Learn Excel Data Analysis

Excel Data
Analysis
Tutorial
Data Analysis with Excel is a comprehensive tutorial that
provides a good insight into the latest and advanced features
available in Microsoft Excel. It explains in detail how to
perform various data analysis functions using the features
available in MS-Excel. The tutorial has plenty of
screenshots that explain how to use a particular feature, in a
step-by-step manner.
This tutorial has been designed for all those readers who
depend heavily on MS-Excel to prepare charts, tables, and
professional reports that involve complex data. It will help
all those readers who use MS-Excel regularly to analyze
data.
The readers of this tutorial are expected to have a good prior

understanding of the basic features available in Microsoft
Excel.
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TABLE OF CONTENTS
1. Data Analysis - Overview

2. Data Analysis - Process
3. Excel Data Analysis - Overview
4. Working with Range Names
5. Excel Data Analysis - Tables
6. Cleaning Data with Text Functions
7. Cleaning Data Containing Date Values
8. Working with Time Values
9. Excel Data Analysis - Conditional Formatting
10. Excel Data Analysis - Sorting
11. Excel Data Analysis - Filtering
12. Excel Data Analysis - Subtotals with Ranges
13. Excel Data Analysis - Quick Analysis
14. Excel Data Analysis - Lookup Functions
15. Excel Data Analysis - PivotTables
16. Excel Data Analysis - Data Visualization
17. Excel Data Analysis - Data Validation
18. Excel Data Financial Analysis
19. Working with Multiple Sheets
20. Excel Data Analysis - Formula Auditing
21. Excel Data Analysis - Inquire
22. Advanced Data Analysis - Overview
23. Advanced Data Analysis - Data Consolidation
24. Advanced Data Analysis - What-If Analysis
25. What-If Analysis with Data Tables
26. What-If Analysis with Scenario Manager
27. What-If Analysis with Goal Seek
28. Optimization with Excel Solver
29. Importing Data into Excel
30. Advanced Data Analysis - Data Model
31. Exploring Data with PivotTables
32. Exploring Data with Powerpivot
33. Exploring Data with Power View
34. Exploring Data with Power View Charts
35. Exploring Data with Power View Maps
36. Exploring Data with Power View Multiples
37. Exploring Data with Power View Tiles
38. Exploring Data with Hierarchies
39. Aesthetic Power View Reports
40. Key Performance Indicators
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Data Analysis - Overview
Data Analysis is a process of inspecting, cleaning,
transforming and modeling data with the goal of discovering
useful information, suggesting conclusions and supporting
decision-making
TYPES OF DATA ANALYSIS

Several data analysis techniques exist encompassing various
domains such as business, science, social science, etc. with a
variety of names. The major data analysis approaches are −
 Data Mining
 Business Intelligence
 Statistical Analysis
 Predictive Analytics
 Text Analytics
DATA MINING
Data Mining is the analysis of large quantities of data to

extract previously unknown, interesting patterns of data,
unusual data and the dependencies. Note that the goal is the
extraction of patterns and knowledge from large amounts of
data and not the extraction of data itself.
Data mining analysis involves computer science methods at

the intersection of the artificial intelligence, machine
learning, statistics, and database systems.
The patterns obtained from data mining can be considered as
a summary of the input data that can be used in further
analysis or to obtain more accurate prediction results by a
decision support system.
BUSINESS INTELLIGENCE
Business Intelligence techniques and tools are for

acquisition and transformation of large amounts of
unstructured business data to help identify, develop and
create new strategic business opportunities.
The goal of business intelligence is to allow easy

interpretation of large volumes of data to identify new
opportunities. It helps in implementing an effective strategy
based on insights that can provide businesses with a
competitive market-advantage and long-term stability.
STATISTICAL ANALYSIS
Statistics is the study of collection, analysis, interpretation,

presentation, and organization of data.
In data analysis, two main statistical methodologies are used

−
 Descriptive statistics − In descriptive statistics, data

from the entire population or a sample is
summarized with numerical descriptors such as −
o Mean, Standard Deviation for Continuous
Data
o Frequency, Percentage for Categorical Data
 Inferential statistics − It uses patterns in the sample
data to draw inferences about the represented
population or accounting for randomness. These
inferences can be −
o answering yes/no questions about the data
(hypothesis testing)
o estimating numerical characteristics of the
data (estimation)
o describing associations within the data
(correlation)
o modeling relationships within the data (E.g.
regression analysis)
PREDICTIVE ANALYTICS
Predictive Analytics use statistical models to analyze current

and historical data for forecasting (predictions) about future
or otherwise unknown events. In business, predictive
analytics is used to identify risks and opportunities that aid
in decision-making.
TEXT ANALYTICS
Text Analytics, also referred to as Text Mining or as Text

Data Mining is the process of deriving high-quality
information from text. Text mining usually involves the
process of structuring the input text, deriving patterns within
the structured data using means such as statistical pattern
learning, and finally evaluation and interpretation of the
output.
DATA ANALYSIS PROCESS

Data Analysis is defined by the statistician John Tukey in
1961 as "Procedures for analyzing data, techniques for
interpreting the results of such procedures, ways of planning
the gathering of data to make its analysis easier, more
precise or more accurate, and all the machinery and results
of (mathematical) statistics which apply to analyzing data.”
Thus, data analysis is a process for obtaining large,

unstructured data from various sources and converting it
into information that is useful for −
 Answering questions
 Test hypotheses
 Decision-making
 Disproving theories
DATA ANALYSIS WITH EXCEL

Microsoft Excel provides several means and ways to
analyze and interpret data. The data can be from various
sources. The data can be converted and formatted in several
ways. It can be analyzed with the relevant Excel commands,
functions and tools - encompassing Conditional Formatting,
Ranges, Tables, Text functions, Date functions, Time
functions, Financial functions, Subtotals, Quick Analysis,
Formula Auditing, Inquire Tool, What-if Analysis, Solvers,
Data Model, PowerPivot, PowerView, PowerMap, etc.
You will be learning these data analysis techniques with

Excel as part of two parts −
 Data Analysis with Excel and

 Advanced Data Analysis with Excel
Data Analysis - Process
Data Analysis is a process of collecting, transforming,
cleaning, and modeling data with the goal of discovering the
required information. The results so obtained are
communicated, suggesting conclusions, and supporting
decision-making. Data visualization is at times used to
portray the data for the ease of discovering the useful
patterns in the data. The terms Data Modeling and Data
Analysis mean the same.
Data Analysis Process consists of the following phases that

are iterative in nature −
 Data Requirements Specification

 Data Collection
 Data Processing
 Data Cleaning
 Data Analysis
 Communication
DATA REQUIREMENTS SPECIFICATION
The data required for analysis is based on a question or an
experiment. Based on the requirements of those directing the
analysis, the data necessary as inputs to the analysis is
identified (e.g., Population of people). Specific variables
regarding a population (e.g., Age and Income) may be
specified and obtained. Data may be numerical or
categorical.
DATA COLLECTION
Data Collection is the process of gathering information on
targeted variables identified as data requirements. The
emphasis is on ensuring accurate and honest collection of
data. Data Collection ensures that data gathered is accurate
such that the related decisions are valid. Data Collection
provides both a baseline to measure and a target to improve.
Data is collected from various sources ranging from

organizational databases to the information in web pages.
The data thus obtained, may not be structured and may
contain irrelevant information. Hence, the collected data is
required to be subjected to Data Processing and Data
Cleaning.
DATA PROCESSING
The data that is collected must be processed or organized for
analysis. This includes structuring the data as required for
the relevant Analysis Tools. For example, the data might
have to be placed into rows and columns in a table within a
Spreadsheet or Statistical Application. A Data Model might
have to be created.
DATA CLEANING
The processed and organized data may be incomplete,
contain duplicates, or contain errors. Data Cleaning is the
process of preventing and correcting these errors. There are
several types of Data Cleaning that depend on the type of
data. For example, while cleaning the financial data, certain
totals might be compared against reliable published numbers
or defined thresholds. Likewise, quantitative data methods
can be used for outlier detection that would be subsequently
excluded in analysis.
DATA ANALYSIS
Data that is processed, organized and cleaned would be
ready for the analysis. Various data analysis techniques are
available to understand, interpret, and derive conclusions
based on the requirements. Data Visualization may also be
used to examine the data in graphical format, to obtain
additional insight regarding the messages within the data.
Statistical Data Models such as Correlation, Regression

Analysis can be used to identify the relations among the data
variables. These models that are descriptive of the data are
helpful in simplifying analysis and communicate results.
The process might require additional Data Cleaning or

additional Data Collection, and hence these activities are
iterative in nature.
COMMUNICATION
The results of the data analysis are to be reported in a format
as required by the users to support their decisions and
further action. The feedback from the users might result in
additional analysis.
The data analysts can choose data visualization techniques,

such as tables and charts, which help in communicating the
message clearly and efficiently to the users. The analysis
tools provide facility to highlight the required information
with color codes and formatting in tables and charts.
Excel Data Analysis -

Overview
Excel provide commands, functions and tools that make
your data analysis tasks easy. You can avoid many time
consuming and/or complex calculations using Excel. In this
tutorial, you will get a head start on how you can perform
data analysis with Excel. You will understand with relevant
examples, step by step usage of Excel commands and screen
shots at every step.
RANGES AND TABLES

The data that you have can be in a range or in a table.
Certain operations on data can be performed whether the
data is in a range or in a table.
However, there are certain operations that are more effective

when data is in tables rather than in ranges. There are also
operations that are exclusively for tables.
You will understand the ways of analyzing data in ranges
and tables as well. You will understand how to name ranges,
use the names and manage the names. The same would
apply for names in the tables.
DATA CLEANING – TEXT FUNCTIONS, DATES

AND TIMES
You need to clean the data obtained from various sources

and structure it before proceeding to data analysis. You will
learn how you can clean the data.
 With Text Functions

 Containing Date Values
 Containing Time Values
CONDITIONAL FORMATTING
Excel provides you conditional formatting commands that
allow you to color the cells or font, have symbols next to
values in the cells based on predefined criteria. This helps
one in visualizing the prominent values. You will
understand the various commands for conditionally
formatting the cells.
SORTING AND FILTERING

During the preparation of data analysis and/or to display
certain important data, you might have to sort and/or filter
your data. You can do the same with the easy to use sorting
and filtering options that you have in Excel.
SUBTOTALS WITH RANGES
As you are aware, PivotTable is normally used to
summarize data. However, Subtotals with Ranges is another
feature provided by Excel that will allow you to group /
ungroup data and summarize the data present in ranges with
easy steps.
QUICK ANALYSIS
With Quick Analysis tool in Excel, you can quickly perform
various data analysis tasks and make quick visualizations of
the results.
UNDERSTANDING LOOKUP FUNCTIONS

Excel Lookup Functions enable you to find the data values
that match a defined criteria from a huge amount of data.
PIVOTTABLES
With PivotTables you can summarize the data, prepare
reports dynamically by changing the contents of the
PivotTable.
DATA VISUALIZATION
You will learn several Data Visualization techniques using
Excel Charts. You will also learn how to create Band Chart,
Thermometer Chart, Gantt chart, Waterfall Chart, Sparklines
and PivotCharts.
DATA VALIDATION
It might be required that only valid values be entered into
certain cells. Otherwise, they may lead to incorrect
calculations. With data validation commands, you can easily
set up data validation values for a cell, an input message
prompting the user on what is expected to be entered in the
cell, validate the values entered with the defined criteria and
display an error message in case of incorrect entries.
FINANCIAL ANALYSIS
Excel provides you several financial functions. However, for
commonly occurring problems that require financial
analysis, you can learn how to use a combination of these
functions.
WORKING WITH MULTIPLE WORKSHEETS

You might have to perform several identical calculations in
more than one worksheet. Instead of repeating these
calculations in each worksheet, you can do it one worksheet
and have it appear in the other selected worksheets as well.
You can also summarize the data from the various
worksheets into a report worksheet.
FORMULA AUDITING
When you use formulas, you might want to check whether
the formulas are working as expected. In Excel, Formula
Auditing commands help you in tracing the precedent and
dependent values and error checking.
INQUIRE
Excel also provides Inquire add-in that enables you compare
two workbooks to identify changes, create interactive
reports, and view the relationships among workbooks,
worksheets, and cells. You can also clean the excessive
formatting in a worksheet that makes Excel slow or makes
the file size huge.

Working with Range Names

While doing Data Analysis, referring to various data will be
more meaningful and easy if the reference is by Names
rather than cell references – either a single cell or a range of
cells. For example, if you are calculating Net Present Value
based on a Discount Rate and a series of Cash Flows, the
formula
Net_Present_Value = NPV (Discount_Rate, Cash_Flows)
is more meaningful than

C10 = NPV (C2, C6:C8)
With Excel, you can create and use meaningful names to

various parts of your data. The advantages of using range
names include −
 A meaningful Range name (such as Cash_Flows) is

much easier to remember than a Range address (such
as C6:C8).
 Entering a name is less error prone than entering a
cell or range address.
 If you type a name incorrectly in a formula, Excel
will display a #NAME? error.
 You can quickly move to areas of your worksheet by
using the defined names.
 With Names, your formulas will be more
understandable and easier to use. For example, a
formula Net_Income = Gross_Income – Deductions
is more intuitive than C40 = C20 – B18.
 Creating formulas with range names is easier than
with cell or range addresses. You can copy a cell or
range name into a formula by using formula
Autocomplete.
In this chapter, you will learn −
 Syntax rules for names.

 Creating names for cell references.
 Creating names for constants.
 Managing the names.
 Scope of your defined names.
 Editing names.
 Filtering names.
 Deleting names.
 Applying names.
 Using names in a formula.
 Viewing names in a workbook.
 Using paste names and paste list.
 Using names for range intersections.
 Copying formulas with names.
COPYING NAME USING FORMULA

AUTOCOMPLETE
Type the first letter of the name in the formula. A drop-
down box appears with function names and range names.
Select the required name. It is copied into your formula.
RANGE NAME SYNTAX RULES
Excel has the following syntax rules for names −
 You can use any combination of letters, numbers and

the symbols - underscores, backslashes, and periods.
Other symbols are not allowed.
 A name can begin with a character, underscore or
backslash.
 A name cannot begin with a number (example -
1stQuarter) or resemble a cell address (example -
QTR1).
 If you prefer to use such names, precede the name
with an underscore or a backslash (example -
\1stQuarter, _QTR1).
 Names cannot contain spaces. If you want to
distinguish two words in a name, you can use
underscore (example- Cash_Flows instead of Cash
Flows)
 Your defined names should not clash with Excel’s
internally defined names, such as Print_Area,
Print_Titles, Consolidate_Area, and Sheet_Title.
If you define the same names, they will override the
Excel’s internal names and you will not get any error
message. However, it is advised not to do so.
 Keep the names short but understandable, though
you can use up to 255 characters
CREATING RANGE NAMES

You can create Range Names in two ways −
 Using the Name box.

 Using the New Name dialog box.
 Using the Selection dialog box.
CREATE A RANGE NAME USING THE NAME BOX
To create a Range name, using the Name box that is to the

left of formula bar is the fastest way. Follow the steps given
below −
Step 1 − Select the range for which you want to define a
Name.
Step 2 − Click on the Name box.
Step 3 − Type the name and press Enter to create the Name.
CREATE A RANGE NAME USING THE NEW NAME DIALOG

BOX
You can also create Range Names using the New Name
dialog box from Formulas tab.

name.
Step 2 − Click the Formulas tab.
Step 3 − Click Define Name in the Defined Names group.

The New Name dialog box appears.
Step 4 − Type the name in the box next to Name
Step 5 − Check that the range that is selected and displayed

in the Refers box is correct. Click OK.
CREATE A RANGE NAME USING THE CREATE NAMES

FROM SELECTION DIALOG BOX
You can also create Range names using the Create

Names from the Selection dialog box from Formulas tab,
when you have Text values that are adjacent to your range.

name along with the row / column that contains the name.
Step 2 − Click the Formulas tab.

Step 3 − Click Create from Selection in the Defined
Names group. The Create Names from Selection dialog
box appears.
Step 4 − Select top row as the Text appears in the top row of
the selection.
Step 5 − Check the range that got selected and displayed in

the box next to Refers to be correct. Click OK.
Now, you can find the largest value in the range with
=Sum(Student Name), as shown below −
You can create names with multiple selection also. In the
example given below, you can name the row of marks of
each student with the student’s name.
Now, you can find the total marks for each student with
=Sum (student name), as shown below.
CREATING NAMES FOR CONSTANTS
Suppose you have a constant that will be used throughout
your workbook. You can assign a name to it directly,
without placing it in a cell.
In the example below, Savings Bank Interest Rate is set to

5%.
 Click Define Name.

 In the New Name dialog box, type
Savings_Bank_Interest_Rate in the Name box.
 In Scope, select Workbook.
 In Refers to box, clear the contents and type 5%.
 Click OK.
The Name Savings_Bank_Interest_Rate is set to a
constant 5%. You can verify this in Name Manager. You
can see that the value is set to 0.05 and in the Refers
to =0.05 is placed.
MANAGING NAMES
An Excel Workbook can have any number of named cells
and ranges. You can manage these names with the Name
Manager.
 Click the Formulas tab.

 Click Name Manager in the Defined Names group.
The Name Manager dialog box appears. All the
names defined in the current workbook are
displayed.
The List of Names are displayed with the defined Values,
Cell Reference (including Sheet
Name), Scope and Comment.
The Name Manager has the options to −
 Define a New Name with the New Button.

