Excel allows you to create spreadsheets much like paper ledgers that can perform

automatic calculations. Each Excel file is a workbook that can hold many worksheets.
The worksheet is a grid of columns (designated by letters) and rows (designated by
numbers). The letters and numbers of the columns and rows (called labels) are displayed
in gray buttons across the top and left side of the worksheet. The intersection of a column
and a row is called a cell. Each cell on the spreadsheet has a cell address that is the
column letter and the row number.

Cells can contain text, numbers, or mathematical formulas.

 Toolbars

Standard Toolbar

Formatting Toolbar

Format Cells Dialog Box

For a complete list of formatting options, right-click on the highlighted cells and choose
Format Cells from the shortcut menu or select Format|Cells from the menu bar.

 Number tab - The data type can be selected from the options on this tab. Select
General if the cell contains text and number, or another numerical category if the
cell is a number that will be included in functions or formulas.
  Alignment tab - These options allow you to change the position and alignment of
the data with the cell.
 Font tab - All of the font attributes are displayed in this tab including font face,
size, style, and effects.
 Border and Pattern tabs - These tabs allow you to add borders, shading, and
background colors to a cell.

Drawing Toolbar
Pivot Table ?
A Pivot table allows you to "interactively" aggregate your data and is a great way to
generate a dynamic summary report of your data. The term pivot refers to being able to change
the position of the fields and to being able to transpose the rows and columns of your table. The
more data you have to analyze then the more appropriate it is to use a pivot table. Pivot Tables
are always linked to the data they are derived from. When a Pivot table is created Excel builds a
special memory cache containing your data. This allows you to change and recalculate your data.
The data you will want to analyze will normally be numerical values, although it is possible to also
use text values as well.

Looking at the Excel list it is hard to identify how much is being spent a month on each division.
The pivot table below summarizes this Excel list and makes it much easier to understand.

4.1 Advantages of using a Pivot Table

To help identify relationships within your data that would otherwise be hard to see due too the
quantity of data. To aggregate and summarise a large quantity of data into a smaller more
condensed table. To organise your data into a format that would be easy to chart. Pivot tables
are dynamic allowing you to change the appearance instantly and because the table is linked to
your original data it can be refreshed extremely quickly.

You can quickly include and exclude individual fields from your summary table.
4.2 Creating a Pivot Table
You create a pivot table report by selecting (Data > PivotTable and PivotChart Wizard).
Select any cell within the list from which you want to create your table. Pivot tables that are based
on external data can use a great deal of memory so be sure to keep an eye on the size of the
workbook. You can use pivot tables to aggregate data from a wide range of sources including
external databases. There are four places you can use for the data for your pivot table

1. A list or database table in Excel. The excel data must be arranged in the correct way to
get the maximum benefit.
2. An external source, database or another workbook
3. A consolidation of multiple ranges from different worksheets.
4. Another Pivot Table or Pivot Chart.

4.3 Using the Pivot Table Wizard

You can display the Pivot Table wizard by selecting (Data > PivotTable and PivotChart
Wizard). Pivot Table Report - Starts the Pivot Table and Pivot Chart Wizard, which guides you
through creating or modifying a PivotTable or PivotChart report.

There are three steps allowing you to change the type of report, the data to use and the location
of your pivot table. The pivot table wizard will take you through the three stages.

 Step 1 - Type of Report - Lets you choose where the data is coming from either an Excel
list or database, external source, consolidation of ranges or even another pivot table.

 Step 2 - Source Data - Lets you select the cells and define the range to use for the
source data. If the insertion point is anywhere within the Excel list or database then the
whole block of cells will be selected automatically.

 Step 3 - Location - Lets you decide whether to display the pivot table report on a new
worksheet or on the existing worksheet

 Step 3b - Layout - This is not a separate step in the Wizard as it can either be done
before or after the pivot table has been created. This lets you determine the exact layout
of the report by dragging the fields onto a pivot table diagram.
4.5 Things to Remember

• Pivot Tables work well when you have large amounts of data to analyze.
• The simplest type of pivot table is just an aggregate of a single column which could be
used to show the number of occurrences of each item in a list.
• If you are using a data list on a worksheet then all your columns must have labels as
these will be used as the field names.
• You must remove any automatic totals or subtotals from your list before the pivot table as
the pivot table report will create any necessary total automatically.
• The entire list will be used to generate the pivot table and any hidden rows will be
included.

