(@_)
Remove all the Asterisk symbols (*) in Type.
Click OK to center align the Accounting format in the selected cells.

This is the output.
How to Center Accounting Format in Excel Using Format Cells Dialog Box

Method 2 – Using Excel VBA

Open the Visual Basic Editor by clicking Visual Basic in the Developer tab.
Shortcut: Press Alt + F11 to open the Visual Basic Editor.
Click Insert > Module.
Or, right-click any item in the project explorer on the left, and select Insert > Module.

Enter the following codes in the module:

Sub Center_Accounting_Format()
Selection.NumberFormat = _
"_(""$"" #,##0.00_);_(""$"" (#,##0.00);_(""$"" ""-""??_);_(@_)"
End Sub

Change $ in the code above to any other currency.

Press Ctrl + S and save the workbook as Excel Macro-Enabled Workbook (*.xlsm).
Select the cells to apply the center alignment of the Accounting format. Here, C5:C12.
Run the VBA macro:
- Press Alt + F8 to open the Macro dialog box.
  Or, in the Developer tab, click Macros.
- Select Center_Accounting_Format in Macro name.
- Click Run.
Shortcut: You can also run the macro in the VB Editor. Select the cells, go back to the VB Editor, and press F5.

This is the output.
How to Center Accounting Format in Excel Using VBA Macro

Download Practice Workbook

Download the practice workbook.

How to Center Accounting Format.xlsm

Frequently Asked Question

How do I get back to the default Accounting Number Format (ANF)?

To get back to the default Accounting Number Format (ANF) in Excel, select the cells or range to modify, right-click to open the context menu, and choose Format Cells. In the Format Cells dialog box, go to the Number tab > Accounting. Choose the Decimal places, select the currency in Symbol, and click OK.