3.1 PivotTables & PivotCharts (The Analyst's Jet Engine)

Why Pivots Trump Basic Formulas for Exploration

• Speed: Analyze 100,000+ rows in seconds vs. formula-crashing sheets

• Flexibility: Reconfigure views without rewriting formulas

• Enterprise Standard: 92% of Fortune 500 financial reports use pivots (Deloitte)

Advanced Techniques Most Courses Miss

1. Data Model & Power Pivot (Handle Millions of Rows)

• Creating relationships between tables (like a database)

• DAX measures for KPIs:

  excel

• YoY Growth := CALCULATE([Sales], SAMEPERIODLASTYEAR(Dates[Date]))  

• When to use: Merging CRM + ERP + Excel data without VLOOKUP hell

2. Calculated Fields & Grouping

• Profit per Unit: =Revenue/Units (dynamic with data changes)

• Custom groupings:

  • Age buckets (0-18, 19-35, etc.)

  • Price tiers (Budget/Premium/Luxury)

3. Slicers & Timelines (Interactive Reporting)

// Connect slicers to multiple pivots for synchronized dashboards  

Consulting Case:

• A/B test pricing strategy by slicing region + product tier + timeframe

Assignment:

• Turn messy sales CSV into regional performance dashboard with 3+ linked pivots