 Edit a Defined Name.
 Delete a Defined Name.
 Filter the Defined Names by Category.
 Modify the Range of a Defined Name that it Refers
to.
SCOPE OF A NAME
The Scope of a name by default is the workbook. You can
find the Scope of a defined names from the list of names
under the Scope column in the Name Manager.
You can define the Scope of a New Name when you define
the name using New Name dialog box. For example, you
are defining the name Interest_Rate. Then you can see that
the Scope of the New Name Interest_Rate is
the Workbook.
Suppose you want the Scope of this interest rate restricted to
this Worksheet only.
Step 1 − Click the down-arrow in the Scope Box. The

available Scope options appear in the drop-down list.
The Scope options include Workbook, and the sheet names
in the workbook.
Step 2 − Click the current worksheet name, in this case

NPV and click OK. You can define / find the sheet name in
the worksheet tab.
Step 3 − To verify that Scope is worksheet, click Name

Manager. In the Scope column, you will find NPV for
Interest_Rate. This means you can use the Name
Interest_Rate only in the Worksheet NPV, but not in the
other Worksheets.
Note − Once you define the Scope of a Name, it cannot be
modified later.
DELETING NAMES WITH ERROR VALUES

Sometimes, it may so happen that Name definition may
have errors for various reasons. You can delete such names
as follows −
Step 1 − Click Filter in the Name Manager dialog box.
The following filtering options appear −
 Clear Filter
 Names Scoped to Worksheet
 Names Scoped to Workbook
 Names with Errors
 Names without Errors
 Defined Names
 Table Names
You can apply Filter to the defined Names by selecting one

or more of these options.
Step 2 − Select Names with Errors. Names that contain

error values will be displayed.
Step 3 − From the obtained list of Names, select the ones

you want to delete and click Delete.
You will get a message, confirming delete. Click OK.
EDITING NAMES
You can use the Edit option in the Name Manager dialog
box to −
 Change the Name.

 Modify the Refers to range
 Edit the Comment in a Name.
CHANGE THE NAME
Step 1 − Click the cell containing the function Large.
You can see, two more values are added in the array, but are
not included in the function as they are not part of Array1.
Step 2 − Click the Name you want to edit in the Name

Manager dialog box. In this case, Array1.
Step 3 − Click Edit. The Edit Name dialog box appears.
Step 4 − Change the Name by typing the new name that you
want in the Name Box.
Step 5 − Click the Range button to the right of Refers

to Box and include the new cell references.
Step 6 − Add a Comment (Optional)
Notice that Scope is deactive and hence cannot be changed.

Click OK. You will observe the changes made.
APPLYING NAMES
Consider the following example −
As you observe, names are not defined and used in PMT
function. If you place this function somewhere else in the
worksheet, you also need to remember where exactly the
parameter values are. You know that using names is a better
option.
In this case, the function is already defined with cell

references that do not have names. You can still define
names and apply them.
Step 1 − Using Create from Selection, define the names.
Step 2 − Select the cell containing the formula.
Click next to Define Name in the Defined

Names group on the Formulas tab. From the drop-down
list, click Apply Names.
Step 3 − The Apply Names dialog box appears. Select
the Names that you want to Apply and click OK.
The selected names will be applied to the selected cells.

You can also Apply Names to an entire worksheet, by
selecting the worksheet and repeating the above steps.
USING NAMES IN A FORMULA

You can use a Name in a Formula in the following ways −
 Typing the Name if you remember it, or

 Typing first one or two letters and using the Excel
Formula Autocomplete feature.
 Clicking Use in Formula in the Defined Names
group on the Formulas tab.
o Select the required Name from the drop-
down list of defined names.
o Double-click on that name.
 Using the Paste Name dialog box.
o Select the Paste Names option from the drop-
down list of defined names. The Paste Name
dialog box appears.
o Select the Name in the Paste Names dialog
box and double-click it.
VIEWING NAMES IN A WORKBOOK

You can get all the Names in your workbook along with
their References and Save them or Print them.
 Click an empty Cell where you want to copy

the Names in your workbook.
 Click Use in Formula in the Defined Names group.
 Click Paste Names from the drop-down list.
 Click Paste List in the Paste Name dialog box that
appears.
The list of names and their corresponding references are
copied at the specified location on your worksheet as shown
in the screen shot given below −
USING NAMES FOR RANGE INTERSECTIONS
Range Intersections are those individual cells that have two
Ranges in common.
For example, in the data given below, the Range B6:F6 and
the Range C3:C8 have Cell C6 in common, which actually
represents the marks scored by the student Kodeda, Adam in
Exam 1.
You can make this more meaningful with the Range
Names.
 Create Names with Create from Selection for both

Students and Exams.
 Your Names will look as follows −
 Type =Kodeda_Adam Exam_1 in B11.
Here, you are using the Range Intersection operation, space

between the two ranges.
This will display marks of Kodeda, Adam in Exam 1, that
are given in Cell C6.
COPYING FORMULAS WITH NAMES

You can copy a formula with names
by Copyand Paste within the same worksheet.
You can also copy a formula with names to a different

worksheet by copy and paste, provided all the names in
the formula have workbook as Scope. Otherwise, you will
get a #VALUE error.
Excel Data Analysis - Tables

A Table is a rectangular range of structured data. The key
features are −
 Each row in the table corresponds to a single record

of the data. Example - Employee information.
 Each column contains a specific piece of
information. Exmaple - The columns can contain
data such as name, employee number, hire date,
salary, department, etc.
 The top row describes the information contained in
each column and is referred to as header row.
 Each entry in the top row is referred to as column
header.
You can create and use an Excel table to manage and
analyze data easily. Further, with Excel Tables you get built-
in Filtering, Sorting, and Row Shading that ease your
reporting activities.
Further, Excel responds to the actions performed on a table

intelligently. For example, you have a formula in a column
or you have created a chart based on the data in the table.
When you add more data to the table (i.e., more rows),
Excel extends the formula to the new data and the chart
expands automatically.
DIFFERENCE BETWEEN TABLES AND RANGES

Following are the differences between a table and range −
 A table is a more structured way of working with

data than a range.
 You can convert a range into a table and Excel
automatically provides −
o a Table Name
o Column Header Names
o Formatting to the Data (Cell Color and Font
Color) for better Visualization
Tables provide additional features that are not available for

ranges. These are −
 Excel provides table tools in the ribbon ranging from

properties to styles.
 Excel automatically provides a Filter button in each
column header to sort the data or filter the table such
that only rows that meet your defined criteria are
displayed.
 If you have multiple rows in a table, and you scroll
down the sheet so that the header row disappears, the
column letters in the worksheet are replaced by the
table headers.
 When you place a formula in any cell in a column of
the table, it gets propagated to all the cells in that
column.
 You can use table name and column header names in
the formulas, without having to use cell references or
creating range names.
 You can extend the table size by adding more rows
or more columns by clicking and dragging the small
triangular control at the lower-right corner of the
lower-right cell.
 You can create and use slicers for a table for filtering
data.
You will learn about all these Features in this Chapter.
CREATE TABLE
To create a table from the data you have on the worksheet,
follow the given steps −
Step 1 − Select the Range of Cells that you want to include

in the Table. Cells can contain data or can be empty. The
following Range has 290 rows of employee data. The top
row of the data has headers.
Step 2 − Under the Insert tab, in the Tables group, click
Tables. The Create Table dialog box appears. Check that
the data range selected in the Where is the data for your
table? Box is correct.
Step 3 − Check the My table has headers box if the top
row of the selected Range contains data that you want to use
as the Table Headers.
Note − If you do not check this box, your table will have
Headers – Column1, Column2, …
Step 4 − Click OK.
Range is converted to Table with the default Style.

Step 5 − You can also convert a range to a table by clicking
anywhere on the range and pressing Ctrl+T. A Create
Table dialog box appears and then you can repeat the steps
as given above.
TABLE NAME
Excel assigns a name to every table that is created.
Step 1 − To look at the name of the table you just created,

click table, click on table tools – design tab on the Ribbon.
Step 2 − In the Properties group, in the Table Name box,

your Table Name will be displayed.
Step 3 − You can edit this Table Name to make it more
meaningful to your data.
Step 4 − Click the Table Name box. Clear the Name and
type Emp_Data.
Note − The syntax rules of range names are applicable to

table names.
MANAGING NAMES IN A TABLE

You can manage table names just similar to how you
manage range names with Name Manager.
 Click the Table.

 Click Name Manager in the Defined Names group
on Formulas tab.
The Name Manager dialog box appears and you can find
the Table Names in your workbook.
You can Edit a Table Name or add a comment

with New option in the Name Manager dialog box.
However, you cannot change the range in Refers to.
You can Create Names with column headers to use them in
formulas, charts, etc.
 Click the Column Header EmployeeID in the Table.

 Click Name Manager.
 Click New in the Name Manager dialog box.
The New Name dialog box appears.
In the Name box, you can find the Column Header, and in
the Refers to box,you will
find Emp_Data[[#Headers],[EmployeeID]].
As you observe, this is a quick way of defining Names in a
Table.
TABLE HEADERS REPLACING COLUMN

LETTERS
When you are working with more number of rows of data in
a table, you may have to scroll down to look at the data in
those rows.
However, while doing so, you also require the table headers
to identify which value belongs to which column. Excel
automatically provides a smooth way of doing this. As you
scroll down your data, the column letters of the worksheet
themselves get converted to table headers.
In the worksheet given below, the column letters are
appearing as they are and the table headers are in row 2. 21
rows of 290 rows of data are visible.
Scroll down to see the table rows 25 – 35. The table headers
will replace the column letters for the table columns. Other
column letters remain as they are.
PROPAGATION OF A FORMULA IN A TABLE

In the table given below, suppose you want to include the
age of each employee.
Step 1 − Insert a column to the right of the column

Birthdate. Type Age in the Column Header.
Step 2 − In any of the Cells in that empty column, type the

Formula, =DAYS ([@BirthDate], TODAY ()) and Press
Enter.
The formula propagates automatically to the other cells in

that column of the table.
RESIZE TABLE
You can resize a table to add or remove rows/columns.
Consider the following table Student_Marks that contains

Total Marks for Batches 1 - 15.
Suppose you want to add three more batches 16 – 18 and a
column containing pass percentage.
 Click the table.

 Drag the blue-color control at the lower-right,
downwards to include three more rows in the table.
 Again drag the blue-color control at the lower-right,
sideways to include one more column in the table.
Your table looks as follows. You can also check the range
included in the table in the Name Manager dialog box −
REMOVE DUPLICATES
When you gather data from different sources, you probably
can have duplicate values. You need to remove the duplicate
values before going further with analysis.
Look at the following data where you have information
about various products of various brands. Suppose, you
want to remove duplicates from this data.
 On the DESIGN tab, click Remove Duplicates in
the Tools group on the Ribbon. The Remove
Duplicates dialog box appears.
The column headers appear under columns in the Remove

Duplicates dialog box.
 Check the column headers depending on which

column you want to remove the duplicates and click
OK.
You will get a message on how many rows with duplicate

values are removed and how many unique values remain.
The cleaned data will be displayed in the table.
You can also remove duplicates with Remove Duplicates in
the Data Tools group under DATA tab on the Ribbon.
CONVERT TO RANGE
You can convert a table to a Range.

 Click Convert to Range in the Tools group, under
the Design tab on the Ribbon.
You will get a message asking you if you want to convert
the table to a Range. After you confirm with Yes, the table
will be converted to Range.
TABLE STYLE OPTIONS

You have several options of Table Styles to choose. These
options can be used if you need to highlight a Row /
Column.
You can check / uncheck these boxes to see how your table
looks. Finally, you can decide on what options suit your
data.
It is advised that the Table Style Options be used only to

project important information in your data rather than
making it colorful, which is not needed in data analysis.
TABLE STYLES
You have several table styles to choose from. These styles
can be used depending on what color and pattern you want
to display your data in the table.
Move your mouse on these styles to have a preview of your
table with the styles. Finally, you can decide on what style
suit your data.
It is advised that the Table Styles be used only to project

important information in your data in a presentable way
rather than making it colorful, which is not needed in data
analysis.
SLICERS FOR TABLES
If you are using Excel 2013 or Excel 2016, you can

use Slicers for filtering data in your table.
For details on how to use Slicers for Tables, refer the

chapter on Filtering in this tutorial.
Cleaning Data with Text

Functions
The data that you obtain from different sources many not be
in a form ready for analysis. In this chapter, you will
understand how to prepare your data that is in the form of
text for analysis.
Initially, you need to clean the data. Data cleaning includes

removing unwanted characters from text. Next, you need to
structure the data in the form you require for further
analysis. You can do the same by −
 Finding required text patterns with the text functions.

 Extracting data values from text.
 Formatting data with text functions.
 Executing data operations with the text functions.
REMOVING UNWANTED CHARACTERS FROM

TEXT
When you import data from another application, it can have
nonprintable characters and/or excess spaces. The excess
spaces can be −
 leading spaces, and/or

 extra spaces between words.
If you sort or analyze such data, you will get erroneous

results.
Consider the following example −

This is the raw data that you have obtained on product
information containing the Product ID, Product description
and the price. The character “|” separates the field in each
row.
When you import this data into Excel worksheet, it looks as

follows −
As you observe, the entire data is in a single column. You
need to structure this data to perform data analysis.
However, initially you need to clean the data.
You need to remove any nonprintable characters and excess

spaces that might be present in the data. You can use the
CLEAN function and TRIM function for this purpose.
S.No. Function & Description

CLEAN
1.
Removes all nonprintable characters from text
TRIM
2.
Removes spaces from text
 Select the Cells C3 – C11.

 Type =TRIM (CLEAN (B3)) and then press CTRL +
Enter.
The formula is filled in the cells C3 – C11.
The result will be as shown below −

FINDING REQUIRED TEXT PATTERNS WITH THE TEXT
FUNCTIONS
To structure your data, you might have to do certain Text

Pattern matching based on which you can extract the Data
Values. Some of the Text Functions that are useful for this
purpose are −

EXACT
1.
Checks to see if two text values are identical
FIND
2.
Finds one text value within another (case-sensitive)
SEARCH
3.
Finds one text value within another (not case-
sensitive)
EXTRACTING DATA VALUES FROM TEXT

You need to extract the required data from text in order to
structure the same. In the above example, say, you need to
place the data in three columns – ProductID,
Product_Description and Price.
You can extract data in one of the following ways −
 Extracting Data Values with Convert Text to

Columns Wizard
 Extracting Data Values with Text Functions
 Extracting Data Values with Flash Fill
EXTRACTING DATA VALUES WITH CONVERT TEXT TO

COLUMNS WIZARD
You can use the Convert Text to Columns Wizard to

extract Data Values into Excel columns if your fields are −
 Delimited by a character, or
 Aligned in columns with spaces between each field.
In the above example, the fields are delimited by the

character “|”. Hence, you can use the Convert Text to
Columns wizard.
 Select the data.

 Copy and paste values in the same place.
Otherwise, Convert Text to Columns takes the
functions rather than the data itself as the input.
 Click on Text to Columns in the Data Tools group
under Data Tab on the Ribbon.
Step 1 − Convert Text to Columns Wizard - Step 1 of 3

appears.
 Select Delimited.
 Click Next.
appears.
 Under Delimiters, select Other.

 In the box next to Other, type the character |
 Click Next.
appears.
In this screen, you can select each column of your data in

the wizard and set the format for that column.
 For Destination, select the cell D3.

