The row of Xs below the leftmost column heading defines the cell entries as text, such as employee names.

$2$

The rows of Zs and $9$s with slashes, dollar signs, decimal points, commas, and percent signs in the remaining columns define the cell entries as numbers. The Zs indicate that the selected format should instruct Excel to suppress leading $0$s$.$ The $9$s indicate that the selected format should instruct Excel to display any digits, including $0$s$.$

$3$

The decimal point means that a decimal point should appear in the cell entry and indicates the number of decimal places to use.

$4$

The slashes in the last column identify the cell entry as a date.

$5$

The dollar signs that are adjacent to the Zs below the totals row signify a floating dollar sign, or one that appears next to the first significant digit.

$6$

The commas indicate that the selected format should instruct Excel to display a comma separator only if the number has sufficient digits $($values in the thousandths$)$ to the left of the decimal point.

$7$

The percent sign $(\%)$ in the Tax $\%$ column indicates a percent sign should appear after the number.