Using a Helper Sheet for Heavy Formulas

RyanFMurphy

Hi everyone,

I have a project tracker document which has a number of columns tracking all sorts of data. I've been using formulas to fill in certain columns such as costs (based on a variety of rules) and turnaround times. However, the sheet is getting into the thousands of rows range and there are probably 50 different columns. It's not a small document. Because of this, the document is rather slow to perform so I'd like to see if I can move the heavy formulas into a helper sheet in order to keep the project tracker more streamlined.

Unfortunately, I'm struggling to figure out how to do this. I'm using a helper sheet to count the number of times a status has occurred for a project, which is working well, but I'm not sure how to copy over either some or all of the columns to a helper sheet, then do the formulas there, and reference those formulas into the original sheet.

Can anyone help me wrap my head around how to do this? Is there a better way to approach this?

I'm already aware of the suggestion to (a) not use so many formulas/automations/formatting which is not an option, (b) split the data into multiple chunks which would be burdensome and (c) potentially look at using a better local browser.

I'm not providing specific details right now, but let me know if that's needed to find a solution.

Andrée Starå

Hi @RyanFMurphy

I hope you're well and safe!

You could use cross-sheet formulas on another sheet and then use cell-linking to get the values back to the main sheet.

Make sense?

Would that work/help?

I hope that helps!

Be safe, and have a fantastic week!

Best,

Andrée Starå | Workflow Consultant / CEO @ WORK BOLD

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RyanFMurphy

Hi @Andrée Starå,

Thanks so much for the reply. I don't have much experience yet with cell linking, but I have a reference to another sheet in a formula. Is there any way you can link me to the appropriate resources so I can get started on my journey?

The biggest desire is to ensure that the heavy formulas can be handled on another sheet as a way to see if it minimizes the performance issues on the main sheet. The main sheet will constantly be having new rows added plus there will be columns changing based on project status, etc. so this solution needs to be able to accommodate for that.

Looking forward learning more!