4.6 Items
Step 1 - What are the different Pivot Table Items ?

Row Field Identifies the values from the source data assigned to use as the rows of the table.
Column Field Identifies the values from the source data assigned to use as the columns of the table.
Data Area Summarises the data using the assigned summarisation function or custom formula.
Data Field Identifies the values from the source data that are summarised in the Data Area.
Page Field Can be used to filter the values on the page. Only records containing matching values
will be displayed. This is optional
Grand Totals A row or column that provides a total for all the cells of the data area.

4.7 Pivot Table Wizard

Step 1 - Type of Report

Highlight any cell within the data and select (Data > PivotTable and PivotChart Wizard).
Highlight any cell within the data and select (Data > PivotTable and PivotChart Wizard).
Creating just a pivot table with an Excel list is the default option so press next. Note that the
graphics down the left hand side change to confirm your selection.
Microsoft Excel list or database - You data table must have unique column labels at the top of
each column.
External data source - Includes Access databases and other Excel workbooks.
Multiple consolidation ranges - Multiple ranges containing similar data.
Another PivotTable or PivotChart –

Step 2 - Source Data

If you are using an Excel list and you have selected a cell within the list before invoking the
wizard then the continuous range of cells will be selected. If you select a single cell for the source
data before displaying the Wizard the current region will be automatically selected. You can
change this in step 3 of the Wizard. All the data should be highlighted so press Next.

Excel will automatically select the range of cells in the continuous range. It is possible to change
the source data range after the pivot table has been created. Holding down the Shift key and
pressing on the lower right cell will extend the data source to include that cell. You can also insert
rows into the data source and the data will automatically be included the next time the pivot table
is refreshed.

Step 3 – Location

Decide whether you want to insert the pivot table onto a new worksheet or the existing worksheet.

Before clicking on the Finish button you can select Layout button to define the table layout of your
pivot table.
New worksheet - A new worksheet will be inserted before the active sheet containing your pivot
table report. This is the default.
Existing worksheet -
Layout - You can always changes these at any point after the pivot table has been created.
Options - Displays the (PivotTable > Table Options) dialog box.

Step 4 – Layout

After you have completed the steps the pivot table field list will be displayed to let you change
how the table is organized.

Step 5 - Final PivotTable

The following pivot table summarizing your data will be displayed.

 Keyboard shortcuts

Keyboard shortcuts can save time and the effort of switching from the keyboard to the mouse to
execute simple commands. Print this list of Excel keyboard shortcuts and keep it by your
computer for a quick reference.

Note: A plus sign indicates that the keys need to be pressed at the same time.

Action Keystroke Action Keystroke

Document actions Selecting Cells

Open a file CTRL+O All cells left of current cell SHIFT+left arrow
New file CTRL+N All cells right of current cell SHIFT+right arrow
Save As F12 Entire column CTRL+Spacebar
Save CTRL+S Entire row SHIFT+Spacebar
Print CTRL+P Entire worksheet CTRL+A
Find CTRL+F
Replace CTRL+H Text Style
Go to F5 Bold CTRL+B
Cursor Movement Italics CTRL+I
One cell up Up arrow Underline CTRL+U
One cell down Down arrow Strikethrough CTRL+5
One cell right Tab Formulas
One cell left SHIFT+Tab Apply AutoSum ALT+=
Top of worksheet
CTRL+Home Current date CTRL+;
(cell A1)
Current time CTRL+:
End of worksheet
CTRL+End Spelling F7
(last cell with data)
End of row Home Help F1
End of column CTRL+left arrow Macros ALT+F8
Move to next worksheet CTRL+PageDown
Formatting
Edit active cell F2
Format as currency with 2
SHIFT+CTRL+$
decimal places
Format as percent with no
SHIFT+CTRL+%
decimal places
Cut CTRL+X
Copy CTRL+C
Paste CTRL+V
Undo CTRL+Z
Redo CTRL+Y
Format cells dialog box CTRL+1