There's a moment every spreadsheet user knows: the formula looks right, the logic feels sound, and yet the cell stubbornly returns 0. That's exactly where this user landed, and honestly, it's not their fault. The issue here isn't a lack of effort or intelligence. It's a classic misunderstanding of how Excel handles empty cells, implicit references, and the quiet assumptions baked into formulas that seem straightforward on the surface.
Let's talk about the Lead ID formula first. `=IF(B2<>"", ROW()-1, "")` should work in theory. But if it's returning 0, the likely culprit is that B2 isn't actually empty. It might contain a space, a line break, or a formula that evaluates to `""`. When Excel sees `B2<>""`, it's checking for a truly blank cell, not a cell that looks blank. The fix is to use `=IF(ISTEXT(B2), ROW()-1, "")` or `=IF(B2="","",ROW()-1)` depending on the goal. The deeper lesson? Excel doesn't read minds. It reads values, and sometimes what looks empty to us isn't empty to the engine.
The Due Date issue follows a similar pattern. `=IF(G2<>"", G2+7, "")` fails when G2 contains text that looks like a date, or when the cell is formatted as text entirely. Dates in Excel are numbers with formatting, and if G2 isn't a true date value, adding 7 won't produce anything meaningful. The practical move is to check the cell format, ensure G2 is actually a date, and then use `=IF(ISNUMBER(G2), G2+7, "")` to avoid errors when the cell is blank or non-numeric.
Here's what this means for you: when a formula doesn't work, the problem is rarely the formula itself. It's the data feeding it. Before reaching for another AI tool, inspect the cell contents. Use `LEN()` to check for hidden characters, `ISTEXT()` to confirm data type, and `FORMAT` to verify whether Excel is treating the input as a number, date, or text. The tools aren't wrong. They're just working with what you gave them, and so are you.
So, the next time you're stuck, slow down. Test your assumptions. Check for spaces. Confirm your date is a date. And remember that Excel rewards precision, not persistence. You're not failing because you're missing something obvious. You're failing because the problem is subtle, and subtle problems require methodical diagnosis. Start there, and the 0s will turn into 1s, 2s, and 3s before you know it.