If your Windows 7 Excel 2010 does not give you the option to put brackets on negative numbers or currency, here is the fix that worked for me.
1) Click
Start ->
Control Panel
2) Click
Region & Language
3) Region & Language window, Click
Additional Settings
4) Put () in the
Negative sign symbol, click the
Currency tab and choose ($1.1) selection under the
Negative currency format

5) Open excel worksheet, select cells to format and right click then format
6) Under the
Custom, select the option with the brackets