 You can click Advanced, and set Decimal
Separator and Thousands Separator in
the Advanced Text Import Settings dialog box that
appears.
 Click Finish.
Your data, which is converted to columns appears in the

three Columns – D, E and F.
 Name the Column headers as ProductID,

Product_Description and Price.
EXTRACTING DATA VALUES WITH TEXT FUNCTIONS
Suppose the fields in your data neither are delimited by a

character nor are aligned in columns with spaces between
each field, you can use text functions to extract data values.
Even in the case the fields are delimited, you can still use
text functions to extract data.
Some of the text functions that are useful for this purpose
are −

LEFT
1.
Returns the leftmost characters from a text value
RIGHT
2.
Returns the rightmost characters from a text value
MID
3.
Returns a specific number of characters from a text
string starting at the position you specify
LEN
4.
Returns the number of characters in a text string
You can also combine two or more of these text functions as
per the data you have at hand, to extract the required data
values. For example, using a combination of LEFT, RIGHT
and VALUE functions or using a combination of FIND,
LEFT, LEN and MID functions.
In the above example,
 All the characters left to the first | give the name

ProductID.
 All the characters right to the second | give the name
Price.
 All the characters that lie between the first | and
second | give the name Product_Description.
 Each | has a space before and after.
Observing this information, you can extract the data values

with the following steps −
 Find the Position of First | - First | Position

o You can use FIND function
 Find the Position of Second | - Second | Position
o You can use FIND function again
 Beginning to (First | Position – 2) Characters of the
Text give ProductID
o You can use LEFT Function
 (First | Position + 2) to (Second | Position - 2)
Characters of the Text give Product_Description
o You can use MID Function
 (Second | Position + 2) to End Characters of the
Text give Price
o You can use RIGHT Function
The result will be as shown below −
You can observe that the values in the price column are text
values. To perform calculations on these values, you have to
format the corresponding cells. You can look at the section
given below to understand formatting text.
EXTRACTING DATA VALUES WITH FLASH FILL
Using Excel Flash Fill is another way to extract data values

from text. However, this works only when Excel is able to
find a pattern in the data.
Step 1 − Create three columns for ProductID,

Product_Description and Price next to the data.
Step 2 − Copy and paste the values for C3, D3 and E3 from
B3.
Step 3 − Select cell C3 and click Flash Fill in the Data

Tools group on the Data tab. All the values for ProductID
get filled.
Step 4 − Repeat the above given steps for
Product_Description and Price. The data is filled.
FORMATTING DATA WITH TEXT FUNCTIONS

Excel has several built-in text functions that you can use for
formatting data containing text. These include −
Functions that format the Text as per your need −

LOWER
1.
Converts text to lowercase
UPPER
1.
Converts text to uppercase
PROPER
2.
Capitalizes the first letter in each word of a text value
Functions that convert and/or format the Numbers as
Text −

DOLLAR
1.
Converts a number to text, using the $ (dollar)
currency format
FIXED
2.
Formats a number as text with a fixed number of
decimals
TEXT
3.
Formats a number and converts it to text
Functions that convert the Text to Numbers −

VALUE
1.
Converts a text argument to a number
Executing Data Operations with the Text Functions
You might have to perform certain Text Operations on your

Data. For example, if Login-IDs for the Employees are
changed to a New Format in an Organization, based on the
Format Change, Text Replacements might have to be done.
Following Text Functions help you in performing Text

Operations on your data containing Text −
REPLACE
1.
Replaces characters within text
SUBSTITUTE
2.
Substitutes new text for old text in a text string
CONCATENATE
3.
Joins several text items into one text item
CONCAT
4. Combines the text from multiple ranges and/or

strings, but it does not provide the delimiter or
IgnoreEmpty arguments.
TEXTJOIN
Combines the text from multiple ranges and/or

5. strings, and includes a delimiter you specify between
each text value that will be combined. If the delimiter
is an empty text string, this function will effectively
concatenate the ranges.
REPT
6.
Repeats text a given number of times
Cleaning Data Containing

Date Values
The data that you obtain from different sources might
contain date values. In this chapter, you will understand how
to prepare your data that contains data values for analysis.
You will learn about −
 Date Formats
o Date in Serial Format
o Date in different Month-Day-Year Formats
 Converting Dates in Serial Format to Month-Day-
Year Format
 Converting Dates in Month-Day-Year Format to
Serial Format
 Obtaining Today's Date
 Finding a Workday after specified Days
 Customizing the Definition of a Weekend
 Number of Workdays between two given Dates
 Extracting Year, Month, Day from Date
 Extracting Day of the Week from Date
 Obtaining Date from Year, Month and Day
 Calculating Number of Years, Months and Days
between two Dates
DATE FORMATS
Excel supports Date values in two ways −
 Serial Format
 In different Year-Month-Day Formats
You can convert −

 A Date in Serial Format to a Date in Year-Month-
Day Format
 A Date in Year-Month-Day Format to a Date in
Serial Format
DATE IN SERIAL FORMAT
A Date in serial format is a positive integer that represents

the number of days between the given date and January 1,
1900. Both the current Date and January 1, 1900 are
included in the count. For example, 42354 is a Date that
represents 12/16/2015.
DATE IN MONTH-DAY-YEAR FORMATS
Excel supports different Date Formats based on

the Locale (Location) you choose. Hence, you need to first
determine the compatibility of your Date formats and the
Data Analysis at hand. Note that certain Date formats are
prefixed with *(asterisk) −
 Date formats that begin with *(asterisk) respond to

changes in regional date and time settings that are
specified for the operating system
 Date formats without an *(asterisk) are not affected
by operating system settings
For understanding purpose, you can assume United States as

the Locale. You find the following Date formats to choose
for the Date - 8th June, 2016 −
 *6/8/2016 (affected by operating system settings)

 *Wednesday, June 8, 2016 (affected by operating
system settings)
 6/8
 6/8/16
 06/08/16
 8-Jun
 8-Jun-16
 08-Jun-16
 Jun-16
 June-16
 J
 J-16
 6/8/2016
 8-Jun-2016
If you enter only two digits to represent a year and if −
 The digits are 30 or higher, Excel assumes the digits

represent years in the twentieth century.
 The digits are lower than 30, Excel assumes the
digits represent years in the twenty-first century.
For example, 1/1/29 is treated as January 1, 2029 and 1/1/30

is treated as January 1, 1930.
CONVERTING DATES IN SERIAL FORMAT TO

MONTH-DAY-YEAR FORMAT
To convert dates from serial format to Month-Day-Year
format, follow the steps given below −
 Click the Number tab in the Format Cells dialog

box.
 Click Date under Category.
 Select Locale. The available Date formats will be
displayed as a list under Type.
 Click on a Format under Type to look at the
preview in the box adjacent to Sample.
After choosing the Format, click OK.
CONVERTING DATES IN MONTH-DAY-YEAR

FORMAT TO SERIAL FORMAT
You can convert dates in Month-Day-Year format to Serial
format in two ways −
 Using Format Cells dialog box

 Using Excel DATEVALUE function
USING FORMAT CELLS DIALOG BOX

box.
 Click General under Category.
USING EXCEL DATEVALUE FUNCTION

You can use Excel DATEVALUE function to convert
a Date to Serial Number format. You need to enclose
the Date argument in “”. For example,
=DATEVALUE ("6/8/2016") results in 42529
OBTAINING TODAY'S DATE

If you need to perform calculations based on today’s date,
simply use the Excel function TODAY (). The result reflects
the date when it is used.
The following screenshot of TODAY () function usage has

been taken on 16th May, 2016 −
FINDING A WORKDAY AFTER SPECIFIED

DAYS
You might have to perform certain calculations based on
your workdays.
Workdays exclude weekend days and any holidays. This

means if you can define your weekend and holidays,
whatever calculations you do will be based on workdays.
For example, you can calculate invoice due dates, expected
delivery times, the next meeting date, etc.
You can use
Excel WORKDAY and WORKDAY.INTL functions for
such operations.

WORKDAY
1.
Returns the serial number of the date before or after a
specified number of workdays
WORKDAY.INTL
2. Returns the serial number of the date before or after a

specified number of workdays using parameters to
indicate which and how many days are weekend days
For example, you can specify the 15th working day from
today (the screenshot below is taken on 16th May 2016)
using the Functions TODAY and WORKDAY.
Suppose 25th May 2016 and 1st June 2016 are holidays.
Then, your calculation will be as follows −
CUSTOMIZING THE DEFINITION OF A
WEEKEND
By default, weekend is Saturday and Sunday, i.e. two days.
You can also optionally define your weekend with
the WORKDAY.INTL function. You can specify your own
weekend by a weekend-number that corresponds to the
weekend days as given in the table below. You need not
remember these numbers, because when you start typing the
function, you get a list of numbers and the weekend days in
the drop-down list.
Weekend Days Weekend-number

Saturday, Sunday 1 or omitted
Sunday, Monday 2
Monday, Tuesday 3
Tuesday, Wednesday 4
Wednesday, Thursday 5
Thursday, Friday 6
Friday, Saturday 7
Sunday only 11
Monday only 12
Tuesday only 13
Wednesday only 14
Thursday only 15
Friday only 16
Saturday only 17
Suppose, if weekend is Friday only, you need to use the

number 16 in the WORKDAY.INTL function.
NUMBER OF WORKDAYS BETWEEN TWO

GIVEN DATES
There might be a requirement to calculate the number of

workdays between two dates, for example, in the case of
calculating payment to a contract employee who is paid on
per day basis.
You can find the number of workdays between two dates

with the Excel
functions NETWORKDAYS and NETWORKDAYS.INT
L. Just as in the case of WORKDAYS and
WORKDAYS.INTL, NETWORKDAYS and
NETWORKDAYS.INTL allow you to specify holidays and
with NETWORKDAYS.INTL you can additionally specify
the weekend.
NETWORKDAYS
1.
Returns the number of whole workdays between two
dates
NETWORKDAYS.INTL
2. Returns the number of whole workdays between two

dates using parameters to indicate which and how
many days are weekend days
You can calculate the number of workdays between today

and another date with the functions TODAY and
NETWORKDAYS. In the screen shot given below, today is
16th May 2016 and end date is 16th June 2016. 25th May
2016 and 1st June 2016 are holidays.
Again, the weekend is assumed to be Saturday and Sunday.

You can have your own definition for weekend and
calculate the number of workdays between two dates with
the NETWORKDAYS.INTL function. In the screen shot
given below, only Friday is defined as weekend.
EXTRACTING YEAR, MONTH, DAY FROM
DATE
You can extract from each date in a list of dates, the
corresponding day, month and year using the excel functions
DAY, MONTH and YEAR.
For example, consider the following dates −

From each of these dates, you can extract day, month and
year as follows −
EXTRACTING DAY OF THE WEEK FROM DATE
You can extract from each date in a list of dates, the
corresponding day of the week with Excel WEEKDAY
function.
Consider the same example given above.
OBTAINING DATE FROM YEAR, MONTH AND

DAY
You data might have the information about Year, Month and
Day separately. You need to get the date combining these
three values to perform any calculation. You can use the
DATE function for getting the date values.
Consider the following data −
Use the DATE function to obtain DATE values.

CALCULATING YEARS, MONTHS AND DAYS
BETWEEN TWO DATES
You might have to calculate the time lapsed from a given

date. You might need this information in the form of years,
months and days. A simple example would be calculating
the current age of a person. It is effectively the difference
between the birth date and today. You can use Excel
DATEDIF, TODAY and CONCATENATE functions for
this purpose.
The output is as follows −

Working with Time Values
The data that you obtain from different sources might
contain time values. In this chapter, you will understand
how to prepare your data that contains time values for
analysis.
You will learn about −
 Time Formats
o Time in Serial Format
o Time in Hour-Minute-Second Format
 Converting Times in Serial Format to Hour-Minute-
Second Format
 Converting Times in Hour-Minute-Second Format to
Serial Format
 Obtaining the Current Time
 Obtaining Time from Hour, Minute and Second
 Extracting Hour, Minute and Second from Time
 Number of hours between Start Time and End Time
TIME FORMATS
Excel supports Time Values in two ways −
 Serial Format
 In various Hour-Minute-Second Formats
You can convert −
 Time in Serial Format to Time in Hour-Minute-

Second Format
 Time in Hour-Minute-Second Format to Time in
Serial Format
TIME IN SERIAL FORMAT
Time in serial format is a positive number that represents

the Time as a fraction of a 24-hour day, the starting point
being midnight. For example, 0.29 represents 7 AM and 0.5
represents 12 PM.
You can also combine Date and Time in the same cell. The
serial number is the number of days after January 1, 1900,
and the time fraction associated with the given time. For
example, if you type May 17, 2016 6 AM, it gets converted
to 42507.25 when you format the cell as General.
TIME IN HOUR-MINUTE-SECOND FORMAT
Excel allows you to specify time in Hour-Minute-Second

Format with a colon (:) after the hour and another colon
before the seconds. Example, 8:50 AM, 8:50 PM or just
8:50 using the 12-Hour Format or as 8:50, 20:50 in 24-Hour
format. The time 8:50:55 AM represents 8 hours, 50 minutes
and 55 seconds.
You can also specify date and time together. For example, if
you type May 17, 2016 7:25 in a cell, it will be displayed as
5/17/2016 7:25 and it represents 5/17/2016 7:25:00 AM.
Excel supports different Time formats based on

the Locale (Location) you choose. Hence, you need to first
determine the compatibility of your Time formats and data
analysis at hand.
For understanding purpose, you can assume United States as

the Locale. You find the following Time formats to choose
for Date and Time – 17th May, 2016 4 PM −
 4:00:00 PM
 16:00
 4:00 PM
 16:00:00
 5/17/16 4:00 PM
 5/17/16 16:00
CONVERTING TIMES IN SERIAL FORMAT TO
HOUR-MINUTE-SECOND FORMAT
To convert serial time format to hour-min-sec format follow
the steps given below −

box
 Click Time under Category.
 Select the Locale. Available Time formats will be
displayed as a list under Type.
 Click on a Format under Type to look at the
Preview in the box adjacent to Sample.
After choosing the Format, click OK
CONVERTING TIMES IN HOUR-MINUTE-

SECOND FORMAT TO SERIAL FORMAT
You can convert Time in Hour-Minute-Second format to
serial format in two ways −
 Using Format Cells dialog box

 Using Excel TIMEVALUE function
USING FORMAT CELLS DIALOG BOX

box.
 Click General under Category.
USING EXCEL TIMEVALUE FUNCTION
You can use Excel TIMEVALUE function to

convert Time to Serial Number format. You need to
enclose the Time argument in “”. For example,
TIMEVALUE ("16:55:15") results in 0.70503472
OBTAINING THE CURRENT TIME

If you need to perform calculations based on current time,
simply use the Excel function NOW (). The result reflects
the date and time when it is used.
The following screen shot of Now () function usage has

been taken on 17th May, 2016 at 12:22 PM.
OBTAINING TIME FROM HOUR, MINUTE AND

SECOND
Your data might have the information about hours, minutes
and seconds separately. Suppose, you need to get the Time
combining these 3 values to perform any calculation. You
can use Excel Function Time for getting the Time values.
EXTRACTING HOUR, MINUTE AND SECOND

FROM TIME
You can extract hour, minute and second from a given time
using the Excel functions HOUR, MINUTE and SECOND.
NUMBER OF HOURS BETWEEN START TIME
AND END TIME
When you perform computations on Time values, the result

displayed depends on the format used in the cell. For
example, you can compute the number of hours between
9:30 AM and 6 PM as follows −
 C4 is formatted as Time
 C5 and C6 are formatted as Number.
You get the time difference as days. To convert to hours you

need to multiply by 24.

Conditional Formatting
In Microsoft Excel, you can use Conditional
Formatting for data visualization. You have to specify
formatting for a cell range based on the contents of the cell
range. The cells that meet the specified conditions would be
formatted as you have defined.
EXAMPLE
In a range containing the sales figures of the past quarter for

a set of salespersons, you can highlight those cells
representing who have met the defined target, say, $2500.
You can set the condition as total sales of the person

>= $2500 and specify a color code green. Excel checks each
cell in the range to determine whether the condition you
specified, i.e., total sales of the person >= $2500 is satisfied.
Excel applies the format you chose, i.e. the green color to all
the cells that satisfy the condition. If the content of a cell
does not satisfy the condition, the formatting of the cell
remains unchanged. The result is as expected, only for the
salespersons who have met the target, the cells are
highlighted in green – a quick visualization of the analysis
results.
You can specify any number of conditions for formatting by

specifying Rules. You can pick up the rules that match your
conditions from
 Highlight cells rules

 Top / Bottom rules
You can also define your own rules. You can −

 Add a rule
 Clear an existing rule
 Manage the defined rules
Further, you have several formatting options in Excel to

choose the ones that are appropriate for your Data
Visualization −
 Data Bars
 Color Scales
 Icon Sets
Conditional formatting has been promoted over the versions

Excel 2007, Excel 2010, Excel 2013. The examples you find
in this chapter are from Excel 2013.
In the following sections, you will understand the

conditional formatting rules, formatting options and how to
work with rules.
HIGHLIGHT CELLS RULES

You can use Highlight Cells rule to assign a format to cells
whose contents meet any of the following criteria −
 Numbers within a given numerical range −

o Greater Than
o Less Than
o Between
o Equal To
 Text that contains a given text string.
 Date occurring within a given range of dates relative
to the current date −
o Yesterday
o Today
o Tomorrow
o In the last 7 days
o Last week
o This week
o Next week
o Last month
o This Month
o Next month
 Values that are duplicate or unique.
Follow the steps to conditionally format cells −
 Select the range to be conditionally formatted.

 Click Conditional Formatting in the Styles group
under Home tab.
 Click Highlight Cells Rules from the drop-down
menu.
 Click Greater Than and specify >750. Choose

green color.
 Click Less Than and specify < 500. Choose red
color.
 Click Between and specify 500 and 750. Choose
yellow color.
The data will be highlighted based on the given conditions

and the corresponding formatting.
TOP / BOTTOM RULES
You can use Top / Bottom Rules to assign a format to cells
whose contents meet any of the following criteria −
 Top 10 items − Cells that rank in the top N, where 1

<= N <= 1000.
 Top 10% − Cells that rank in the top n%, where 1
<= n <= 100.
 Bottom 10 items − Cells that rank in the bottom N,
where 1 <= N <= 1000.
 Bottom 10% − Cells that rank in the bottom n%,
where 1 <= n <= 100.
 Above average − Cells that are above average for
the selected range.
 Below average − Cells that are below average for
the selected range.
Follow the steps given below to assign the Top/Bottom

rules.

under Home tab.
 Click Top/Bottom Rules from the drop-down menu.
Top/Bottom rules options appear.
 Click Top Ten Items and specify 5. Choose green

color.
 Click Bottom Ten Items and specify 5. Choose red
color.
 Repeat the first three steps given above.

 Click Top Ten% and specify 5. Choose green color.
 Click Bottom Ten% and specify 5. Choose red
color.

 Repeat the first three steps given above.
 Click Above Average. Choose green color.
 Click Below Average. Choose red color.
DATA BARS
You can use colored Data Bars to see the value in a cell
relative to the values in the other cells. The length of the
data bar represents the value in the cell. A longer bar
represents a higher value, and a shorter bar represents a
lower value. You have six solid colors to choose from for
the data bars – blue, green, red, yellow, light blue and
purple.
Data bars are helpful in visualizing the higher, lower and

intermediate values when you have large amounts of data.
Example - Day temperatures across regions in a particular
month. You can use gradient fill color bars to visualize the
value in a cell relative to the values in other cells. You have
six Gradient Colors to choose from for the Data Bars –
Blue, Green, Red, Yellow, Light Blue and Purple.
 Select the range to be formatted conditionally.

under Home tab.
 Click Data Bars from the drop-down menu.
The Gradient Fill options and Fill options appear.
Click the blue data bar in the Gradient Fill options.

