What

Why

How

• How to make one; what is happening behind the scenes
• Using dynamic ranges with PivotTables
• Table options
• Field options

A PivotTable lets you cut your data by dimensions (slices) so that you can see the measures (values) broken out in a way that is important to you. For example: sales by month, prospects by marketing channel. Here's a more extensive description of dimensions and measures by our friends at the Open Source Analytics blog (http://opensourceanalytics.com/2006/02/07/olap-reporting-on-open-source-software-i/)

Here's what you need to know when using Pivot Tables: Measures should be dropped in the center part of the table, where the calculating takes place. Dimensions should be dropped around the edges -- along the top or the left hand side. This is where the slicing takes place. Placing a dimension above the PivotTable is a good way to create a filter.

2. Second, you'll need well structured data. This may be the part that trips so many people up: too often spreadsheet users mix up the raw data and the approach they are using for presenting that data. Raw, flat data has a series of columns (both measures and dimensions) and rows that represent the lowest level of granularity that you'll need for your analysis. For example, each row might represent a customer order or an individual store location. Here's an example of flat data where each row is a school for a given year.

3. Like a puppy, PivotTables can make a mess of things if you don't properly domestic them. Avoid Pivot Table ugliness -- a few tips and tricks

• PivotCharts -- need to pull out the data.

• Reformatting

• Dynamic ranges

Resources

http://www.microsoft.com/dynamics/using/excel_pivot_tables_collins.mspx