Creating a Pivot Table

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1 Creating a Pivot Table Basic information: A pivot table is an Excel function using any data set on a spreadsheet to provide a summary. The data should be in consecutive rows and have labels at the top of the columns. A pivot table is configured to hold the data behind the scenes along with the original spreadsheet- so depending on the amount of data it can result in a very big file. A pivot table is a closed function and lines cannot be added into a pivot table. To add lines; make major formatting or other operational functions with the data, cut and past the pivot table to a new spreadsheet or area of the spreadsheet. The pivot table data will then be just a table of data at a fixed point in time and will lose the pivot table functions. Basic Formatting: The pivot tables allow for custom totals. Once you have subtotals you can click on Field Settings, subtotals and the radio button for custom. Go to layout and print, uncheck the Display subtotals at the top of each group ; and check Insert blank line after each item label to improve the formatting. Steps to Create a Pivot Table 1. Highlight the data on the spreadsheet and on the Insert Button select the PivotTable icon. The rows you have highlighted will appear in the selected table range. Note that the range is set off with $ to make this a fixed selection. If you need additional data- you can add rows or columns needed by changing the column letters or the row numbers to include or exclude data. 1

2 2. The new worksheet radio button will be automatically selected. If you are working with a huge spreadsheet it is best to put the pivot table on a new sheet. If you have small data amounts and you are able to see vacant rows below or columns to the right you can select existing work sheet and click in the cell. It will identify the location in the location box. Select OK. 3. For this example, a new worksheet was selected and this is the view that will pop up. Options for including in the table are on the left. Select the row and then click on the field for rows. As you select the field in the row it will automatically populate the table. Continue to select fields for rows. The pivot table will automatically start sorting the data by the row fields. In this example department was selected. If you then selected ecls and title, it would list titles by FC, EP, SP under each department name. 4. In this example only titles within department by the ecls code of EP and SP were selected. Data to display can be edited by using the drop down arrows under each field and select all or only specific items. In this case only those titles in EP and SP will show. This is dynamic data, so at any time you can add back the items or remove items by checking the boxes related to the data desired. 2

3 5. The item dropped in the values will be used to count or perform a designated operation. In this example it is the count of the number of ID s sorted by the department, ecls, title. It is important to pick a unique item to count. Example- if you should select first name and you have several employees name John - it would count the name John only once no matter how many times it appears in the data. However, if perform an operation such as sum the salary, it will add each salary to the total no matter how many times that specific salary appears in the data. 6. To change the field setting for the item you can double the field you selected in values and select field settings on the pop up menu. OR in the menu bar at the top, the Active Field box, you can click on field settings and change the field setting there. 7. You can modify the titles of the fields. Once the field name is changed it will change the field name wherever it appears in your pivot table. In this example the EP will be changed to EPA. To modify select the EP where it first appears and it will be automatically highlighted, type the new name and 3

4 enter. The title will change throughout the table. 8. Options are available for your pivot table. The order in which you place fields in the row labels or column labels will be the order in which the data is sorted and listed. You can change the order by clicking the item and dragging to the top or bottom or anyplace within the list. If you watch the table it will move the data immediately. You can also move row labels to columns and columns to rows. If you selected a data field such sex which has only two choices and placed that in the row column and then selected title as you columns, the spreadsheet would be very wide to accommodate 200+ columns for each title. In this case you would drag sex to the columns and title to the rows. Earlier we adjusted the table to have the sub totals at the end of the first row field. By right clicking the options under pivot table you can see that the options you can change for the total table. If you choose a numerical value such as salary you can change the field setting to give you the sum, the average, a count or you can show the amount as a value. In this example, the salary will be a % of the total salaries. If you wanted to see both the sum of salaries and the % of total, you select the salary field twice in your values. One salary field is set to sum and the other to show value as a % of total. If you add columns, rows and values you should use select the refresh button in the top ribbon command line to be sure the most current data is displayed. 4

5 The system is set to hold the data being displayed in summary. To know the exact data represented in the number in the pivot table, right click the number and select show details. A new spreadsheet will open up with data for the selected item. IF this data is not needed to print, delete the sheet to reduce the overall file size of your document. At any time the list can be generated and used. The data label for the rows and columns have a drop down box. If you select the drop down box you can see which values will be included. You can select all the items or you can select only specific ones. For example, if you wanted only faculty titles in a title list you uncheck the select all by clicking in the box. Then you would click in the boxes of the values you wish to show. This is helpful if you have selected blank rows of data and do not want to have a summary that includes a field called blank. Within a row column you may have a box with a minus sign. This major row field has been subdivided by the next row item you queried. You can click on the minus sign box to hide the detail and have a summary amount. In this example the H30 & H31 codes were collapsed to be a summary. The H-32 code still shows the detail. 5