How to Find Trend Percentages in Accounts
- 1). Determine the dollar amounts of an account for a time period of more than 2 years. For example, calculate the trend percentages of a cash account that had $5,000 in the first year, $6,300 in the second year and $4,700 in the third year.
- 2). Write "100 percent" in the first column on a sheet of paper to represent the base year percentage.
- 3). Divide the amount in the second year by the amount in first year and multiply by 100 to calculate the trend percentage for the second year. For example, divide $6,300 by $5,000, which equals 1.26. Multiply this by 100, which equals 126 percent. A percentage greater than 100 means the account has increased from the base year.
- 4). Write your result as a percentage in the second column on the sheet of paper to represent the second year's percentage. For example, write "126 percent" in the second column to represent that the cash account has grown to 126 percent of the amount in the first year.
- 5). Divide the amount of the account in the third year by the amount in the first year and multiply by 100 to calculate the trend percentage for the third year. For example, divide $4,700 by $5,000, which equals 0.94. Multiply this by 100, which equals 94 percent. A percentage less than 100 means the account has decreased from the base year.
- 6). Write your result as a percentage in the third column on the sheet of paper to represent the third year's percentage. For example, write "94 percent" in the third column to represent that the account decreased to 94 percent of the amount in the first year.
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