This technique works by turning the subtraction problem into one of addition by making use of previously mastered techniques.
This technique can be used to subtract arbitrarily large numbers. It utilizes the nines complement, tens complement and large number addition tricks.
Step 1
Find the 10’s complement of the ones digit for the number being subtracted (known as the subtrahend).
10’s complement of 6 is 4.
Step 2
Find the 9’s complement for the rest of the digits in the number being subtracted.
9’s complement of 234 is 765.
Step 3
Put the result of step 2 in front of the result for step 1. If step 1 resulted in 10 then add the 1 to the right most digit from step 2 result.
Step 4
Add the result of step 3 to the larger number in the original problem.
5341 + 7654 = 12995
Step 5
Drop the leading one from the result in step 3 for the final answer.
12995 drop leading 1 = 2995