 Repeat the first three steps.
 Click the blue data bar in the Solid Fill options.
You can also format data bars such that the data bar starts in
the middle of the cell, and stretches to the left for negative
values and stretches to the right for positive values.
COLOR SCALES
You can use Color Scales to see the value in a cell relative
to the values in the other cells in a given range. As in the
case of Highlight Cells Rules, a Color Scale uses cell
shading to display the differences in cell values. A color
gradient will be applied to a range of cells. The color
indicates where each cell value falls within that range.
You can choose from −
 Three - Color Scale −

o Green – Yellow – Red Color Scale
o Red – Yellow – Green Color Scale
o Green – White – Red Color Scale
o Red – White – Green Color Scale
o Blue – White – Red Color Scale
o Red – White – Blue Color Scale
 Two-Color Scale −
o White – Red Color Scale
o Red – White Color Scale
o Green – White Color Scale
o White – Green Color Scale
o Green – Yellow Color Scale
o Yellow – Green Color Scale
Follow the steps given below −
 Select the Range to be conditionally formatted.

under Home tab.
 Click Color Scales from the drop-down menu.
The Color Scale options appear.
 Click the Green – Yellow – Red Color Scale.
The Data will be highlighted based on the Green – Yellow –

Red color scale in the selected range.
 Repeat the first three steps.

 Click the Green – White color scale.
The data will be highlighted based on the Green – White

color scale in the selected range.
ICON SETS
You can use the icon sets to visualize numerical differences.
The following icon sets are available −
As you observe, an icon set consists of three to five
symbols. You can define criteria to associate an icon with
each value in a cell range. For example, a red down arrow
for small numbers, a green up arrow for large numbers, and
a yellow horizontal arrow for intermediate values.

under Home tab.
 Click Icon Sets from the drop-down menu. The Icon
Sets options appear.
 Click the colored three arrows.
Colored Arrows appear next to the Data based on the Values

in the selected range.
 Repeat the first three steps. The Icon Sets options

appear.
 Select 5 Ratings. The Rating Icons appear next to the
data based on the values in the selected range.
NEW RULE
You can use New Rule to create your own formula as a
condition to format a cell as you define.
There are two ways to use New Rule −
 With New Rule option from the drop-down menu

 With New Rule button in Manage Rules dialog box
WITH NEW RULE OPTION FROM THE DROP-DOWN

MENU
 Select the Range to be conditionally formatted.

under Home tab.
 Click New Rule from the drop-down menu.
The New Formatting Rule dialog box appears.
 From the Select a Rule Type Box, select Use a

formula to determine which cells to format. Edit the
Rule Description box appears.
 In the format values where this formula is true: type
the formula.
 Click the format button and click OK.
Cells that contain values with the formula TRUE, are

formatted as defined.
WITH NEW RULE BUTTON IN MANAGE RULES DIALOG
BOX

under Home tab.
 Click Manage Rules from the drop-down menu.
The Conditional Formatting Rules Manager dialog box
appears.
Click the New Rule button.
The New Formatting Rule dialog box appears.
Repeat the Steps given above to define your formula and

format.
appears with defined New Rule highlighted. Click
the Apply button.
Cells that contain values with the formula TRUE, are

formatted as defined.
CLEAR RULES
You can Clear Rules to delete all conditional formats you
have created for
 Selected cells
 Current Worksheet
 Selected Table
 Selected PivotTable
Follow the given steps −
 Select the Range / Click on a Worksheet / Click the

table > PivotTable where conditional formatting
rules need to be removed.
under Home tab.
 Click Clear Rules from the drop-down menu. The
Clear rules options appear.
Select the appropriate option. The conditional formatting is

cleared from the Range / Worksheet / Table / PivotTable.
MANAGE RULES
You can Manage Rulesfrom the Conditional Formatting
Rules Manager window. You can see formatting rules for
the current selection, for the entire current worksheet, for the
other worksheets in the workbook or the tables or
PivotTables in the workbook.

under Home tab.
 Click Manage Rules from the drop-down menu.

appears.
Click the arrow in the List Box next to Show formatting

rules for Current Selection, This Worksheet and other
Sheets, Tables, PivotTable if exist with Conditional
Formatting Rules, appear.
Select This Worksheet from the drop-down list. Formatting

Rules on the current Worksheet appear in the order that they
will be applied. You can change this order by using the up
and down arrows.
You can add a New Rule, Edit a Rule and Delete a Rule.
 You have already seen New Rule in the earlier

section. You can delete a rule by selecting the Rule
and clicking Delete Rule. The highlighted Rule is
deleted.
 To edit a Rule, select the RULE and click on Edit
Rule. Edit Formatting Rule dialog box appears.
 You can
o Select a Rule Type
o Edit the Rule Description
o Edit Formatting
 Once you are done with the changes, click OK.
 The changes for the Rule will be reflected in
the Conditional Formatting Rules Manager dialog
box. Click Apply.
 The data will be highlighted based on the
modified Conditional Formatting Rules.

Sorting
Sorting data is an integral part of Data Analysis. You can
arrange a list of names in alphabetical order, compile a list
of sales figures from highest to lowest, or order rows by
colors or icons. Sorting data helps you quickly visualize and
understand your data better, organize and find the data that
you want, and ultimately make more effective decisions.
You can sort by columns or by rows. Most of the sorts that

you use will be column sorts.
You can sort data in one or more columns by
 text (A to Z or Z to A)
 numbers (smallest to largest or largest to smallest)
 dates and times (oldest to newest and newest to
oldest)
 a custom list (E.g. Large, Medium, and Small)
 format, including cell color, font color, or icon set
Sort criteria for a table are saved with the workbook such
that you can reapply the sort to that table every time you
open the workbook. Sort criteria are not saved for a range of
cells. For multicolumn sorts or for sorts that take a long time
to create, you can convert the range to a table. Then, you can
reapply the sort when you open a workbook.
In all the examples in the following sections, you will find

tables only, since it is more meaningful to sort a table.
SORT BY TEXT
You can sort a table using a column containing text.
The following table has information about employees in an

organization (You are able to see only the first few rows in
the data).
 To sort the table by the column title that contains
text, click the header of the column – Title.
 Click the Data tab.
 In the Sort & Filter group, click Sort A to Z
The table will be sorted by the column – Title in the

ascending alphanumeric order.
Note − You can sort in the descending alphanumeric order,

by clicking Sort Z to A. You can also sort with case-
sensitive option. Go through the Sort by a Custom
List section given below.
SORT BY NUMBERS
To sort the table by the column ManagerID that contains
numbers, follow the steps given below −
 Click the header of the column – ManagerID.

 In the Sort & Filter group, click Sort A to Z
The column, ManagerID will be sorted in the ascending
numeric order. You can sort in the descending numeric
order, by clicking Sort Z to A.
SORT BY DATES OR TIMES

To sort the Table by the column HireDate that contains
Dates, follow the steps given below −
 Click the Header of the column – HireDate.

 Click Data tab.
 In the Sort & Filter group, click Sort A to Z as
shown in the screen shot given below −
The column – HireDate will be sorted with the dates sorted

from oldest to newest. You can sort the dates from newest to
oldest, by clicking Sort Z to A.
SORT BY CELL COLOR

To sort the table by the column total marks that contains
cells with colors (Conditionally Formatted) −
 Click the Header of the column – Total Marks.

 Click Data tab.
 In the Sort & Filter group, click Sort. The Sort
dialog box appears.
 Choose Sort By as Total Marks, Sort on as Cell

Color and specify the color green in Order. Click
Add Level.
Color and specify the color Yellow in Order. Click
Add Level.
Color and specify the color Red in Order.
The column – Total Marks will be sorted by the cell color as
specified in the Order.
SORT BY FONT COLOR
To sort the column Total Marks in the table, that contains
cells with font colors (conditionally formatted) −
 Click the header of the column – Total Marks.

 Click Data tab.
dialog box appears.
 Choose Sort By as Total Marks, Sort On as Font
Color and specify the color green in Order. Click
Add Level.
Color and specify the color yellow in Order. Click
Add Level.
Color and specify the color red in Order.
The column – Total Marks is sorted by the font color as

SORT BY CELL ICON
To sort the table by the column Total Marks that contains
cells with Cell Icons (Conditionally Formatted), follow the
steps given below −
 Click the Header of the column – Total Marks.
 Click Data tab.
dialog box appears.
 Choose Sort By as Total Marks, Sort On as Cell
Icon and specify in Order. Click Add Level.

Icon and specify in Order. Click Add Level.

Icon and specify in Order.
The column – Total Marks will be sorted by Cell Icon as

SORT BY A CUSTOM LIST
You can create a custom list and sort the table by the custom
list.
In the table given below, you find an indicator column with

title – Position. It has the values high, medium and low
based on the position of total marks with respect to the
entire range.
Now, suppose you want to sort the column - Position, with
all High values on top, all low values at bottom, and all
medium values in between. That means the order you want
is low, medium and high. With Sort A to Z, you get the
order high, low and medium. On the other hand, with Sort Z
to A, you get the order medium, low and high.
You can resolve this is to create a custom list.
 Define the order for the custom list as high, medium

and low in a range of cells as shown below.
 Select that Range.
 Click the File tab.
 Click Options. In the Excel Options dialog box,
Click Advanced.
 Scroll to the General.
 Click Edit Custom Lists.
The Edit Custom Lists dialog box appears. The select
range in worksheet appears in the Import list from cells
Box. Click Import.
Your custom list is added to the Custom Lists. Click OK.
The next step is to sort the table with this Custom List.
 Click the Column – Position. Click on Sort. In

the Sort dialog box, ensure Sort By is Position, Sort
On is Values.
 Click on Order. Select Custom List. Custom Lists
dialog box appears.
 Click on the High, Medium, Low Custom List.
Click on OK.
In the Sort dialog box, in the Order Box, High, Medium,

Low appears. Click on OK.
The table will be sorted in the defined order – high, medium,

low.
You can create Custom Lists based on the following values
−
 Text
 Number
 Date
 Time
You cannot create custom lists based on format, i.e. by cell /

font color, or cell icon.
SORT BY ROWS
You can sort a table by rows also. Follow the steps given
below −
 Click the row you want to sort the data.

 Click Sort.
 In the Sort dialog box, Click Options. The Sort
Options dialog box opens.
 Under Orientation, click Sort from left to right.
Click OK.
 Click Sort by row. Select the row.

 Choose values for Sort On and Largest to Smallest
for Order.
The data will be sorted by the selected row in a descending

order.
SORT BY MORE THAN ONE COLUMN OR ROW

You can sort a table by more than one column or row.

 Click Sort.
 In the Sort dialog box, specify the column by which
you want to sort first.
In the screen shot given below, Sort By Title, Sort

On Values, Order A – Z are chosen.
 Click Add Level in the Sort dialog box. The Then

By dialog appears.
 Specify the column by which you want to sort next.
 In the screen shot given below, Then
By HireDate, Sort On Values, Order Oldest to
Newest are chosen.
 Click OK.
The data will be sorted for Title in the ascending
alphanumeric order and then by HireDate. You will see the
employee data sorted by title, and in each title category, in
the seniority order.

Filtering
Filtering allows you to extract data that meets the defined
criteria from a given Range or table. This is a quick way to
display only the information that is needed by you.
You can Filter data in a Range, table or PivotTable.
You can filter data by −
 Selected values
 Text filters if the column you selected contains text
 Date filters if the column you selected contains dates
 Number filters if the column you selected contains
numbers
 Number filters if the column you selected contains
numbers
 Font color if the column you selected contains font
with color
 Cell icon if the column you selected contains cell
icons
 Advanced filter
 Using slicers
In a table, the column headers are automatically tagged to

filters, known as AutoFilters. AutoFilter is represented by
the arrow next to column header. Each AutoFilter has
filter options based on the type of data you have in that
column. For example, if the column contains numbers, when
you click on the arrow next to the column
header, Number Filter Options appear.
When you click a Filter option or when you click

on Custom Filter that appears at the end of the Filter
options, Custom AutoFilter dialog box appears, wherein
you can customize your filtering options.
In case of a Range, you can provide the column headers in

the first row of the range and click on filter in
the Editing group on Home tab. This will make
the AutoFilter on for the Range. You can remove the filters
that you have in your data. You can also reapply the filters
when data changes occur.
FILTER BY SELECTED VALUES

You can choose what data is to be displayed by clicking the
arrow next to a column header and selecting the Values in
the column. Only those rows containing the selected values
in the chosen column will be displayed.

If you want to display the data only for Position = High,
click the arrow next to Position. A drop-down box appears
with all the values in the position column. By default, all the
values will be selected.
 Click Select All. All the boxes are cleared.
 Select High as shown in the following screen shot.
Click OK. Only those Rows, which have the value High as
Position, will be displayed.
FILTER BY TEXT
You can filter this data such that only those Rows wherein
the Title is “Manager” will be displayed.
Click the arrow next to the column header Title. From the
drop-down list, click Text Filters. Text filter options
appear.
Select Contains from the available options. The Custom
AutoFilter dialog box opens. Type Manager in the Box next
to Contains.
Click OK. Only the Rows where Title contains Manager

will be displayed.
FILTER BY DATE
You can filter this data further such that only those Rows
wherein the Title is “Manager” and HireDate is prior to
2011 can be displayed. That means you will display the
Employee information for all the managers who have been
with the organization from before 2011.
Click the arrow next to the column header HireDate. From

the drop-down list, click Date Filters. The Date filter
options appear. Select Before from the drop-down list.
Custom AutoFilter dialog box opens. Type 1/1/2011 in the
box next to is before. You can also select the date from the
date picker next to the box.
Click OK. Only the rows where Title contains Manager and
HireDate is prior to 1/1/2011 will be displayed.
FILTER BY NUMBERS
You can filter this data such that only those rows where
Total Marks > 850 can be displayed.
Click the arrow next to the column header Total Marks.

From the drop-down list, click Number Filters. The
Number Filter options appear.
Click Greater Than. Custom AutoFilter dialog box opens.
Type 850 in the box next to Greater Than.
Click OK. Only the rows wherein the total marks are greater
than 850 will be displayed.
FILTER BY CELL COLOR
If the data has different cell colors or is conditionally
formatted, you can filter by the colors that are displayed in
your table.
Consider the following data. The column Total Marks has

conditional formatting with different cell colors.
Click the arrow in the header Total Marks. From the
drop-down list, click Filter by Color. The Filter by Cell
Color options appear.
Select the green color and click OK. Only the rows wherein
the total marks column has green color cells will be
displayed.
FILTER BY FONT COLOR

If the data has different font colors or is conditionally
formatted, you can filter by the colors that are displayed in
your table.
Consider the following data. The column - Total Marks has

conditional formatting with font color applied.
Drop-Down List, click Filter by Color. Filter by Font
Color options appear.
Select the green color and click OK. Only the rows wherein
the Total Marks column has green color font will be
displayed.
FILTER BY CELL ICON

If the data has different icons or a conditional format, you
can filter by the icons that are shown in your table.
Consider the following data. The column Total Marks has
conditional formatting with icons applied.

drop-down list, select Filter by Color. The Filter by Cell
Icon options appear.
Select the icon and click OK.
Only the rows wherein the Total Marks column has
the icon will be displayed.

CLEAR FILTER
Removing filters is termed as Clear Filter in Excel.
You can remove
 A filter from a specific column, or

 All of the filters in the worksheet at once.
To remove a filter from a specific column, click the arrow in

the table header of that column. From the drop-drown menu,
click Clear Filter From “<specific Column Name>”.
The filter in the column is removed. To remove filtering
from the entire worksheet, select Clear in the
 Editing group on the Home tab, or

 Sort & Filter group in the Data tab.
All the filters in the worksheet are removed at once.
Click Undo Show All if you have removed the

Filters by mistake.
REAPPLY FILTER
When changes occur in your data, click Reapply in Sort &

Filter group on the Data tab. The defined filter will be
applied again on the modified data.
ADVANCED FILTERING
You can use Advance Filtering if you want to filter the data
of more than one column.
You need to define your filtering criteria as a range.

Suppose you want to display the information of those
employees who are specialists or whose EmployeeID is 2,
define the Criteria as follows −
 Next, click Advanced in the Sort & Filter group on
the Data tab. The Advanced Filter dialog box
appears.
 Specify the List Range and the Criteria Range.
 You can either filter the list, in place or copy to
another location.
 In the filtering given below, filter the data in
place is chosen.
The employee information where ManagerID = 2 OR Title
= “*Specialist” is displayed.
Suppose you want to display information about specialists

and vice presidents. You can define the criteria and filter as
follows −
The criteria you applied is Title = “*Specialist” OR Title =

“Vice President”. The employee information of specialists
and vice presidents will be displayed.
You can copy the filtered data to another location. You
can also select only few columns to include in the copy
operation.
 Copy EmployeedID, Title and SalariedFlag to the

Cells Q2, R2, S2. This will be the first Row of your
filtered data.
 Click on Advanced and in the Advanced Filter
dialog box, click on Copy to another location. In the
Copy to box, specify reference to the Headers you
copied in another location, i.e. Q2:S2.
Click OK after specifying the List Range and Criteria
Range. The selected columns in the filtered data will be
copied to the location you specified.
FILTER USING SLICERS

Slicers to filter data in PivotTables were introduced in Excel
2010. In Excel 2013, you can use Slicers to filter data in
tables also.
Consider the data in the following table.

