Formulas - referring to results of another formula

Formulas - referring to results of another formula

I am attempting to create a formula. I'd like to do it in multiple steps (e.g. result 1, result 2, result3 = result1 - result2). According to https://help.zoho.com/portal/en/kb/creator/developer-guide/forms/add-and-manage-fields/articles/fields-formula-understand-expression#Building_blocks_of_expressions "A formula field can be referred in the expression of another formula field." However, when I attempt to do so, I get "Formula field type cannot be used in formula expressions."

Is there some special syntax I need to use? Or are the docs wrong? Or, can I only refer to formulas on other forms and the docs are incomplete?