To focus on specific data in an Excel pivot table, you can add a field to the Report Filter area. Then, select one or more items from that pivot table field, to see the summarized data.

If you put a date field in the Report Filter area, there might be a long list of dates in the dropdown list. When you create the pivot table, the dates are usually in ascending order, with the oldest dates at the top of the list.

That's not too convenient, if you want to focus on the latest data, instead of the oldest. How can you change the sort order, to put the newest dates at the top of the list?

Sort the Report Filter Field

Usually, it's easy to sort a pivot table field. For example, if you right-click on a field in the Row area, the popup menu shows sorting and grouping options.

However, when you right-click a Report Filter field, those sorting and grouping options aren't listed in the popup menu.

Move the Pivot Table Field

To solve the sorting problem, you can use a workaround – temporarily move the Report Filter field to the Row Labels area.

Then, use the right-click popup menu to sort the date field in descending order.

Drag the field back to the Report Filter area, after you sort it.

Report Filter Dates in Descending Order

After you sort the field in descending order, you'll see the latest dates at the top of the drop down list.

It's not the ideal solution, but it works! Maybe in the next version of Excel you'll be able to sort the fields, without moving them from the Report Filter area.

_________

When you create a pivot table in Excel 2010 or Excel 2007, the row labels are in a compact layout – all the headings are listed in column A.

You can change the Report Layout setting, to either Outline form or Tabular form, so each row field is in a separate column.

Here's the same pivot table in Outline form. The Region field is in column A, with a separate row for each new heading.

Repeat the Row Labels

A new feature in Excel 2010 lets you repeat those row labels, so they appear on every row in the pivot table.

To turn on that feature for all the fields, select the Repeat All Item Labels on the Ribbon's Design tab.

Here's the pivot table in Outline form, with repeating row labels.

Repeating Labels for a Single Field

Instead of turning on repeating labels for the entire pivot table, you can apply the feature to a specific pivot table field.

In this example, the Region, City and Store fields are in the Row area, and we'll turn on repeating labels for the Region field only.

1. Right-click one of the Region labels, and click Field Settings
2. In the Field Settings dialog box, click the Layout & Print tab
3. Add a check mark to Repeat item labels, then click OK

Now, the Region labels are repeated, but the City labels are only listed once.

Watch the Pivot Table Repeat Labels Video

To see the steps for repeating labels in all fields, or a single field, please watch this short Excel pivot table video tutorial.

Or watch on YouTube: Repeat Headings in Excel 2010 Pivot Table

_________________

Happy Spreadsheet Day! We celebrate on October 17th, because this is the date that VisiCalc was first released to customers, in 1979. This year's theme is Spreadsheets for Students, and what better way to help students, than show them a great way to use pivot tables?

Student Budget Workbook

Most students have limited funds, so it's important that they plan and track their spending. Bob Ryan, from the Simply Learning Excel website, has created a Student Budget spreadsheet, that should help students get their finances organized.

There is a transaction sheet, where you can enter your budget amounts and track your actual spending, including cash and credit cards. At the end of the month, review your cash and credit card spending in pivot tables that shows monthly totals.

In another pivot table, you can keep track of your running balance.

Bob also built a pivot table which compares your budget amounts with the actual amounts.

Download the Student Budget Workbook

You can download the Student Budget Spreadsheet file, and use it to track your own finances. The file is in Excel 2007/2010 format, and it is zipped. There are no macros in the file.

If you have questions, please post them on Bob's Simply Learning Excel blog, or ask them in the comments here.

Contribute to Spreadsheet Day 2011

If you'd like to join the Spreadsheet Day celebrations, please post your own free and useful spreadsheet template or add-in, that will help students get organized. Or, if you prefer, post a tip or link in Twitter, with the hashtag #spreadsheetday

Thanks for joining the Spreadsheet Day celebrations, and for sharing your knowledge with students. I'm sure they'll appreciate it!

