Excel Video 64 warns about a common data mismatch problem when using VLOOKUP. When Excel looks up a value using VLOOKUP, the data types have to match for Excel to find a match. If one value is stored as a text and the other value is stored as a number, Excel will return #N/A since it can’t find a match.
The easy way to solve the mismatched data type problem in Excel 2007 is to use the Text to Columns tool on the Data tab. I’ll demonstrate how to use this feature, which is way easier than the formulas you had to use to change data types in prior versions of Excel.
You’ll run into data type mismatch problems with CPT codes, diagnosis codes, chart of accounts numbers, and other data where the data looks like a number, but may be stored as text. Understanding how to make data types match in Excel 2007 will go a long way toward solving problems you may encounter with VLOOKUP.