 Click Table Toolsthat appear on the Ribbon.
 The Design Ribbon appears.
 Click Insert Slicer.
 Insert Slicers dialog box appears as shown in the

screen shot given below.
 In the Insert Slicers dialog box, you will find all the
column headers including those columns that are
hidden.
 Check the boxes Title and HireDate. Click OK.
A Slicer appears for each of the table headers you checked

in the Insert Slicers dialog box. In each Slicer, all the
values of that column will be highlighted.
In the Title Slicer, click the first value. Only that value will
be highlighted and the rest of the values get unselected.
Further, you will find the values in HireDate Slicer that are
corresponding to the value in the Title Slicer also get
highlighted.
In the table, only the selected values are displayed.
You can select / deselect the values in the Slicers and you
find that the data is automatically updated in the table. To
choose more than one value, hold down the Ctrl key, and
pick the values that you want to display.
Select the Title values that belong to the Accounts

department and the HireDate values in the year 2015 from
the two Slicers.
You can clear the selections in any Slicer by clicking the
Clear Filter at the right end corner of the Slicer

header.

Subtotals with Ranges
If you have a list of data that you want to group and
summarize, you can use Excel Subtotal and Outline to
display summary rows or columns. You can
use PivotTable also for this purpose, but
using Subtotal and Outline is the quickest way to analyze a
range of data. Note that Subtotal and Outline can be used
only on a range and not on a table.
You can create an Outline of up to eight levels, one for each

group. Outer Levels are represented by Lower Numbers and
Inner Levels by Higher Numbers. Each inner level displays
detailed data for the preceding outer level.
To understand how to use Subtotal and Outline, consider
the following example wherein the sales data of various
items is given salesperson wise and location wise. In total,
there are 1891 rows of data.
SUBTOTALS
You can obtain the sum of sales location wise
using Subtotal.
First, sort the data location wise.
 Click anywhere on the data range.

 Click the DATA tab.
 Click Sort.
Data is selected. The Sort dialog box appears.

In the Sort dialog box,
 Select Location for Sort by

 Select Values for Sort On
 Select A to Z for Order
Click OK. The data is sorted location wise.

 Click anywhere on the Data Range.
 Click DATA tab.
 Click Subtotal in the Outline group. The data gets
selected and the Subtotal dialog box appears.
In the Subtotal dialog box,
 Select Location under At each change in:

 Select Sum under Use function:
 Select Unit and Amount under Add subtotal to:
 Select Replace current subtotals
 Select Summary below data
Click OK. The data is grouped with three levels and the
subtotals are calculated location wise.
Note − The data that is displayed is of Level 3 – i.e. entire

data.
Click the Outline Level 2. The Totals will be displayed

location wise for units and amount.
Click Outline Level 1. The Grand Totals will be displayed

for units and amount.
You can zoom-in or zoom-out the data by clicking
the Outline Levels or by clicking the + Symbols to the left
of the data.
NESTED SUBTOTALS
You can obtain the sum of sales by each salesperson,
location wise using Nested Subtotals.
Sort the data location wise and then salesperson wise.
 Click anywhere on the data range.

 Click the DATA tab.
 Click Sort. The data is selected and the Sort dialog
box appears.
In the Sort dialog box,

 Select Location for Sort by
 Click on Add Level
Then by row appears
 Select Name for Then by

Click OK. The data is sorted by location and then by name.

 Click anywhere on the Data Range
 Click on DATA tab
 Click on Subtotal in the Outline group
Data gets selected. Subtotal dialog box appears.

 Select Location under At each change in:
 Select Replace current subtotals
Click OK. The data is grouped with three Levels and the
subtotals are calculated location wise as described earlier.
 Click Subtotal.
 Select Name under At each change in:

 Unselect Replace current subtotals
Click OK. The data is grouped with four levels and the
subtotals are calculated location wise and name wise.
Click Outline Level 3. The Totals will be displayed name
wise and location wise for Units and Amount.
Click on Outline Level 2. The Totals will be displayed

location wise for Units and Amount.
Click Outline Level 1. The Grand Totals will be displayed
for Units and Amount.
You can zoom-in or zoom-out the data by clicking

the Outline Levels or by clicking the + symbol to the Left
of the data.
Excel Data Analysis - Quick

Analysis
In Microsoft Excel 2013, the Quick Analysis tool makes it
possible to analyze your data quickly and easily using
different Excel tools.
You can use Quick Analysis with a range or a table of data.

To access Quick Access tool, select the cells that contain
the data you want to analyze. The Quick Analysis tool
button appears at the bottom right of your selected

data.
Click the Quick Analysis button. The Quick Analysis
toolbar appears with the options FORMATTING,
CHARTS, TOTALS, TABLES, SPARKLINES.
Quick Analysis tool is handy and quick to use as you can

also have a preview of applying different options, before
selecting the one you want.
FORMATTING
Conditional Formatting allows you to highlight parts of

your data by adding Data Bars, Colors, etc. This lets you
quickly visualize the values in your data.
You have learnt about formatting rules in the Conditional

Formatting chapter in this tutorial. The difference is that you
can have a quick preview and select the option you want.
However, if you want to utilize all the features
of Conditional Formatting, you rather go through the main
menu on the Ribbon. The same thing holds for all the
options in the Quick Analysis tool.
Click Formatting on the Quick Analysis toolbar.

The Conditional Formatting options appear in the toolbar.
Move your mouse on the options. You will see the previews.
You can then select the option you want by clicking it.
CHARTS
Charts are used to depict the data pictorially. There are
several types of Charts to suit different types of data.
If you click CHARTS on the Quick Analysis toolbar, the

recommended charts for the data you have selected will be
displayed. You can always choose More Charts option if
you want to go to the main Charts on the Ribbon.
Hover your mouse on the options. You will see the

previews. You can then select the option you want by
clicking it.
TOTALS
Totals can be used to calculate the numbers in columns and

rows. You will have functions such as Sum, Average,
Count, etc.
We will go into the details on how to use Quick
Analysis tool with TOTALS later in this chapter. You can
use the other options in Quick Analysis with the same ease,
as you observe.
TABLES
Tables help you to filter, sort and summarize your data, as

you have already learnt in the Tables chapter. In the Quick
Analysis tool, both the Table and PivotTable options are
available under TABLES. However, you can have a
preview for the table, but in the case of PivotTable no
preview is available as by clicking you will get an
empty PivotTable which you need to populate with the
data.
SPARKLINES
Sparklines are tiny charts that you can show alongside your
data in single cells. They provide a quick way to see trends.
QUICK ANALYSIS WITH TOTALS
Click on TOTALS in the Quick Analysis Toolbar.
In Quick Analysis with TOTALS, you can analyze
Row-
wise
Column-wise
For row wise calculations, ensure that you have an empty

row below the selected data.
Example
We will analyze the data of the votes polled in an election
for five candidates. The counting is done in four rounds.
Following is the data.
SUM
Select the data and Click on the Quick

Analysis toolbar under TOTALS.
Ensure that the row below the data is empty. Otherwise, you
will get a message saying that there is already data present
there and you will only have two options, either replace the
existing data or cancel the operation.
In the row below the selected data, the sum of each column
of the data is displayed. The caption Sum is also
automatically provided. This means the total count of votes
in each round for all the candidates is displayed.
AVERAGE
Select the data and click on the Quick

Analysis Toolbar under TOTALS.
The average of each column of the data appears in the row

below the data. The caption Average is also automatically
provided. The average number of votes polled in each round
is displayed.
COUNT

The count of each column of the data appears in the row

below the data. The caption Count is also automatically
provided. This means the count of candidates in each round
is displayed.
%TOTAL

The %Total of each column of the data appears in the row

below the data. The caption %Total is also automatically
provided. This means the %Total of votes in each round is
displayed.
RUNNING TOTAL
Select the data and Click on the Quick

The running total of each column of the data appears in the

row below the data. The caption Running Total is also
automatically provided. This means the running total of
votes across the rounds is displayed.
SUM OF COLUMNS

Analysis toolbar under TOTALS.
Ensure that the column next to the data is empty. Otherwise,

you will get a message saying that there is already data
present there and you will only have two options, either
replace the existing data or cancel the operation.
In the column next to the selected data, the sum of each row
of the data is displayed. The column header Sum is also
automatically provided. This means the total number of
votes polled for each candidate in all the rounds is
displayed.
Lookup Functions
You can use Excel functions to −
 Find values in a range of data - VLOOKUP and

HLOOKUP
 Obtain a value or the reference to a value from
within a table or range - INDEX
 Obtain the relative position of a specified item in a
range of cells - MATCH
You can also combine these functions to get the required

results based on the inputs you have.
USING VLOOKUP FUNCTION

The syntax of the VLOOKUP function is
VLOOKUP (lookup_value, table_array,

col_index_num, [range_lookup])
Where
 lookup_value − is the value you want to look up.
Lookup_value can be a value or a reference to a cell.
Lookup_value must be in the first column of the
range of cells you specify in table_array
 table_array − is the range of cells in which the
VLOOKUP will search for the lookup_value and the
return value. table_array must contain
o the lookup_value in the first column, and
o the return value you want to find
Note − The first column containing the

lookup_value can either be sorted in
ascending order or not. However, the result
will be based on the order of this column.
 col_index_num − is the column number in the

table_array that contains the return value. The
numbers start with 1 for the left-most column of
table-array
 range_lookup − is an optional logical value that
specifies whether you want VLOOKUP to find an
exact match or an approximate match. range_lookup
can be
o omitted, in which case it is assumed to be
TRUE and VLOOKUP tries to find an
approximate match
o TRUE, in which case VLOOKUP tries to
find an approximate match. In other words, if
an exact match is not found, the next largest
value that is less than lookup_value is
returned
o FALSE, in which case VLOOKUP tries to
find an exact match
o 1, in which case it is assumed to be TRUE
and VLOOKUP tries to find an approximate
match
o 0, in which case it is assumed to be FALSE
and VLOOKUP tries to find an exact match
Note − If range_lookup is omitted or TRUE or 1,

VLOOKUP works correctly only when the first column in
table_array is sorted in ascending order. Otherwise, it may
result in incorrect values. In such a case, use FALSE for
range_lookup.
USING VLOOKUP FUNCTION WITH

RANGE_LOOKUP TRUE
Consider a list of student marks. You can obtain the

corresponding grades with VLOOKUP from an array
containing the marks intervals and pass category.
table_array −
Note that the first column marks based on which the grades
are obtained is sorted in ascending order. Hence, using
TRUE for range_lookup argument you can get approximate
match that is what is required.
Name this array as Grades.
It is a good practice to name arrays in this way so that you

need not remember the cell ranges. Now, you are ready to
look up the grade for the list of marks you have as follows −
As you can observe,
 col_index_num − indicates the column of the return

value in table_array is 2
 the range_lookup is TRUE
o The first column containing the lookup value
in the table_array grades is in ascending
order. Hence, the results will be correct.
o You can get the return value for approximate
matches also. i.e. VLOOKUP computes as
follows −
Marks Pass Category

< 35 Fail
>= 35 and < 50 Third Class
>= 50 and < 60 Second Class
>=60 and < 75 First Class
>= 75 First Class with Distinction
You will get the following results −
USING VLOOKUP FUNCTION WITH

RANGE_LOOKUP FALSE
Consider a list of products containing the Product ID and

price for each of the products. The product ID and price will
be added to the end of the list whenever a new product is
launched. This would mean that the product IDs need not be
in ascending order. The product list might be as shown
below −
table_array −
Name this array as ProductInfo.
You can obtain the price of a product given the product ID

with the VLOOKUP function as the product ID is in the first
column. The price is in column 3 and hence col_index_ num
should be 3.
 Use VLOOKUP Function with range_lookup as

TRUE
 Use VLOOKUP Function with range_lookup as
FALSE
The correct answer is from the ProductInfo array is 171.65.

You can check the results.
You observe that you got −
 The correct result when range_lookup is FALSE,

and
 A wrong result when range_lookup is TRUE.
This is because, the first column in the ProductInfo array is

not sorted in ascending order. Hence, remember to use
FALSE whenever the data is not sorted.
USING HLOOKUP FUNCTION

You can use HLOOKUP function if the data is in rows
rather than columns.
EXAMPLE
Let us take the example of product information. Suppose the
array looks as follows −
 Name this Array ProductRange. You can find the

price of a product given the product ID with
HLOOKUP function.
The Syntax of HLOOKUP function is
HLOOKUP (lookup_value, table_array,

row_index_num, [range_lookup])
Where
 lookup_value − is the value to be found in the first

row of the table
 table_array − is a table of information in which data
is looked up
 row_index_num − is the row number in table_array
from which the matching value will be returned
 range_lookup − is a logical value that specifies
whether you want HLOOKUP to find an exact match
or an approximate match
 range_lookup can be
o omitted, in which case it is assumed to be
TRUE and HLOOKUP tries to find an
approximate match
o TRUE, in which case HLOOKUP tries to
find an approximate match. In other words, if
an exact match is not found, the next largest
value that is less than lookup_value is
returned
o FALSE, in which case HLOOKUP tries to
find an exact match
o 1, in which case it is assumed to be TRUE
and HLOOKUP tries to find an approximate
match
o 0, in which case it is assumed to be FALSE
and HLOOKUP tries to find an exact match
Note − If range_lookup is Omitted or TRUE or 1,

HLOOKUP works correctly only when the first column in
table_array is sorted in ascending order. Otherwise, it may
result in incorrect values. In such a case, use FALSE for
range_lookup.
USING HLOOKUP FUNCTION WITH

RANGE_LOOKUP FALSE
You can obtain the price of a product given the product ID

with the HLOOKUP function as the product ID is in the first
row. The price is in row 3 and hence row_index_ num
should be 3.
 Use HLOOKUP Function with range_lookup as

TRUE.
 Use HLOOKUP Function with range_lookup as
FALSE.
The correct answer from the ProductRange array is 171.65.
You can check the results.
You observe that as in the case of VLOOKUP, you got
 The correct result when range_lookup is FALSE,

and
 A wrong result when range_lookup is TRUE.
This is because the first row in the ProductRange array is

not sorted in ascending order. Hence, remember to use
FALSE whenever the data is not sorted.
USING HLOOKUP FUNCTION WITH

RANGE_LOOKUP TRUE
Consider the example of student marks used in VLOOKUP.
Suppose you have the data in rows instead of columns as
shown in the table given below −
table_array −
Name this array as GradesRange.
Note that the first row marks based on which the grades are
obtained is sorted in ascending order. Hence, using
HLOOKUP with TRUE for range_lookup argument, you
can get the Grades with approximate match and that is what
is required.
As you can observe,

 row_index_num − indicates the column of the
return value in table_array is 2
 the range_lookup is TRUE
o The first column containing the lookup value
in the table_array Grades is in ascending
order. Hence, the results will be correct.
o You can get the return value for approximate
matches also. i.e. HLOOKUP computes as
follows −
>= 35 >=60
< >= 50
Marks and < and < >= 75
35 and < 60
50 75
Pass Third Second First First Class with
Fail
Category Class Class Class Distinction

USING INDEX FUNCTION
When you have an array of data, you can retrieve a value in
the array by specifying the row number and column number
of that value in the array.
Consider the following sales data, wherein you find the sales
in each of the North, South, East and West regions by the
salespersons who are listed.
 Name the array as SalesData.
Using INDEX Function, you can find −
 The Sales of any of the Salespersons in a certain

Region.
 Total Sales in a Region by all the Salespersons.
 Total Sales by a Salesperson in all the Regions.
Suppose you do not know the row numbers for the

salespersons and column numbers for the regions. Then, you
need to find the row number and column number first before
you retrieve the value with the index function.
You can do it with the MATCH function as explained in the

next section.
USING MATCH FUNCTION

If you need the position of an item in a range, you can use
the MATCH function. You can combine MATCH and
INDEX functions as follows −

PivotTables
Data analysis on a large set of data is quite often necessary
and important. It involves summarizing the data, obtaining
the needed values and presenting the results.
Excel provides PivotTable to enable you summarize

thousands of data values easily and quickly so as to obtain
the required results.
Consider the following table of sales data. From this data,
you might have to summarize total sales region wise, month
wise, or salesperson wise. The easy way to handle these
tasks is to create a PivotTable that you can dynamically
modify to summarize the results the way you want.
CREATING PIVOTTABLE
To create PivotTables, ensure the first row has headers.

 Click the INSERT tab on the Ribbon.
 Click PivotTable in the Tables group. The
PivotTable dialog box appears.
As you can see in the dialog box, you can use either a Table
or Range from the current workbook or use an external data
source.
 In the Table / Range Box, type the table name.

 Click New Worksheet to tell Excel where to keep the
PivotTable.
 Click OK.
A Blank PivotTable and a PivotTable fields list appear.
RECOMMENDED PIVOTTABLES
In case you are new to PivotTables or you do not know
which fields to select from the data, you can use
the Recommended PivotTables that Excel provides.
 Click the data table.