___________

When you update a pivot table’s source data in Excel, the pivot table does not update automatically. You can set the pivot table to update when the Excel file opens, but that doesn’t help if you’re making changes after the file opens.

If you can use macros in your Excel file, you can use an event procedure to automatically update the pivot table if the source data
changes.

Add the Event Procedure Code

In this example, the source data is on a sheet named "Forecast", and the pivot table is on the "Product" sheet. To add the event code, follow these steps:

Right-click on the the sheet tab for the Forecast sheet, and click View Code

Copy the following code to the Forecast worksheet module

Private Sub Worksheet_Change(ByVal Target As Range)
  Worksheets("Product").PivotTables(1).PivotCache.Refresh
End Sub

The worksheet module in your workbook might not have Option Explicit at the top. You can type that line in, if it's missing.

Unprotect the Worksheet

If the pivot table worksheet is protected, you can add code to unprotect it, and then protect it again.

Private Sub Worksheet_Change(ByVal Target As Range)

    With Worksheets("Product")
        .Unprotect Password:="yourpassword"
        .PivotTables(1).PivotCache.Refresh
        .Protect Password:="yourpassword"
    End With

End Sub

Test the Refresh Code

To test the pivot table refresh code, make a change to the data on the Forecast sheet.

• Making the change will trigger the Forecast sheet’s Change event.
• In the Event code, the pivot cache for the Product sheet’s pivot table is refreshed.

More Information

• Create a Pivot Table in Excel 2007
• Excel Pivot Table -- Dynamic Data Source
• Automatically Include New Data in a Pivot Table

___________________

Last year, I posted Excel VBA code for removing a calculated field from a pivot table.

The code works well if there is only one pivot table based on that pivot cache. However, a couple of comments mentioned that there were problems if multiple pivot tables shared the pivot cache.

Here is a revised version of the code, that checks for other pivot tables using the same pivot cache. If others are found, the macro is cancelled, and a message appears, listing the pivot tables.

Remove Calculated Fields for Non-Shared Pivot Cache

If other pivot tables in the workbook share the same cache, the macro is cancelled. A message lists those pivot tables.

Sub RemoveCalculatedFieldsNotShared()
Dim ws As Worksheet
Dim ptA As PivotTable
Dim pt As PivotTable
Dim pf As PivotField
Dim pfNew As PivotField
Dim strSource As String
Dim strFormula As String
Dim iPC As Long
Dim lCache As Long
Dim strPC As String

Set ptA = ActiveSheet.PivotTables(1)
iPC = ptA.PivotCache.Index

For Each ws In ActiveWorkbook.Worksheets
    For Each pt In ws.PivotTables
        If pt.PivotCache.Index = iPC Then
            lCache = lCache + 1
            strPC = strPC & ws.Name & "     " _
                & pt.TableRange2.Address _
                & vbCrLf
        End If
    Next pt
Next ws

If lCache > 1 Then
    MsgBox "Cancelled" _
        & vbCrLf & vbCrLf _
        & lCache & " pivot tables share this pivot cache: " _
        & vbCrLf & vbCrLf _
        & strPC
    GoTo exitHandler
Else
    For Each pf In ptA.CalculatedFields
        strSource = pf.SourceName
        strFormula = pf.Formula
        pf.Delete
        Set pfNew = ptA.CalculatedFields.Add(strSource, strFormula)
    Next pf
End If

exitHandler:
    Exit Sub

End Sub

_______________

You probably know how easy it is to add or remove the Grand Totals in a pivot table, by using the Ribbon commands.

But keep reading, to see an even quicker way!

Grand Totals on the Ribbon

Yes, it’s easy to change the Grand Total settings on the Ribbon:

• Select any cell in the pivot table
• On the Ribbon, under PivotTable Tools, click the Design tab
• In the Layout group, at the left, click Grand Totals
• Click one of the options.

