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Once in a while, you face a situation wherein growth % is to be calculated – where one of the number is negative. Here’s quick approach and my thoughts. Ideal approach used to calculate the growth is Approach 1: (Current Number / Old Number) -1 Few people follow the approach of differential, like Approach 2: (Current Number – Old Number) / Old Number Both are good to use as long as both the numbers are positive. Let’s take a quick example: Scenario 1: Say Previous quarter profit was at 100 and current quarter profit is at 120 – growth in profit would be calculated at 20% using either of the formula. Approach 1: (Current Number / Old Number) -1 = (120 / 100) -1 = 0.2 or 20% Approach 2: (Current Number – Old Number) / Old Number = (120 – 100)/100 = 0.2 or 20% Scenario 2: Assume that current quarter there is a loss of 20 and previous quarter was profit of 100, in this case outcome would be as follows: Approach 1: (Current Number / Old Number) -1 = (-20 / 100) -1 = -1.2 or -120% Appro