 Click the INSERT tab.
 Click on Recommended PivotTables in the Tables
group. The Recommended PivotTables dialog box
appears.
In the recommended PivotTables dialog box, the possible

customized PivotTables that suit your data are displayed.
 Click each of the PivotTable options to see the

preview on the right side.
 Click the PivotTable Sum of Order Amount by
Salesperson and month.
Click OK. The selected PivotTable appears on a new
worksheet. You can observe the PivotTable fields that was
selected in the PivotTable fields list.
PIVOTTABLE FIELDS
The headers in your data table will appear as the fields in the
PivotTable.
You can select / deselect them to instantly change your
PivotTable to display only the information you want and in
a way that you want. For example, if you want to display the
account information instead of order amount information,
deselect Order Amount and select Account.
PIVOTTABLE AREAS
You can even change the Layout of your PivotTable
instantly. You can use the PivotTable Areas to accomplish
this.
In PivotTable areas, you can choose −

 What fields to display as rows
 What fields to display as columns
 How to summarize your data
 Filters for any of the fields
 When to update your PivotTable Layout
o You can update it instantly as you drag the
fields across areas, or
o You can defer the update and get it updated
only when you click on UPDATE
An instant update helps you to play around with the

different Layouts and pick the one that suits your report
requirement.
You can just drag the fields across these areas and observe
the PivotTable layout as you do it.
NESTING IN THE PIVOTTABLE

If you have more than one field in any of the areas, then
nesting happens in the order you place the fields in that area.
You can change the order by dragging the fields and observe
how nesting changes. In the above layout options, you can
observe that
 Months are in columns.

 Region and salesperson in rows in that order. i.e.
salesperson values are nested under region values.
 Summarizing is by Sum of Order Amount.
 No filters are chosen.
The resulting PivotTable is as follows −
In the PivotTable Areas, in rows, click region and drag it

below salesperson such that it looks as follows −
The nesting order changes and the resulting PivotTable is as
follows −
Note − You can clearly observe that the layout with the
nesting order – Region and then Salesperson yields a better
and compact report than the one with the nesting order –
Salesperson and then Region. In case Salesperson represents
more than one area and you need to summarize the sales by
Salesperson, then the second layout would have been a
better option.
FILTERS
You can assign a Filter to one of the fields so that you can
dynamically change the PivotTable based on the values of
that field.
Drag Region from Rows to Filters in the PivotTable Areas.

The filter with the label as Region appears above the
PivotTable (in case you do not have empty rows above your
PivotTable, PivotTable gets pushed down to make space for
the Filter.
You can see that −
 Salesperson values appear in rows.

 Month values appear in columns.
 Region Filter appears on the top with default
selected as ALL.
 Summarizing value is Sum of Order Amount
o Sum of Order Amount Salesperson-wise
appears in the column Grand Total
o Sum of Order Amount Month-wise appears
in the row Grand Total
Click the arrow in the box to the right of the filter region. A
drop-down list with the values of the field region appears.
 Check the option Select Multiple Items. Check
boxes appear for all the values.
 Select South and West and deselect the other values
and click OK.
The data pertaining to South and West Regions only will be

summarized as shown in the screen shot given below −
You can see that next to the Filter Region, Multiple
Items is displayed, indicating that you have selected more
than one item. However, how many items and / or which
items are selected is not known from the report that is
displayed. In such a case, using Slicers is a better option for
filtering.
SLICERS
You can use Slicers to have a better clarity on which items
the data was filtered.
 Click ANALYZE under PIVOTTABLE TOOLS on

the Ribbon.
 Click Insert Slicer in the Filter group. The Insert
Slicers box appears. It contains all the fields from
your data.
 Select the fields Region and month. Click OK.
Slicers for each of the selected fields appear with all the
values selected by default. Slicer Tools appear on the
Ribbon to work on the Slicer settings, look and feel.
 Select South and West in the Slicer for Region.

 Select February and March in the Slicer for month.
 Keep Ctrl key pressed while selecting multiple
values in a Slicer.
Selected items in the Slicers are highlighted. PivotTable

with summarized values for the selected items will be
displayed.
SUMMARIZING VALUES BY OTHER
CALCULATIONS
In the examples so far, you have seen summarizing values
by Sum. However, you can use other calculations also if
necessary.
In the PivotTable Fields List
 Select the Field Account.

 Unselect the Field Order Amount.
 Drag the field Account to Summarizing Values area.
By default, Sum of Account will be displayed.
 Click the arrow on the right side of the box.
 In the drop-down that appears, click Value Field
Settings.
The Value Field Settings box appears. Several types of
calculations appear as a list under Summarize value field by
−
 Select Count in the list.

 The Custom Name automatically changes to Count
of Account. Click OK.
The PivotTable summarizes the Account values by Count.
PIVOTTABLE TOOLS
Follow the steps given below to learn to use the PivotTable
Tools.
 Select the PivotTable.
The following PivotTable Tools appear on the Ribbon −
 ANALYZE
 DESIGN
ANALYZE
Some of the ANALYZE Ribbon commands are −
 Set PivotTable Options

 Value Field Settings for the selected Field
 Expand Field
 Collapse Field
 Insert Slicer
 Insert Timeline
 Refresh Data
 Change Data Source
 Move PivotTable
 Solve Order (If there are more calculations)
 PivotChart
DESIGN
Some of the DESIGN Ribbon commands are −
 PivotTable Layout
o Options for Sub Totals
o Options for Grand Totals
o Report Layout Forms
o Options for Blank Rows
 PivotTable Style Options
 PivotTable Styles
EXPANDING AND COLLAPSING FIELD

You can either expand or collapse all items of a selected
field in two ways −
 By selecting the symbol or to the left of the

selected field.
 By clicking the Expand Field or Collapse Field on
the ANALYZE Ribbon.
BY SELECTING THE EXPAND SYMBOL OR COLLAPSE

SYMBOL TO THE LEFT OF THE SELECTED FIELD
 Select the cell containing East in the PivotTable.

 Click on the Collapse symbol to the left of East.
All the items under East will be collapsed. The Collapse
symbol to the left of East changes to the Expand
symbol .
You can observe that only the items below East are
collapsed. The rest of the PivotTable items are as they are.
Click the Expand symbol to the left of East. All the items
below East will be displayed.
USING ANALYZE ON THE RIBBON
You can collapse or expand all items in the PivotTable at

once with the Expand Field and Collapse Field commands
on the Ribbon.
 Click the cell containing East in the PivotTable.

 Click the ANALYZE tab on the Ribbon.
 Click Collapse Field in the Active Field group.
All the items of the field East in the PivotTable will

collapse.
Click Expand Field in the Active Field group.

All the items will be displayed.
REPORT PRESENTATION STYLES

You can choose the presentation style for your PivotTable as
you would be including it as a report. Select a style that fits
into the rest of your presentation or report. However, do not
get over bored with the styles because a report that gives an
impact in showing the results is always better than a colorful
one, which does not highlight the important data points.
 Click East in the PivotTable.

 Click ANALYZE.
 Click Field Settings in Active Field group. The Field
Settings dialog box appears.
 Click the Layout & Print tab.
 Check Insert blank line after each item label.
Blank rows will be displayed after each value of the Region
field.
You can insert blank rows from the DESIGN tab also.
 Click the DESIGN tab.
 Click Report Layout in Layout group.
 Select Show in Outline Form in the drop-down list.
 Hover the mouse over the PivotTable Styles. A
preview of the style on which the mouse is placed
will appear.
 Select the Style that suits your report.
PivotTable in Outline Form with the selected Style will be

displayed.
TIMELINE IN PIVOTTABLES
To understand how to use Timeline, consider the following
example wherein the sales data of various items is given
salesperson wise and location wise. There are total 1891
rows of data.
Create a PivotTable from this Range with −
 Location and Salesperson in Rows in that order

 Product in Columns
 Sum of Amount in Summarizing values
 Click the PivotTable.
 Click INSERT tab.
 Click Timeline in Filters group. The Insert Timelines
appears.
Click Date and click OK. The Timeline dialog box appears
and the Timeline Tools appear on the Ribbon.
 In Timeline dialog box, select MONTHS.

 From the drop-down list select QUARTERS.
 Click 2014 Q2.
 Keep the Shift key pressed and drag to 2014 Q4.
Timeline is selected to Q2 – Q4 2014.
PivotTable is filtered to this Timeline.

Excel Data Analysis - Data
Visualization
You can display your data analysis reports in a number of
ways in Excel. However, if your data analysis results can be
visualized as charts that highlight the notable points in the
data, your audience can quickly grasp what you want to
project in the data. It also leaves a good impact on your
presentation style.
In this chapter, you will get to know how to use Excel charts
and Excel formatting features on charts that enable you to
present your data analysis results with emphasis.
VISUALIZING DATA WITH CHARTS
In Excel, charts are used to make a graphical representation

of any set of data. A chart is a visual representation of the
data, in which the data is represented by symbols such as
bars in a Bar Chart or lines in a Line Chart. Excel provides
you with many chart types and you can choose one that suits
your data or you can use the Excel Recommended Charts
option to view charts customized to your data and select one
of those.
Refer to the Tutorial Excel Charts for more information on

chart types.
In this chapter, you will understand the different techniques

that you can use with the Excel charts to highlight your data
analysis results more effectively.
CREATING COMBINATION CHARTS
Suppose you have the target and actual profits for the fiscal
year 2015-2016 that you obtained from different regions.
We will create a Clustered Column Chart for these results.

As you observe, it is difficult to visualize the comparison
quickly between the targets and actual in this chart. It does
not give a true impact on your results.
A better way of distinguishing two types of data to compare

the values is by using Combination Charts. In Excel 2013
and versions above, you can use Combo charts for the same
purpose.
Use Vertical Columns for the target values and a Line with
Markers for the actual values.
 Click the DESIGN tab under the CHART TOOLS

tab on the Ribbon.
 Click Change Chart Type in the Type group. The
Change Chart Type dialog box appears.
 Click Combo.
 Change the Chart Type for the series Actual to Line
with Markers. The preview appears under Custom
Combination.
 Click OK.
Your Customized Combination Chart will be displayed.

As you observe in the chart, the Target values are in
Columns and the Actual values are marked along the line.
The data visualization has become better as it also shows
you the trend of your results.
However, this type of representation does not work well

when the data ranges of your two data values vary
significantly.
CREATING A COMBO CHART WITH

SECONDARY AXIS
Suppose you have the data on the number of units of your
product that was shipped and the actual profits for the fiscal
year 2015-2016 that you obtained from different regions.
If you use the same combination chart as before, you will
get the following −
In the chart, the data of No. of Units is not visible as the

data ranges are varying significantly.
In such cases, you can create a combination chart with

secondary axis, so that the primary axis displays one range
and the secondary axis displays the other.
 Click the INSERT tab.
 Click Combo in Charts group.
 Click Create Custom Combo Chart from the drop-
down list.
The Insert Chart dialog box appears with Combo

highlighted.
For Chart Type, choose −
Line with Markers for the Series No. of Units
Clustered Column for the Series Actual Profits

Check the Box Secondary Axis to the right of the
Series No. of Units and click OK.
A preview of your chart appears under Custom

Combination.
Your Combo chart appears with Secondary Axis.

You can observe the values for Actual Profits on the
primary axis and the values for No. of Units on the
secondary axis.
A significant observation in the above chart is for Quarter 3

where No. of Units sold is more, but the Actual Profits made
are less. This could probably be assigned to the promotion
costs that were incurred to increase sales. The situation is
improved in Quarter 4, with a slight decrease in sales and a
significant rise in the Actual Profits made.
DISCRIMINATING SERIES AND CATEGORY

AXIS
Suppose you want to project the Actual Profits made in
Years 2013-2016.
Create a clustered column for this data.
As you observe, the data visualization is not effective as the
years are not displayed. You can overcome this by changing
year to category.
Remove the header year in the data range.
Now, year is considered as a category and not a series. Your

chart looks as follows −
CHART ELEMENTS AND CHART STYLES
Chart Elements give more descriptions to your charts, thus
helping visualizing your data more meaningfully.
 Click the Chart
Three buttons appear next to the upper-right corner of the

chart −
 Chart Elements
 Chart Styles
 Chart Filters
For a detailed explanation of these, refer to Excel Charts

tutorial.
 Click Chart Elements.
 Click Data Labels.
 Click Chart Styles

 Select a Style and Color that suits your data.
You can use Trendline to graphically display trends in data.

You can extend a Trendline in a chart beyond the actual data
to predict future values.
DATA LABELS
Excel 2013 and later versions provide you with various
options to display Data Labels. You can choose one Data
Label, format it as you like, and then use Clone Current
Label to copy the formatting to the rest of the Data Labels in
the chart.
The Data Labels in a chart can have effects, varying shapes

and sizes.
It is also possible to display the content of a cell as part of

the Data Label with Insert Data Label Field.
QUICK LAYOUT
You can use Quick Layout to change the overall layout of
the chart quickly by choosing one of the predefined layout
options.
 Click the chart.

 Click the DESIGN tab under CHART TOOLS.
 Click Quick Layout.
Different possible layouts will be displayed. As you move

on the layout options, the chart layout changes to that
particular option.
Select the layout you like. The chart will be displayed with
the chosen layout.
USING PICTURES IN COLUMN CHARTS

You can create more emphasis on your data presentation by
using a picture in place of columns.
 Click on a Column on the Column Chart.

 In the Format Data Series, click on Fill.
 Select Picture.
 Under Insert picture from, provide the filename or
optionally clipboard if you had copied an image
earlier.
The picture you have chosen will appear in place of columns
in the chart.
BAND CHART
You might have to present customer survey results of a
product from different regions. Band Chart is suitable for
this purpose. A Band Chart is a Line Chart with an added
shaded area to display the upper and lower boundaries of
groups of data.
Suppose your customer survey results from the east and

west regions, month wise are −
Here, in the data < 50% is Low, 50% - 80% is Medium and
> 80% is High.
With Band Chart, you can display your survey results as

follows −
Create a Line Chart from your data.
Change the chart type to −
 East and West Series to Line with Markers.

 Low, Medium and High Series to Stacked Column.
Your chart looks as follows.

 Click on one of the columns.
 Change gap width to 0% in Format Data Series.
You will get Bands instead of columns.

To make the chart more presentable −
 Add Chart Title.

 Adjust Vertical Axis range.
 Change the colors of the bands to Green-Yellow-
Red.
 Add Labels to bands.
The final result is the Band Chart with the defined

boundaries and the survey results represented across the
bands. One can quickly and clearly make out from the chart
that while the survey results for the region West are
satisfactory, those for the region East have a decline in the
last quarter and need attention.
THERMOMETER CHART
When you have to represent a target value and an actual
value, you can easily create a Thermometer Chart in Excel
that emphatically shows these values.
With Thermometer chart, you can display your data as

follows −
Arrange your data as shown below −
 Create a Clustered Column chart.
As you observe, the right side Column is Target.
 Click on a Column in the chart.

 Click on Switch Row/Column on the Ribbon.
 Right click on the Target Column.
 Click on Format Data Series.
 Click on Secondary Axis.
As you observe the Primary Axis and Secondary Axis have

different ranges.
 Right click the Primary Axis.

 In the Format Axis options, under Bounds, type 0 for
Minimum and 1 for Maximum.
 Repeat the same for Secondary Axis.
Both Primary Axis and Secondary Axis will be set to 0% -
100%. The Target Column hides the Actual Column.
 Right click the visible column (Target)

 In the Format Data Series, select
o No fill for FILL
o Solid line for BORDER
o Blue for Color
 In Chart Elements, unselect

o Axis → Primary Horizontal
o Axis → Secondary Vertical
o Gridlines
o Chart Title
 In the chart, right click on Primary Vertical Axis
 In Format Axis options, click on TICK MARKS
 For Major type, select Inside
 Right click on the Chart Area.

 In the Format Chart Area options, select
o No fill for FILL
o No line for BORDER
Resize the chart area, to get the shape of a thermometer.

You got your thermometer chart, with the actual value as
against target value being shown. You can make this
thermometer chart more impressive with some formatting.
 Insert a rectangle shape superimposing the blue

rectangular part in the chart.
 In Format Shape options, select −
o Gradient fill for FILL
o Linear for Type
o 1800 for Angle
 Set the Gradient stops at 0%, 50% and 100%.
 For the Gradient stops at 0% and 100%, choose the
color black.
 For the Gradient stop at 50%, choose the color white.
 Insert an oval shape at the bottom.

 Format shape with same options.
The result is the Thermometer Chart that we started with.

GANTT CHART
A Gantt chart is a chart in which a series of horizontal lines
shows the amount of work done in certain periods of time in
relation to the amount of work planned for those periods.
In Excel, you can create a Gantt chart by customizing a

Stacked Bar chart type so that it depicts tasks, task duration,
and hierarchy. An Excel Gantt chart typically uses days as
the unit of time along the horizontal axis.
Consider the following data where the column −
 Task represents the Tasks in the project

 Start represents number of days from the Start Date
of the project
 Duration represents the duration of the Task
Note that Start of any Task is Start of previous Task +

Duration. This is the case when the Tasks are in hierarchy.

 Create Stacked Bar Chart.
 Right-click on Start Series.
 In Format Data Series options, select No fill.
 Right-click on Categories Axis.

 In Format Axis options, select Categories in reverse
order.
 In Chart Elements, deselect
o Legend
o Gridlines
 Format the Horizontal Axis to
o Adjust the range
o Major Tick Marks at 5 day intervals
o Minor Tick Marks at 1 day intervals
 Format Data Series to make it look impressive
 Give a Chart Title
WATERFALL CHART
Waterfall Chart is one of the most popular visualization
tools used in small and large businesses. Waterfall charts are
ideal for showing how you have arrived at a net value such
as net income, by breaking down the cumulative effect of
positive and negative contributions.
Excel 2016 provides Waterfall Chart type. If you are using

earlier versions of Excel, you can still create a Waterfall
Chart using Stacked Column Chart.
The columns are color coded so that you can quickly tell
positive from negative numbers. The initial and the final
value columns start on the horizontal axis, while the
intermediate values are floating columns. Because of this
look, Waterfall Charts are also called Bridge Charts.
Consider the following data.