Quickly Remove Grand Totals

For an even quicker way to remove Grand Totals, follow these steps:

• In the pivot table, right-click the Grand Total label cell (not the total amounts) – either the Row Grand Total or the Column Grand Total
• In the popup menu, click Remove Grand Total

That’s it! Unfortunately, there’s no equally quick way to add Grand Totals, but maybe that feature will be in the next version of Excel.

________

Last week, you saw a technique for changing monthly data into a better layout, when creating an Excel pivot table. We used a multiple consolidation ranges pivot table to change this 13-column table into a 3-column data source.

Today we’ll look at a different approach to using multi-column data in a pivot table.

Bi-Weekly Data

Thanks to Jim LaBarr, who sent me a sample Excel file, with his solution to creating reports from multi-column financial data.

In his file, Jim has dates in the heading row – not just the month names. Every column has a heading, and there are no blank rows or columns within the data.

NOTE: Usually, Jim would create an Excel Table from this data, but that changes the headings to text. Don’t create an Excel Table if you want to use the technique that Jim is sharing today.

Pivot Table from Bi-Weekly Data

After setting up his bi-weekly financial data, Jim creates a pivot table, using multiple consolidation ranges. This creates a pivot table with 3 fields – Row, Column and Value.

The dates are the Column items, and the descriptions are the Row items.

This multiple consolidation ranges pivot table shows a grand total for the columns, because all the dates are in the Column field.

NOTE: If we had created a normal pivot table from the data, each date would be a separate field, and there would be no grand total.

Filter the Pivot Table

After creating the pivot table, Jim filters the Row and Column fields, to focus on specific data. For example, you could filter the Rows to show only the Revenue items (but not the Revenue Total). Then, filter the Columns, to show the December 2010 dates.

The Row and Column grand totals automatically update, to show the totals for the filtered pivot table.

Change the Pivot Table Values

When you create a pivot table, the values are summarized by Sum or Count, and shown as simple totals. For a different view of the data, Jim changes the way the Values are shown. In the pivot table shown below, the Values are shown as % of Column.

This is a quick way to see the revenue breakdown, for the two revenue streams. Revenue A produces 60% of the revenue, and 40% is from Revenue B.

Grouping the Dates

Because the multiple consolidation ranges pivot table puts the Dates in a single field, Jim is able to group those dates. This gives him even more flexibility in his pivot table reports.

Here, the dates are grouped by year and month, and again, the grand totals are automatically calculated.

Or, the Column field can be moved to the Row area, to show the dates at the left, in a vertical report.

Additional Summary Functions

In another version of his pivot table report, Jim puts 3 copies of the Value field in the Values area.

• Sum
• Change
• % Change

To show the Change, Jim changes the custom calculation to Difference From. For % Change, Jim uses the % Difference From custom calculation.

Create a Pivot Chart

To give a visual overview of the data, Jim create a pivot chart from the multiple consolidation range pivot table. Here, the Years and Months are in the Row area, and the Descriptions are in the Column area, filtered for Total Cost and Total Revenue.

Jim’s Tips for Financial Data Pivot Tables

If your financial data is in many columns, like Jim’s example, here are Jim’s tips for when to use this multiple consolidation ranges techniques, and when to use an Excel Table instead.

• Use this method to keep multiple columns, with pivot table benefits, like date grouping
• Use Tables if all you need is Filtering on Rows
• Use Tables if you need Chart of multiple Rows with no need for time period Grouping
• For source data with multiple description columns, use the normalization workaround

Download the Sample Financial Data Pivot Table File

To see Jim LaBarr’s sample data, and the pivot tables, you can download his Financial Data Pivot Table sample file. The file is in Excel 2003 format, and zipped.

______________

It’s Friday, and the weather has been unbearably hot all week. On top of that, your boss and/or Excel are making you crazy.

If you’re on your last nerve, you can vent your rage in a comic strip, by using Rage Builder. I made this pivot table themed comic, and I’m sure you can do better!

I didn’t upload my comic to the website – I used Snagit to take a screen shot, and save that image file.

________

When you are setting up your source data for an Excel pivot table, there are a few data layout guidelines that will help you create the best possible pivot table.

