Excel – Calculate a Cell only if it is not blank

Overview

Formulas

Below are the formulas for these cells, it may not be formatted perfectly but should convey the message.

Item    Buy Price   Price Increase %    Margin %    Margin $    Sell Price   Term     %             Price    Final Price   Associated Equipment Tag     Item          Cost
Fan     100         0.1                 0.2         =I3-E3      =E3/(1-G3)   10       =J3*0.002    =I3*K3     =I3+L3       =IF(C3="","",C3)        =IF(D3="","",D3)   =IF(M3="","",M3)

I have a estimating/cost tracking excel sheet that i am looking to build a percentage increase column in here to cover any future cost increases. I want to keep the columns to a minimum so it can still be printed on a regular sheet of paper. The last 3 columns are what we copy and paste into the proposal that is sent to the client.

What I am trying to do is put the initial buy price into the document, then if the need arises I can input a “Price Increase %” lets say 8.5% and then the “Margin %” will be calculated on the new increased percentage added to the “buy price” not the original “Buy Price”. I want to modify the original buy price because just adding more margin is not a precise way of doing business.

I have included my formulas as well, any advice, suggestions, or improvements would be greatly appreciated.

I think i could make it work by adding a few columns but this still would have to be figured out in the last 3 columns which I copy and paste into the proposal that makes it off to the client.

I tried a few nested if and isblank statements but nothing that would really work.