 Prepare the data for Waterfall Chart
 Ensure the column Net Cash Flow is to the left of the
Months Column (This is because you will not
include this column while creating the chart)
 Add 2 columns – Increase and Decrease for positive
and negative cash flows respectively
 Add a column Start - the first column in the chart
with the start value in the Net Cash Flow
 Add a column End - the last column in the chart with
the end value in the Net Cash Flow
 Add a column Float – that supports the intermediate
columns
 Compute the values for these columns as follows
 In the Float column, insert a row in the beginning

and at the end. Place n arbitrary value 50000. This
just to have some space to the left and right of the
chart
The data will be as follows.

 Select the cells C2:H18 (Exclude Net Cash Flow
column)
 Create Stacked Column Chart
 Right click on the Float Series.
 Click Format Data Series.
 In Format Data Series options, select No fill.
 Right click on Negative Series.

 Select Fill Color as Red.
 Right click on Positive Series.

 Select Fill Color as Green.
 Right click on Start Series.
 Select Fill Color as Grey.
 Right click on End Series.
 Select Fill Color as Grey.
 Delete the Legend.
 Right click on any Series
 In Format Data Series options, select Gap Width as
10% under Series Options
Give the Chart Title. The Waterfall Chart will be displayed.
SPARKLINES
Sparklines are tiny charts placed in single cells, each
representing a row of data in your selection. They provide a
quick way to see trends.
You can add Sparklines with Quick Analysis tool.
 Select the data for which you want to add Sparklines.

 Keep an empty column to the right side of the data
for the Sparklines.
Quick Analysis button appears at the bottom right of

your selected data.
 Click on the Quick Analysis button. The Quick
Analysis Toolbar appears with various options.
Click SPARKLINES. The chart options displayed are

based on the data and may vary.
Click Line. A Line Chart for each row is displayed in the
column to the right of the data.
PIVOTCHARTS
Pivot Charts are used to graphically summarize data and
explore complicated data.
A PivotChart shows Data Series, Categories, and Chart
Axes the same way a standard chart does. Additionally, it
also gives you interactive filtering controls right on the chart
so that you can quickly analyze a subset of your data.
PivotCharts are useful when you have data in a huge

PivotTable, or many complex worksheet data that includes
text and numbers. A PivotChart can help you make sense of
this data.
You can create a PivotChart from
 A PivotTable.
 A Data Table as a standalone without PivotTable.
PIVOTCHART FROM PIVOTTABLE

To create a PivotChart follow the steps given below −
 Click the PivotTable.

 Click ANALYZE under PIVOTTABLE TOOLS on
the Ribbon.
 Click on PivotChart. The Insert Chart dialog box
appears.
Select Clustered Column from the option Column.
Click OK. The PivotChart is displayed.

The PivotChart has three filters – Region, Salesperson and
Month.
 Click the Region Filter Control option. The Search

Box appears with the list of all Regions. Check
boxes appear next to Regions.
 Select East and South options.
The filtered data appears on both the PivotChart and the

PivotTable.
PIVOTCHART WITHOUT A PIVOTTABLE
You can create a standalone PivotChart without creating a
PivotTable.
 Click the Data Table.

 Click the Insert tab.
 Click PivotChart in Charts group. The Create
PivotChart window appears.
 Select the Table/Range.
 Select the Location where you want the PivotChart
to be placed.
You can choose a cell in the existing worksheet itself, or in a

new worksheet. Click OK.
An empty PivotChart and an empty PivotTable appear along
with the PivotChart Field List to build the PivotChart.
 Choose the Fields to be added to the PivotChart

 Arrange the Fields by dragging them into FILTERS,
LEGEND (SERIES), AXIS (CATEGORIES) and
VALUES
 Use the Filter Controls on the PivotChart to select
the Data to be placed on the PivotChart
Excel will automatically create a coupled PivotTable.

Excel Data Analysis - Data

Validation
Data Validation is a very useful and easy to use tool in
Excel with which you can set data validations on the data
that is entered that is entered into your Worksheet.
For any cell on the worksheet, you can
 Display an input message on what needs to be

entered into it.
 Restrict the values that get entered.
 Provide a list of values to choose from.
 Display an error message and reject an invalid data
entry.
Consider the following Risk Tracker that can be used to

enter and track the identified Risks information.
In this tracker, the data that is entered into the following

columns is validated with preset data constraints and the
entered data is accepted only when it meets the validation
criteria. Otherwise, you will get an error message.
 Probability
 Impact
 Risk Category
 Risk Source
 Status
The column Risk Exposure will have calculated values and

you cannot enter any data. Even the column S. No. is set to
have calculated values that are adjusted even if you delete a
row.
Now, you will learn how to set up such a worksheet.
PREPARE THE STRUCTURE FOR THE

WORKSHEET
To prepare the structure for the worksheet −
 Start with a blank worksheet.

 Put the header in Row 2.
 Put the column headers in Row 3.
 For the column headers Probability, Impact and Risk
Exposure −
o Right click on the cell.
o Click on Format Cells from drop down.
o In the Format Cells dialog box, click on
Alignment tab.
o Type 90 under Orientation.
 Merge and Centre the cells in Rows 3, 4, and 5 for
each of the column headers.
 Format Borders for the cells in Rows 2 – 5.
 Adjust the row and column widths.
Your worksheet will look as follow −

SET VALID VALUES FOR RISK CATEGORY
In the cells M5 – M13 enter the following values (M5 is

heading and M6 - M13 are the values)
Category Values
End-Users
Customer
Management
Schedule
Schedule
Environment
Product
Project
 Click the first cell under the column Risk Category

(H6).
 Click DATA tab on the Ribbon.
 Click Data Validation in the Data Tools group.
 Select Data Validation… from the drop-down list.
The Data Validation dialog box appears.
 Click the Settings tab.

 Under Validation criteria, in the Allow: drop-down
list, Select the option List.
 Select the range M6:M13 in the Source: box that

appears.
 Check the boxes Ignore blank and In-cell dropdown
that appear.
SET INPUT MESSAGE FOR RISK CATEGORY
 Click the Input Message tab in the Data Validation

dialog box.
 Check the box Show input message when cell is
selected.
 In the box under Title:, type Risk Category:
 In the box under Input message: Choose the
Category of the Risk from the List.
SET ERROR ALERT FOR RISK CATEGORY
To set error alert −
 Click the Error Alert tab in the Data validation

dialog box.
 Check the box Show error alert after invalid data is
entered.
 Select Stop under Style: dropdown
 In the box under Title:, type Invalid Entry:
 In the box under Error message: type Choose a value
from dropdown list.
 Click OK.
VERIFY DATA VALIDATION FOR RISK CATEGORY
For the selected first cell under Risk Category,
 Data Validation criteria is set

 Input message is set
 Error alert is set
Now, you can verify your settings.
Click in the cell for which you have set Data Validation
criteria. The Input message appears. The dropdown button
appears on the right side of the cell.
The input message is correctly displayed.
 Click on the dropdown button on the right side of the

cell. The drop-down list appears with the values that
can be selected.
 Cross-check the values in the drop-down list with
those that are used to create the drop-down list.
Both the sets of values match. Note that if the number of
values is more, you will get a scroll-down bar on the right
side of the dropdown list.
Select a value from the dropdown list. It appears in the cell.
You can see that the selection of valid values is working

fine.
Finally, try to enter an invalid entry and verify the Error

alert.
Type People in the cell and press Enter. Error message that
you have set for the cell will be displayed.
 Verify the Error message.
 You have an option to either Retry or Cancel. Verify
both the options.
You have successfully set the Data Validation for the cell.
Note − It is very important to check the spelling and

grammar of your messages.
SET VALID CRITERIA FOR THE RISK CATEGORY COLUMN
Now, you are ready to apply the Data Validation criteria to

all the cells in the Risk Category column.
At this point, you need to remember two things −

 You need to set the criteria for maximum number of
cells that are possible to be used. In our example, it
can vary from 10 – 100 based on where the
worksheet will be used.
 You should not set the criteria for unwanted range of
cells or for the entire column. This will unnecessarily
increases the file size. It is called excess formatting.
If you get a worksheet from an outside source, you
have to remove the excess formatting, which you
will learn in the chapter on Inquire in this tutorial.
 Set the validation criteria for 10 cells under Risk

Category.
 You can easily do this by clicking on the right-
bottom corner of the first cell.
 Hold on the + symbol that appears and pull it down.
Data Validation is set for all the selected cells.
Click the last column that is selected and verify.

Data Validation for the column Risk Category is complete.
SET VALIDATION VALUES FOR RISK SOURCE
In this case, we have only two values – Internal and

External.
 Click in the first cell under the column Risk Source

(I6)
 Click the DATA tab on the Ribbon
 Click Data Validation in the Data Tools group
Data Validation dialog box appears.

list, select the option List.
 Type Internal, External in the Source: box that
appears.
 Check the boxes Ignore blank and In-cell dropdown
that appear.
Set Input Message for Risk Source.

Set Error Alert for Risk Source.
For the selected first cell under Risk Source −
 Data Validation criteria is set

 Input message is set
 Error alert is set
Click in the cell for which you have set Data Validation
criteria. Input message appears. The drop-down button
appears on the right side of the cell.
The input message is displayed correctly.
 Click the drop-down arrow button on the right side

of the cell. A drop-down list appears with the values
that can be selected.
 Check if the values are the same as you typed –
Internal and External.
Both the sets of values match. Select a value from the drop-
down list. It appears in the cell.
You can see that the selection of valid values is working
fine. Finally, try to enter an invalid entry and verify the
Error alert.
Type Financial in the cell and press Enter. Error message
that you have set for the cell will be displayed.
 Verify the Error message. You have successfully set

the Data Validation for the cell.
 Set valid criteria for the Risk Source Column
 Apply the Data Validation criteria to the cells I6 -
I15 in the Risk Source column (i.e. same range as
that of Risk Category column).
Data Validation is set for all the selected cells. Data

Validation for the column Risk Source is complete.
SET VALIDATION VALUES FOR STATUS

 Repeat the same steps that you used for setting
Validation values for Risk Source.
 Set the List values as Open, Closed.
 Apply the Data Validation criteria to the cells K6 -
K15 in the Status column (i.e. same range as that of
Risk Category column).

Validation for the column status is complete.
SET VALIDATION VALUES FOR PROBABILITY
Risk Probability Score values are in the range 1-5, 1 being

low and 5 being high. The value can be any integer between
1 and 5, both inclusive.
 Click in the first cell under the column Risk Source

(I6).
 Click the DATA tab on the Ribbon.
 Click Data Validation in the Data Tools group.
The Data Validation dialog box appears.

list, select Whole number.
 Select between under Data:
 Type 1 in the box under Minimum:
 Type 5 in the box under Maximum:
Set Input Message for Probability
Set Error Alert for Probability and click OK.
For the selected first cell under Probability,
 Data Validation criteria is set.

 Input message is set.
 Error alert is set.
Click on the cell for which you have set Data Validation
criteria. Input message appears. In this case, there will not
be a dropdown button because the input values are set to be
in a range and not from list.
The input message is correctly displayed.
Enter an integer between 1 and 5 in the cell. It appears in the

cell.
Selection of valid values is working fine. Finally, try to
enter an invalid entry and verify the Error alert.
Type 6 in the cell and press Enter. The Error message that
you have set for the cell will be displayed.
You have successfully set the Data Validation for the cell.
 Set valid criteria for the Probability Column.

 Apply the Data Validation criteria to the cells E6 -
E15 in the Probability column (i.e. same range as
that of Risk Category column).

Validation for the column Probability is complete.
SET VALIDATION VALUES FOR IMPACT

To set the validation values for Impact, repeat the same
steps that you used for setting validation values for
probability.
Apply the Data Validation criteria to the cells F6 - F15 in

the Impact column (i.e. same range as that of Risk Category
column).

Validation for the column Impact is complete.
SET THE COLUMN RISK EXPOSURE WITH CALCULATED

VALUES
Risk Exposure is calculated as a product of Risk Probability

and Risk Impact.
Risk Exposure = Probability * Impact
Type =E6*F6 in cell G6 and press Enter.
0 will be displayed in the cell G6 as E6 and F6 are empty.
Copy the formula in the cells G6 – G15. 0 will be displayed

in the cells G6 - G15.
As the Risk Exposure column is meant for calculated values,
you should not allow data entry in that column.
 Select cells G6-G15

 Right-click and in the dropdown list that appears,
select Format Cells. The Format Cells dialog box
appears.
 Click the Protection tab.
 Check the option Locked.
This is to ensure that data entry is not allowed in those cells.
However, this will come into effect only when the
worksheet is protected, which you will do as the last step
after the worksheet is ready.
 Click OK.
 Shade the cells G6-G15 to indicate they are
calculated values.
FORMAT SERIAL NUMBER VALUES

You can leave it to the user to fill in the S. No. Column.
However, if you format the S. No. values, the worksheet
looks more presentable. In addition, it shows for how many
rows the worksheet is formatted.
Type =row()-5 in the cell B6 and press Enter.

1 will appear in cell B6. Copy the formula in the cells B6-
B15. Values 1-10 appear.
Shade the cells B6-B15.
WRAP-UP
You are almost done with your project.
 Hide Column M that contains Data Category values.

 Format Borders for the cells B6-K16.
 Right-click on the worksheet tab.
 Select Protect Sheet from the menu.
The Protect Sheet dialog box appears.
 Check the option Protect worksheet and contents of

locked cells.
 Type in a password under Password to unprotect
sheet −
o Password is case sensitive
o Protected sheet cannot be recovered if
password is forgotten
o It is a good practice to keep a list of
worksheet names and passwords somewhere
 Under Allow all users of this worksheet to: check the
box Select unlocked cells.
You have protected the locked cells in the column Risk
Exposure from data entry and kept the rest of the unlocked
cells editable. Click OK.
The Confirm Password dialog box appears.

 Re-enter the password.
 Click OK.
Your worksheet with Data Validation set for selected cells is

ready to use.
Excel Data Financial
Analysis
You can perform financial analysis with Excel in an easy
way. Excel provides you several financial functions such as
PMT, PV, NPV, XNPV, IRR, MIRR, XIRR, and so on that
enable you to quickly arrive at the financial analysis results.
In this chapter, you will learn where and how you can use
these functions for your analysis.
WHAT IS ANNUITY ?
An annuity is a series of constant cash payments made over

a continuous period. For example, savings for retirement,
insurance payments, home loan, mortgage, etc. In annuity
functions −
 A positive number represents cash received.

 A negative number represents cash paid out.
PRESENT VALUE OF A SERIES OF FUTURE

PAYMENTS
The present value is the total amount that a series of future
payments is worth now. You can calculate the present value
using the Excel functions −
 PV − Calculates the present value of an investment

by using an interest rate and a series of future
payments (negative values) and income (positive
values). At least one of the cash flows must be
positive and at least one must be negative.
 NPV − Calculates the net present value of an
investment by using a discount rate and a series of
periodic future payments (negative values) and
income (positive values).
 XNPV − Calculates the net present value for a
schedule of cash flows that is not necessarily
periodic.
Note that −
 PV cash flows must be constant whereas NPV cash

flows can be variable.
 PV cash flows can be either at the beginning or at the
end of the period whereas NPV cash flows must be
at the end of the period.
 NPV cash flows must be periodic whereas XNPV
cash flows need not be periodic.
In this section, you will understand how to work with PV.

You will learn about NPV in a later section.
EXAMPLE
Suppose you are buying a refrigerator. The salesperson tells

you that the price of the refrigerator is 32000, but you have
an option to pay out the amount in 8 years with an interest
rate of 13% per annum and yearly payments of 6000. You
also have an option to make the payments either at the
beginning or end of each year.
You want to know which of these options is beneficial for

you.
You can use Excel function PV −
PV (rate, nper, pmt, [fv ], [type])
To calculate present value with payments at the end of each

year, omit type or specify 0 for type.
To calculate present value with payments at the end of each

year, specify 1 for type.

Therefore,
 If you make the payment now, you need to pay

32,000 of present value.
 If you opt for yearly payments with payment at the
end of the year, you need to pay 28, 793 of present
value.
 If you opt for yearly payments with payment at the
end of the year, you need to pay 32,536 of present
value.
You can clearly see that option 2 is beneficial for you.

WHAT IS EMI?
An Equated Monthly Installment (EMI) is defined by
Investopedia as "A fixed payment amount made by a
borrower to a lender at a specified date each calendar month.
Equated monthly installments are used to pay off both
interest and principal each month, so that over a specified
number of years, the loan is paid off in full."
EMI ON A LOAN
In Excel, you can calculate the EMI on a loan with the PMT
function.
Suppose, you want to take a home loan of 5000000 with an

annual interest rate of 11.5% and the term of the loan for 25
years. You can find your EMI as follows −
 Calculate interest rate per month (Interest Rate per

Annum/12)
 Calculate number of monthly payments (No. of years
* 12)
 Use PMT function to calculate EMI
As you observe,
 Present Value (PV) is the loan amount.

 Future Value (FV) is 0 as at the end of the term the
loan amount should be 0.
 Type is 1 as the EMIs are paid at the beginning of
each month.

