I'm trying to write a formula for recording the results of my top 2 selections.

These are the headings

Date
Venue
Race no.
Tab no.
e. Outlay
f. Return
g. Running bal.

My attempt is =f1-e1+g1

mad gambler

Your running balance looks wrong.

It should be something like

previous balance + f - e

One crude way of doing is the following expression in the g column:

=sum(F$1:F1) - sum(E$1:E1)

i think that should be

=SUM($F$1:$F1)-SUM($E$1:$E1)

and drag that down the G column. should work

I think it's fine the way I wrote it. When aiming for simplicity over efficiency.

$E & $F expressions needlessly fix those columns. That can lead to problems if new columns are later inserted.