Pivot Table Data Crunching

1. Pivot Table Fundamentals

In this Chapter

What Is a Pivot Table? 9

Why Should You Use a Pivot Table? 10

When Should You Use a Pivot Table? 11

The Anatomy of a Pivot Table 12

Pivot Tables Behind the Scenes 14

Limitations of Pivot Table Reports 15

What Is a Pivot Table?

Imagine that Excel is a large toolbox that contains different tools at your disposal. The pivot table is essentially one tool in your Excel toolbox. If a pivot table were indeed a physical tool that you could hold in your hand, a kaleidoscope would most accurately represent it.

When you look through a kaleidoscope at an object, you see that object in a different way. You can turn the kaleidoscope to move the details of the object around. The object itself doesn’t change, and it’s ...