Tutorial 2

Topic:  Deeper discussion of Excel concepts, specifically, filters and pivot tables.

Lesson Objectives: 

·         Understand and be able to create filters in Excel

·         Understand and be able to use filters in pivot tables

·         Understand how to modify a pivot table and maneuver within the data set of a pivot table

As demonstrated during the lesson on Excel, this application is an extremely powerful and useful tool for many different purposes.  As we learned, because Excel uses a spreadsheet concept combined with math logic as the basis for its functionality, the result is an environment where data mining and manipulation is made easy.   Excel provides the ability for easy math or very complex formulae, as well as slicing and dicing the data in different ways to investigate, analyze, maneuver, present and/or otherwise achieve an output that serves an intended goal. 

Because the potential uses of Excel are so vast, users can be intimidated and shy away from “taking the dive”.  However, be assured that once a user comes to realize the power and ease of use of Excel, it becomes a tool of choice.   It is one of those time investments that is worth it in the long run, because once you get the basics down, everything else falls into place with familiarity, and the time savings later can be a life-saver when the crunch is on.

Two very easy yet very powerful features in Excel are filters and pivot tables.  In our lesson on Excel, we created some pivot tables.  In this tutorial, we will explore how to apply filters and get into deeper levels of the pivot table features that were introduced during our lesson.

First, I've created this video demonstration to take a look at filters :

As was demonstrated, filters can be very useful in quickly and easily scaling down data by certain criteria elements.  This makes the data population easier to work with by eliminating unnecessary or unwanted data points from the work set.

Additional help on filters can be found at Microsoft.com

Next, I created this video to demonstrate diving into the pivot tables:

Again, as a supplement to the course lesson, the ease of use of pivot tables should be considered a value add in ways to quickly slice and dice data from a detailed spreadsheet, manipulate it to the desired results and formatted in presentation ready form.

Additional help on pivot tables can be found at Microsoft.com

Additional help on filters within pivot tables can be found at Microsoft.com

EXCEL 2007 help is available at Microsoft.com

Excel Project

This was more of a refresher phase.  Being an accountant, Excel is my beast of burden.  I use it daily for some very advanced applications.   While there are some limitations on using pivot tables, this was a great exercise if for nothing else than a reminder of how easy the pivot tables are.    

One thing that is really great about pivot tables is the drill-down feature.  From within a pivot table, you can double-click on the data and a new worksheet is created that includes only the details of the data contained in the pivot table.  For example, a screen shot of the Average Increase pivot table is shown here:

 

By double-clicking in cell B6, a new worksheet is created that includes only females aged 30-39:

This can be very useful in parsing data into different elements, where the detail is only necessary for certain data parameters.  Another very useful function within Excel which is automatically applied to the pivot table features are called filters.  Filters are the drop-down buttons shown at the top of the columns within the pivot table as well as the secondary detail worksheet demonstrated above.  The following screen shot demonstrates the filter by age, but filtering is available for each column, and you can build on the filtering. 

For example, you can filter the data to include only 30 year olds by selecting only “30”, and then further filter by some other column in the data set, such as Target Achieved.  This presents the potential for targeting particular subjects for particular services. 

Excel is a very powerful application that every business person should have the skill to use.  I hope you have found this useful.