Conditional formatting formula to highlight appropriate date in range - sql

Question

I need a formula for conditional formatting that will highlight a date between A2:Z2 which matches a number that I enter into a “Committed Sessions Cell” (A1). In row 2 there are a series of numbers that appear above each date column (1,2.3, etc). For example, if I enter a “3” in cell A1, the date in J3 should match the number 3 above it and be highlighted. The idea here is to provide a quick visual prompt for how many sessions are in a client’s contract.
Note: the sequenced numbers 1,2,3 etc in row 2 appear every 5th column (with nothing in between) but there IS other data in between the dates in row 3. Only the appropriate date should be highlighted.
A B C D E F G H I J K L M
1 3
2 1 2 3
3. 1/2/14 2/3/14 2/15/14
With grateful thanks,
~ Jay

Answer 1

Your example is not consistent. If you have the date every fifth column, the dates should be in columns A,F,K,P, etc. with 4 columns between 2 points.
I came up with the following formula: =AND(A2=$A$1,MOD(COLUMN(A3)-1,5)=0) which is applicable to the entire 3rd row. Create it as follow:
IMPORTANT: Select cell A3 (the reference point for the formula)
Without selecting another cell, highlight the entire row 3
Go to Conditional Formatting -> New rule
Choose "Use a formula to determine which cells to format"
In "Format values where this formula is true", put =AND(A2=$A$1,MOD(COLUMN(A3)-1,5)=0)
Choose the formatting that you want (example: Fill with yellow)
Click OK all the way
NOTES:
To change the location of your Committed Sessions, change $A$1 to another cell. Important to keep the dollar signs
The MOD function is the one that controls every fifth column. If you want the highlight every 4th column (i.e. 3 cells between each point such as A, E, I, etc.), replace the number 5 with the number 4