Microsoft Office

Analyzing Data with Pivot Tables 35
A pivot chart example
Figure 35.22 shows part of a table that tracks daily sales by region. The Date field contains dates for the
entire year (excluding weekends), the Region field contains the region name (Eastern, Southern, or
Western), and the Sales field contains the sales amount.
ON the CD-ROM
This workbook, named sales by region.xlsx, is available on the companion CD-ROM.
FIGURE 35.22
This data will be used to create a pivot chart.
The first step is to create a pivot table to summarize the data. Figure 35.23 shows the pivot table. The Date
field is in the Row Labels area, and the daily dates have been grouped into months. The Region field is in
the Column Labels area. The Sales field is in the Values area.
The pivot table is certainly easier to interpret than the raw data, but the trends would be easier to spot in a
chart.
To create a pivot chart, select any cell in the pivot table and choose PivotTable Tools ➪ Options ➪ Tools ➪
Pivot Chart. Excel displays its Create Chart dialog box, from which you can choose a chart type. For this
example, select a standard line chart and click OK. Excel creates the pivot chart and also displays the
PivotChart Filter pane, shown in Figure 35.24.
The chart makes it easy to see an upward sales trend for the Western division, a downward trend for the
Southern division, and relatively flat sales for the Eastern division.
When you select a pivot chart, the Ribbon displays a new tab: PivotChart Tools. The commands are virtually
identical to those for a standard Excel chart, so you can manipulate the pivot chart any way you like.
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