I know there are a few people out there that would like to get the most out of their MS Excel without a lot of work.  One of the features that I have found easy to use and very helpful in performing data analysis and displaying it in a non-cluttered manor is to insert a PIVOT TABLE. A PIVOT TABLE is a data summarization tool….it allows you to reorganize and display data in different ways.

Creating a Pivot Table is a very easy process and depending on what version of Microsoft Office you have the menu options may be different but the overall process is the same. For the purpose of this instruction I am using Microsoft Office 2010.

Step 1 Be sure that your data is in Excel and has Column Headings (e.g. NAME, PRODUCT, DATE…ect)

Step 2 Open the workbook where your data is stored.

Step 3 Select a cell in the current sheet (but off to the side of your data) or in another sheet of the same workbook (this is where your PIVOT table will be displayed. I suggest the PIVOT TABLE be displayed in a separate sheet)

Step 4 Once you have decided which Sheet and Cell to display your data in, left click in the cell (If this sheet contains other data be sure you leave at least two rows empty above and as many rows below as you think you will need…because the table may override this information if it needs to expand to display the amount of data selected)

for the last 3 steps click on Read More

Step 5 Select the INSERT tab by left click, then select the icon directly above the words Pivot Table

(or left click on the words and select the first option, Pivot Table)

Step 6 Once the “Create Pivot Table” menu is displayed select the data that you want to analyze by left click and hold then drag over the cells. Once you have the data selected release the left click. Left Click on OK on the “Create a Pivot Table Menu” and you will be returned to where your pivot table will be displayed. (You may select only a couple cells or the entire column of cells…be sure that you have selected two columns of data and that it includes the column headings)

Step 7 Now you are ready to decide how you want your data displayed. On the right side of the sheet will be the “Pivot Table Field List”. You must select the column headers you want to display. Try Selecting all at first (this will drop them all into the “Row Labels”) and then moving them around by drag and drop into the other lower three fields named “Report Filter”, “Column Labels”, and “Values”.

FINAL PRODUCT (shows what product and how many were purchased during what month)

PIVOT TABLES are an easy and quick way to analyze data from Employee’s work schedules to Customer Trends. Here are two examples that illustrate both of these points.

Example 1 A customer product purchase table (There are Two TABS one data and one containing the Pivot Table)

Example 2 An employee work schedule table (There are Two TABS one data and one containing the Pivot Table)