Sometimes you get data that isn’t well suited for creating a pivot table, like the example shown below. It has a column for each month, and the sales amounts are spread over those 12 columns.

When you create a pivot table, there are 12 value fields – one for each month – and you would have to create a calculated field to see an annual total.

Normalize the Pivot Table Source Data

Instead of a separate column for each month, the pivot table source data should have a single column for the sales amounts. In the adjacent columns, you can enter the product name and month name for each amount.

You could manually rearrange that data, or write some Excel VBA code to do the job for you, so it looks like the table shown below. With this 3-column Excel table, you can easily create a flexible pivot table, and focus of specific items or months.

Rearrange the Data Without Macros

Instead of manually rearranging the data, or writing a macro, you can use a pivot table trick to change the 13-column data into a normalized 3-column table. Follow these steps, to quickly rearrange the data:

1. Select a cell in the 13-column table, and press Alt+D, and then press P, to open the PivotTable and PivotChart Wizard
2. In Step 1, select Multiple Consolidation Ranges, and then click Next.
3. In Step 2a, select I Will Create The Page Fields, and then click Next.
4. In Step 2b, click in the Range box, and on the worksheet, select the entire table, including the headings, and then click Add.
•  
5. Leave the other settings at their defaults, and click Finish.
6. A new sheet is added to the workbook, with a pivot table
7. In the PivotTable Field List, remove the check marks from the Row and Column fields, so only the Grand Total for Value is left.
• 
8. Double-click the Grand Total cell, (cell A4 in the screen shot above), to create a new sheet, with the pivot table’s data in 3 columns.
9. Then, rename the heading cells as Product, Month, and Amount.
• 

Build a New Pivot Table

Now that the source data is normalized, in a 3-column table instead of 13 columns, you can insert your final pivot table, based on the rearranged data.

With the amounts in a single columns, it’s easy to create totals, and use other summary functions, such as Average.

Download the Sample Workbook

To test the multiple consolidation ranges technique, you can download the Normalize Data for Excel Pivot Table sample workbook. The file is in Excel 2007 format, and is zipped. There are no macros in the file.

Watch the Pivot Table Trick Video

To see the steps for using a multiple consolidation ranges pivot table, to rearrange your pivot table source data, watch this Excel video tutorial.

It also shows the steps for this technique, if there are two or more columns with labels.

Or watch on YouTube: Normalize Data for Excel Pivot Table

________________ 

It’s interesting to see what people are saying about Excel in Twitter, and I post a few favourite Excel tweets, from my daily reading.

Of course, many of those tweets are about pivot tables, so here, for your Friday entertainment, are some highlights from the past.

Do any of these pivot table tweets sound like you could have posted them?

• Pivot tables are my favourite part of excel. I'm actually sad enough to have a favourite part.
• Just discovered the "Show Pages" function in Excel Pivot tables... my world may never be the same again. #dork
• Pivot tables were originally implemented by Lotus Improv (which was all it did). Yours, the spreadsheet bore
• If there was an Olympics for Excel Pivot tables, I would have just done the equivalent of the Double McTwist.
• You are not the boss of me, Pivot Table. Sorry, I mean Mister Pivot Table.
• A Pivot Table cannot overlap another Pivot Table - why is this my problem Microsoft?
• Careful lying about Excel. I got caught in that once. They gave me a test. Stupid pivot tables.
• Is it me or does excel rarely assume the correct function when i drop data into a pivot table?
• that's right ladies, i may not be able to build you a spice rack, but i can sure as hell make you a pivot table. that's hot, right?
• Also, if you don't know how to use pivot tables, you don't *really* know how to use Excel. There, I said it.
• OH:"I'm going to write a book about Excel pivot tables. It's going to be a romance novel."
• I refuse to help anyone with any system or data unless they know what a excel pivot table is
• I work with technology every day. Excel pivot tables still baffle me.

Have a great weekend, and may all of your pivot table tweets be happy ones!

__________