Excel Explained: Pivot Tables

Excel expert David H. Ringstrom, CPA, focuses on the basics of using Excel pivot tables in this informative presentation. Pivot tables empower you to easily create reports from complex data, simply by using your mouse.

Like many features in Excel, pivot tables have nuances that can trip up the unaware user. David points out pivot table tricks and traps to help ensure your reports are always accurate. In addition, he shows Excel 2013 and later users how to implement the Recommended PivotTables feature.

David teaches from the version of Excel in use by the majority of attendees, but he explains any differences in Excel 2007, 2010, 2013, and 2016. His webcasts are fast-paced, and attendees often are surprised at the amount of ground he covers in a session. He welcomes participants’ questions, so come ready to pick his brain.

David’s detailed handouts serve as reference tools you can fall back on after participating in one of his webcasts. He also provides an Excel workbook that includes a majority of the examples he uses during each session.

Covered Topics

• Avoid disabled features by converting Excel 97–2003 files to modern workbook formats with ease.
• Avoid frustration by understanding the nuances of pivot table formatting.
• Discover how pivot tables differ from worksheet formulas and learn the importance of the Refresh command.
• Drill down into numbers with a double-click—or prevent other users from being able to do so.
• Identify the requirements of ideal data sets to be analyzed within your pivot tables.
• Learn how to expand and collapse pivot table elements, thereby avoiding information overload.
• Learn the nuances associated with subtotaling data within a pivot table.
• Prevent frustration by understanding the nuances of pivot table formatting.
• Use the Report Filter command to create breakout tables and dig deeper into the numbers.
• Define how to expand and collapse groups of data within a pivot table.
• Identify the best approach for formatting numbers within a pivot table.
• Recall the default location for pivot table data when you click a checkbox for a given field.

Practitioners who may benefit from learning how to use Excel pivot tables to create accurate reports.

David Ringstrom, CPA owns Accounting Advisors, Inc., an Atlanta-based spreadsheet and database consulting firm that he started in 1991. David has written freelance articles about spreadsheets since 1996, some of which have been published internationally. He teaches dozens of webinars on Excel each year, along with speaking at conferences. David coined the phrase "Either you work Excel, or it works you!" Accordingly his sessions are designed to help you turn the tide and become a much more effective spreadsheet user.