A cell displaying 1.23 may still contain 1.2345. Before changing calculations, determine whether the apparent rounding comes from the display format, a formula, or the original data.
Inspect the underlying value
Select the cell and inspect its formula bar. Increase the displayed decimal places or apply an appropriate number format to a test cell. If additional digits appear, the shorter display did not remove them from the stored number.
If the cell contains a formula, inspect its inputs as well. A rounded output may have been produced by ROUND or by an upstream system before the data reached Sheets.
Choose a calculation policy deliberately
=ROUND(1.2345,2) returns 1.23 as a calculated value. This differs from displaying 1.2345 with two decimal places: subsequent arithmetic uses the rounded result in the first case and the fuller value in the second.
Decide whether your process rounds individual line items or only the final total. Those approaches can produce different results. Follow the relevant accounting or measurement policy instead of changing precision solely to make a total match the screen.
Reconcile what can actually be recovered
Compare a small set of source values, displayed values, and calculated totals. Include positive and negative examples and values close to the rounding boundary. Keep the original precision where the workflow requires it.
If the original digits were already discarded, adding decimal places only adds a more detailed presentation of the surviving value. It cannot reconstruct missing precision. Retrieve the source again when exact figures matter, and document where rounding is intentionally applied so another editor does not mistake it for an unexplained calculation error.
References
Reviewed against the linked official product guidance on November 3, 2026. Features, limits, screen labels, and access can vary by account, platform, region, and organization policy.