1. What are pivot tables?
A pivot table is a table of statistics that summarizes the data of a more extensive table (such as from a
database, spreadsheet, or business intelligence program). This summary might include sums, averages, or
other statistics, which the pivot table groups together in a meaningful way. Pivot tables are a technique in data
processing. They enable a person to arrange and rearrange (or "pivot") statistics in order to draw attention to
useful information.
2. How does Pivot Tables works?
How to Insert a Pivot Table
Typically you will want to insert your pivot
The first step is to insert a pivot table into table on a new worksheet.
your workbook.
The Pivot Table Areas
The pivot table contains four areas that you can drag
the fields into to create a report.
Filters area
Columns area
Rows area
Values area
After you create the pivot table you
will see a list of fields in the task
pane on the right side of the screen.
These fields are the columns in your
data set.
The Pivot Table Areas Explained
The Rows Area The Values Area
The Rows area of the pivot table is where The Values area displays the data (values)
we typically start when building the that we want to summarize in our pivot
outline of our report. When you drag a table report. When you drag a field into
field into the Rows area of the pivot table, the Values area, the pivot table will
all the unique values in that field will be automatically sum or count the data in
displayed in the first column of the pivot. that field. If the data in the field contains
The pivot table removes all the duplicates numbers, then the sum will be calculated.
in the field (column of source data) and If the data contains text or blanks, then
only displays the unique values. the count will be calculated. The
calculation type can be changed later to
other functions like Average, Max, Min,
etc.
Filter & Calculate – The Values Area Explained Tabular Data Structure – Getting the Source
Data Right
What happens when we add a field to
the Values area? The pivot table Since we now know that a pivot table uses
performs its magic by filtering and filters to calculate the results in the Values
calculating the data for each cell in the area, it is critical that the data is
values area. structured in a way that can be filtered.
Pivot tables require your source data to
be in a Tabular layout. Tabular means that
the source data can only have one row of
headers (descriptive names for each
column), and rows of data below the
header.
Pivot tables require your source data to
be in a Tabular layout (format).
Unique Field Characteristics The Columns Area
Each header (column name) in the source
data must only describe ONE
characteristic of the data.
The Columns area works just like the
Rows area. It lists the unique values of a
field in the pivot table. The only
Pivot tables require your source data to
difference is that it lists the values across
be in a Tabular layout (format).
the top row of the pivot table.
The Filters Area – Filter the Entire
Pivot Table
Pivot tables require your source data to
be in a Tabular layout (format).
Pivot tables require your source data
to be in a Tabular layout (format).
The Filters area applies a filter to the
entire pivot table. Each cell in the Values
area represents an intersection of the
fields in the Rows, Columns, and Filter
areas. The source data is filtered based on
this criteria, then calculates the Values
area for the specified type of calculation
(sum, count, average, etc.).
