Sum contents in column from starting cell on down without setting an explicit last cell index

I came up with a hack that works and isn't super ugly...

1. Insert a blank column before B, which will become the new B
2. Merge the B and C cells above the row you want to start the SUM
3. In cell C:1 paste the forumla =SUM(C:C)
4. Hide column B

I don't know why it works, but it does

For Excel 2003 or before:

=SUM(B5:INDEX(B5:B65536,MATCH(TRUE,INDEX(ISBLANK(B5:B65536),0,0),0)-1,0))

For Excel 2007 or after:

=SUM(B5:INDEX(B5:B1048576,MATCH(TRUE,INDEX(ISBLANK(B5:B1048576),0,0),0)-1,0))

Try this:

sum(B5:B)

It works in Google spreadsheets.

How about

= SUM(B:B) - SUM(B1:B4)

Obviously it won't work if the cell you want your total in is in the B1:B4 range, but it is at least easier to read than Lance's perhaps more proper way.

Easiest way is to put the formula like this

"=sum(B5:2)"

This way, you just tell the formula, that you want to start at cell B5 and SUM all values in second column (column B). I know, I'm late with this answer, but just in case somebody faces this issue :)