How to use Excel Pivot Tables

Example: Data from Amazon Associates

Setting up a pivot table in excel for Amazon Associates Earnings Reports

Get the data

Since we are using Amazon Associates reports as an example, log on to your Amazon Associates account

1. Go to Amazon Reports
2. Under reports, click the "Earning" tab under the graph
3. Change the date to last year (or whatever you want)
4. Click on Earnings, select only earning and bonus earnings
5. Download the report`

Open the download in Excel on your computer

Then:

1. Delete the first row (which is a description, not the column headers)
2. Add a column (M), with
   =MONTH(F2) & "/" & DAY(F2) & "/" & YEAR(F2)
3. Copy it down the column - this converts a date-time to date only
4. Highlight the cells, all cells,  (along with the header description row)
5. Click on the Data tab, then the big sort box
6. Sort on Date shipped, then  category (or name or product line), then ad fees (the last largest to smallest)
7. Click on "OK" (formerly Insert)
8. Then, under the Insert tab, click Create pivot table (accept defaults, new worksheet)
   
9. Next choose all fields (except fee rate, items shipped and revenue) as shown in the screenshot) and
10. Move all but date shipped to "report filter"
11. You may need to move advertising fee rate to Values AND then change it to Sum from count on the drop-down under "Value Field Settings"
12. Same for Price
13. Format the cells (Arial, 10, blue (2^nd from the right, 2^nd down), borders, currency)
14. Watch out for zero days - there is not cell/row created if there were no earnings on a given day

 

General instructions for Excel Pivot Tables

Let's say you have a business exporting fruit and vegetables.

Insert a Pivot Table

To insert a pivot table, execute the following steps.

1.  Click any single cell inside the data set.
2. On the Insert tab, in the Tables group, click PivotTable.
   The following dialog box will appear. Excel automatically selects the data for you (but it may not be the right data). The default location for a new pivot table is New Worksheet.
3. Click OK.

Drag the fields you need

The PivotTable Fields pane appears. It tends to grab too much data.
To get the total amount exported of each product, drag the following fields to the different areas.

1. Product field to the Rows area.

2. Amount field to the Values area.

3. Country field to the Filters area.

 

Below you can find the pivot table. Bananas are our main export product. That's how easy pivot tables can be!

Sort

To get Banana at the top of the list, sort the pivot table.

1. Click any cell inside the Sum of Amount column.

2. Right click and click on Sort, Sort Largest to Smallest.

Result.

Filter

Because we added the Country field to the Filters area, we can filter this pivot table by Country. For example, which products do we export the most to France?

1. Click the filter drop-down and select France.

Result. Apples are our main export product to France.

Note: you can use the standard filter (triangle next to Row Labels) to only show the amounts of specific products.

Change Summary Calculation

By default, Excel summarizes your data by either summing or counting the items. To change the type of calculation that you want to use, execute the following steps.

1. Click any cell inside the Sum of Amount column.

2. Right click and click on Value Field Settings.

3. Choose the type of calculation you want to use. For example, click Count.

4. Click OK.

Result. 16 out of the 28 orders to France were 'Apple' orders.

Two-dimensional Pivot Table

If you drag a field to the Rows area and Columns area, you can create a two-dimensional pivot table. First, insert a pivot table. Next, to get the total amount exported to each country, of each product, drag the following fields to the different areas.

1. Country field to the Rows area.

2. Product field to the Columns area.

3. Amount field to the Values area.

4. Category field to the Filters area.

Below you can find the two-dimensional pivot table.

To easily compare these numbers, create a pivot chart and apply a filter. Maybe this is one step too far for you at this stage, but it shows you one of the many other powerful pivot table features Excel has to offer.