If you are like me, you will have been scared by someone talking about Excel PivotTables. It could have been a colleague or a job interview, but if you are unaware of this feature, this could be a scary thing.
However, PivotTables are really useful in summarising and making sense of a lot of data, and they are really simple to do. Just follow these few simple steps:
- Prepare your data. Create a Category column if your data is not already categorised, and type a category name for each transaction. These categories will be your summary points. Ensure that your data has headings, as these will be important in producing the final summary.
- Insert the PivotTable. Click any cell in your data, then go to Insert > PivotTable.
- Check the range. Make sure the entire range of your data, including the headings, is selected. Choose whether the PivotTable goes in a new sheet or an existing one, and click OK.
- Build the summary. In the PivotTable Fields list, tick Category and the amount field you want to total, and the summary PivotTable will be done.
I hope this gets you to overcome the fear of PivotTables!
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