MONTHLY PAYMENT OF PRINCIPAL AND
INTEREST ON A LOAN
EMI includes both-interest and a part payment of principal.
As the time increases, these two components of EMI will
vary, reducing the balance.
To get
 The interest part of your monthly payments, you can

use the Excel IPMT function.
 The payment of principal part of your monthly
payments, you can use the Excel PPMT function.
For example, if you have taken a loan of 1,000,000 for a

term of 8 months at the rate of 16% per annum. You can get
values for the EMI, the decreasing interest amounts, the
increasing payment of principal amounts and the
diminishing loan balance over the 8 months. At the end of 8
months, loan balance will be 0.
Follow the procedure given below.
Step 1 − Calculate the EMI as follows.
This results in an EMI of Rs. 13261.59.

Step 2 − Next calculate the interest and principal parts of the
EMI for the 8 months as shown below.
You will get the following results.
INTEREST AND PRINCIPAL PAID BETWEEN TWO PERIODS
You can compute the interest and principal paid between

two periods, inclusive.
 Compute the cumulative interest paid between

2nd and 3rd months using the CUMIPMT function.
 Verify the result summing up the interest values for
2nd and 3rd months.
 Compute the cumulative principal paid between
2nd and 3rd months using the CUMPRINC function.
 Verify the result summing up the principal values for
2nd and 3rd months.
You will get the following results.

You can see that your calculations match with your
verification results.
CALCULATING INTEREST RATE

Suppose you take a loan of 100,000 and you want to pay
back in 15 months with a maximum monthly payment of
12000. You might want to know the interest rate at which
you have to pay.
Find the interest rate with the Excel RATE function −

You will get the result as 8%.
CALCULATING TERM OF LOAN

Suppose you take a loan of 100,000 at the interest rate 10%.
You want a maximum monthly payment of 15,000. You
might want to know how long it will take for you to clear
the loan.
Find the number of payments with Excel NPER function

You will get the result as 12 months.
DECISIONS ON INVESTMENTS
When you want to make an investment, you compare the
different options and choose the one that yields better
returns. Net present value is useful in comparing cash flows
over a period of time and deciding which one is better. The
cash flows can occur at regular, periodical intervals or at
irregular intervals.
First, we consider the case of regular, periodical cash

flows.
The net present value of a sequence of cash flows received
at different points in time in n years from now (n can be a
fraction) is 1/(1 + r)n, where r is the annual interest rate.
Consider the following two investments over a period of 3

years.
At face value, Investment 1 looks better than Investment 2.

However, you can decide on which investment is better only
when you know the true worth of the investment as of today.
You can use the NPV function to calculate the returns.
The cash flows can occur
 At the end of every year.

 At the beginning of every year.
 In the middle of every year.
NPV function assumes that the cash flows are at the end of
the year. If the cash flows occur at different times then you
have to take into account that particular factor along with
the calculation with NPV.
Suppose the cash flows occur at the end of the year. Then
you can straight away use the NPV function.
As you observe NPV for Investment 2 is higher than that for

Investment 1. Hence, Investment 2 is a better choice. You
got this result as cash out flows for Investment 2 are at later
periods as compared to that of Investment 1.
CASH FLOWS AT THE BEGINNING OF THE
YEAR
Suppose the cash flows occur at the beginning of every year.
In such a case, you should not include the first cash flow in
NPV calculation as it already represents the current value.
You need to add the first cash flow to the NPV obtained
from rest of the cash flows to get the net present value.

CASH FLOWS IN THE MIDDLE OF THE YEAR
Suppose the cash flows occur in the middle of every year. In
such a case, you need to multiply the NPV obtained from
the cash flows by $\sqrt{1+r}$ to get the net present value.
CASH FLOWS AT IRREGULAR INTERVALS
If you want to calculate the net present value with irregular
cash flows, i.e. cash flows occurring at random times, the
calculation is a bit complex.
However, in Excel, you can easily do such a calculation

with XNPV function.
 Arrange your data with the dates and the cash flows.
Note − The first date in your data should be the earliest of

all the dates. The other dates can occur in any order.
 Use the XNPV function to calculate the net present

value.
Suppose today’s date is 15th March, 2015. As you observe,
all the dates of cash flows are of later dates. If you want to
find the net present value as of today, include it in the data
at the top and specify 0 for the cash flow.
INTERNAL RATE OF RETURN (IRR)
Internal Rate of Return (IRR) of an investment is the rate of
interest at which NPV is 0. It is the rate value for which the
present values of the positive cash flows exactly compensate
the negative ones. When the discount rate is the IRR, the
investment is perfectly indifferent, i.e. the investor is neither
gaining nor losing money.
Consider the following cash flows, different interest rates
and the corresponding NPV values.
As you can observe between the values of interest rate 10%

and 11%, the sign of NPV changes. When you fine-tune the
interest rate to 10.53%, NPV is nearly 0. Hence, IRR is
10.53%.
DETERMINING IRR OF CASH FLOWS FOR A

PROJECT
You can calculate IRR of cash flows with Excel function
IRR.
The IRR is 10.53% as you had seen in the previous section.
For the given cash flows, IRR may −
 exist and unique

 exist and multiple
 not exist
UNIQUE IRR
If IRR exists and is unique, it can be used to choose the best
investment among several possibilities.
 If the first cash flow is negative, it means the

investor has the money and wants to invest. Then,
the higher the IRR the better, since it represents the
interest rate the investor is receiving.
 If the first cash flow is positive, it means the investor
needs money and is looking for a loan, the lower the
IRR the better since it represents the interest rate the
investor is paying.
To find if an IRR is unique or not, vary the guess value and
calculate IRR. If IRR remains constant then it is unique.
As you observe, the IRR has a unique value for the different
guess values.
MULTIPLE IRRS
In certain cases, you may have multiple IRRs. Consider the
following cash flows. Calculate IRR with different guess
values.
You can observe that there are two IRRs - -9.59% and
216.09%. You can verify these two IRRs calculating NPV.
For both -9.59% and 216.09%, NPV is 0.
NO IRRS
In certain cases, you may not have IRR. Consider the
following cash flows. Calculate IRR with different guess
values.
You will get the result as #NUM for all the guess values.
The result #NUM means that there is no IRR for the cash
flows considered.
CASH FLOWS PATTERNS AND IRR

If there is only one sign change in the cash flows, such as
from negative to positive or positive to negative, then a
unique IRR is guaranteed. For example, in capital
investments, the first cash flow will be negative, while the
rest of the cash flows will be positive. In such cases, unique
IRR exists.
If there is more than one sign change in the cash flows, IRR
may not exist. Even if it exists, it may not be unique.
DECISIONS BASED ON IRRS

Many analysts prefer to use IRR and it is a popular
profitability measure because, as a percentage, it is easy to
understand and easy to compare to the required return.
However, there are certain problems while making decisions
with IRR. If you rank with IRRs and make decisions based
on these ranks, you may end up with wrong decisions.
You have already seen that NPV will enable you to make
financial decisions. However, IRR and NPV will not always
lead to the same decision when projects are mutually
exclusive.
Mutually exclusive projects are those for which the

selection of one project precludes the acceptance of another.
When projects that are being compared are mutually
exclusive, a ranking conflict may arise between NPV and
IRR. If you have to choose between project A and project B,
NPV may suggest acceptance of project A whereas IRR may
suggest project B.
This type of conflict between NPV and IRR may arise

because of one of the following reasons −
 The projects are of greatly different sizes, or

 The timing of the cash flows are different.
PROJECTS OF SIGNIFICANT SIZE DIFFERENCE

If you want to make a decision by IRR, project A yields a
return of 100 and Project B a return of 50. Hence,
investment on project A looks profitable. However, this is a
wrong decision because of the difference in the scale of
projects.
Consider −
 You have 1000 to invest.

 If you invest entire 1000 on project A, you get a
return of 100.
 If you invest 100 on project B, you will still have
900 in your hand that you can invest on another
project, say project C. Suppose you get a return of
20% on project C, then the total return on project B
and project C is 230, which is way ahead in
profitability.
Thus, NPV is a better way for decision making in such

cases.
PROJECTS WITH DIFFERENT CASH FLOWS TIMINGS

Again, if you consider IRR to decide, project B would be the
choice. However, project A has a higher NPV and is an ideal
choice.
IRR OF IRREGULARLY SPACED CASH FLOWS

(XIRR)
Your cash flows may sometimes be irregularly spaced. In
such a case, you cannot use IRR as IRR requires equally
spaced time intervals. You can use XIRR instead, which
takes into account the dates of the cash flows along with the
cash flows.
The Internal Rate of Return that results in is 26.42%.
MODIFIED IRR (MIRR)

Consider a case when your finance rate is different from
your reinvestment rate. If you calculate Internal Rate of
Return with IRR, it assumes same rate for both finance and
reinvestment. Further, you might also get multiple IRRs.
For example, consider the cash flows given below −

As you observe, NPV is 0 more than once, resulting in
multiple IRRs. Further, reinvestment rate is not taken into
account. In such cases, you can use modified IRR (MIRR).
You will get a result of 7% as shown below −
Note − Unlike IRR, MIRR will always be unique.
Working with Multiple

Sheets
In certain situations, you might have to
 Set up workbooks in which several worksheets have

a similar format or structure.
 Get information for these worksheets from another
worksheet.
 Summarize the results from these worksheets into a
summary worksheet.
For example, you might have to track sales information

region wise and month wise in separate worksheets. The
price of each product is taken from the product catalog that
is set up across the company in a separate worksheet.
Finally, you have to summarize the results across all the
regions into a summary sheet.
In this chapter, you will learn how you can accomplish this
in easy steps. You are going to summarize results from April
2015 to March 2016, i.e. financial year 2015-16.
THE FIRST STEP
The first step is to set up a product catalog. Follow the steps

given below −
 Start with a blank workbook.

 Set up product catalog worksheet with products and
prices.
 Name the worksheet Product Catalog.
 Assume the catalog is revised on the first of every
month.
 Provide a place holder for last updated on.
The price of a product at selling time is determined by the
current cost of the product.
MULTIPLE WORKSHEETS WITH SAME

STRUCTURE
Next, you have to set up worksheets for the Regions – East,
North, South, and West, in that order with same structure.
 Add 4 blank worksheets.

 Name the worksheets East, North, South and West.
These four worksheets should have the same structure.
 Click the tab East. The East worksheet opens.

 Press the shift key and click on the tab West. All the
4 tabs will be selected.
Now, whatever editing you do in the East worksheet will get

automatically reflected in the other three selected
worksheets.
In the East worksheet,
 Add the column headers – S. No., Month, Product,

Price, No. of Units, Total Amount.
 Add the S. No., Month April and the 4 Product
Names.
 Format the Table.
The same structure appears in the other worksheets North,

South and West.
CREATING A FORMULA ACROSS MULTIPLE

WORKSHEETS
To create a formula across multiple worksheets −
 Define names for the price values of the products in

the product catalog worksheet.
 Set the Scope as Workbook for all the names.
 Once again select all the four worksheets – East,
North, South and West.
 In the East worksheet, for each product, in the price
column, give the formula as the Price Value Name.
As we defined earlier, the price of a product is as per the

product catalog that is updated on the first of every month.
 Repeat the same steps for each Month

Therefore, for the worksheets for the regions East, North,
South, and West, you have successfully set the same
structure and placed the price information for each product
based on the month from product catalog worksheet.
The Product Catalog can be in another Workbook too.
CALCULATIONS IN THE WORKSHEETS
The next step is to fill in the information of No. of Units

sold for each Product in each Month and in each Region.
Therefore, you need to work separately on these worksheets.
For each region, for each product −
 Fill No. of Units sold.

 Calculate the corresponding Total Amount as
Price*No. of Units.
In each worksheet (East, North, South and West), calculate

subtotals month-wise −
Note − You can use Subtotal on a single worksheet but not
on multiple worksheets. Hence, you have to repeat this step
for North, South and West worksheets.
Click the Outline Level 2. You will get all month-wise

Totals.
Now, you are ready to summarize the results from all the
four worksheets – East, North, South and West.
SUMMARIZING DATA IN MULTIPLE

WORKSHEETS
The following steps will show you how to summarize data
from multiple worksheets.
 Add a worksheet and name it Summary.

 Create the structure for Summary worksheet.
In the column- Total Sales, in the cell C3, type =sum(
 Select the worksheet East.
 Select the cell G7.
 With East tab pressed, click the tab West.
 The tabs East to West get selected.
 The formula in the formula bar appears as
=sum(‘East:West’!G7)
Note that you are still in the East worksheet. Press Enter.
You will be in the Summary worksheet. In the formula bar,

you will see the formula as
=SUM(East:West!G7)
The calculated value appears in the cell C3.

 Copy the formula to the cells C4 to C14.
 Click Show Formulas in the Formula Auditing group
under the FORMULAS tab.
All the formulas in the column Total Sales appear.

This is exactly how you wanted to summarize the results
from each region.
 Click in the cell C15.

 Type =sum(C3:C14)
Your summarized results are ready in the Summary
worksheet.
Formula Auditing
You might want to check formulas for accuracy or find the
source of an error. Excel Formula Auditing commands
provide you an easy way to find
 Which cells are contributing in the calculation of a

formula in the active cell.
 Which formulas are referring to the active cell.
These findings are shown graphically by arrow lines that

makes the visualization easy. You can display all the
formulas in the active worksheet with a single command. If
your formulas refer to cells in a different workbook, open
that workbook also. Excel cannot go to a cell in a workbook
that is not open.
SETTING THE DISPLAY OPTIONS

You need to check whether the display options for the
workbooks you are using are correctly set.
 Click FILE > Options.

 In the Excel Options dialog box, click Advanced.
 In Display options for the workbook −
o Select the workbook.
o Check that under For objects, show, All is
selected.
 Repeat this step for all the workbooks you are
auditing.
TRACING PRECEDENTS
Precedent cells are those cells that are referred to by a
formula in the active cell.
In the following example, the active cell is C2. In C2, you

have the formula =B2*C4.
B2 and C4 are precedent cells for C2.

To trace the precedents of the cell C2,

 Click Trace Precedents in the Formula Auditing
group.
Two arrows, one from B2 to C2 and another from C4 to C2

will be displayed, tracing the precedents.
Note that for tracing precedents of a cell, the cell should
have a formula with valid references. Otherwise, you will
get an error message.
 Click in a cell that does not contain a formula or

click in an empty cell.
 Click Trace Precedents in the Formula Auditing
group.
You will get a message.
REMOVING ARROWS
Click Remove Arrows in the Formula Auditing group.

All the arrows in the worksheet will disappear.
TRACING DEPENDENTS
Dependent cells contain formulas that refer to other cells.
That means, if the active cell contributes to a formula in
another cell, the other cell is a dependent cell on the active
cell.
In the example below, C2 has the formula =B2*C4.

Therefore, C2 is a dependent cell on the cells B2 and C4
To trace the dependents of the cell B2,
 Click in the cell B2.

 Click Trace Dependents in the Formula Auditing
group.
An arrow appears from B2 to C2, showing C2 is dependent

on B2.
To trace the dependents of the cell C4 −

 Click the Formula tab > Trace Dependents in the
Formula Auditing group.
Another arrow appears from C4 to C2, showing C2 is

dependent on C4 also.
Click Remove Arrows in the Formula Auditing group. All

the arrows in the worksheet will disappear.
Note − For tracing dependents of a cell, the cell should be

referenced by a formula in another cell. Otherwise, you will
get an error message.
 Click in the cell B6 is not referenced by any formula

or click in any empty cell.
 Click Trace Dependents in the Formula Auditing
group. You will get a message.
WORKING WITH FORMULAE
You have understood the concept of Precedents and

Dependents. Now, consider a worksheet with several
formulae.
 Click in a cell under Pass Category in Exam Results

table.
 Click Trace Precedents. The cell to its left (Marks)
and the range E4:F8 will be mapped as the
precedents.
 Repeat for all the cells under Pass Category in Exam
Results table.
 Click in a cell under Pass Category in Student

Grades table.
 Click Trace Dependents. All the cells under Pass
Category in Exam Results table will be mapped as
the dependents.
SHOWING FORMULAS
The worksheet below contains the summary of sales by the
salespersons in the regions East, North, South, and West.
 Click the FORMULAS tab on the Ribbon.
 Click Show Formulas in the Formula Auditing
group. The Formulas in the worksheet will appear,
so that you will know which cells contain formulas
and what the formulas are.
 Click in a cell under TotalSales.

 Click Trace Precedents. A worksheet icon appears at
the end of the arrow. The worksheet icon indicates
that the precedents are in a different worksheet.
Double-click on the arrow. A Go TO dialog box appears,

showing the precedents.
As you observe, there are four precedents, on four different

worksheets.
 Click a reference of one of the precedents.
 The reference appears in the Reference box.
 Click OK. The worksheet containing that precedent
appears.
EVALUATING A FORMULA
To find how a complex formula in a cell works step by step,
you can use Evaluate Formula command.
Consider the formula NPV (Middle Year) in the cell C14.

The formula is
=SQRT (1 + C2)*C10

 Click Evaluate Formula in the Formula Auditing
group. The Evaluate Formula dialog box appears.
In the Evaluate Formula dialog box, the formula is
displayed in the box under Evaluation. By clicking
the Evaluate button several times, the formula gets
evaluated step-wise. The expression with an underline will
always be executed next.
Here, C2 is underlined in the formula. So, it is evaluated in

the next step. Click Evaluate.
Cell C2 has value 0.2. Hence, C2 will be evaluated as
0.2. 1+0.2 is underlined showing it as the next step.
Click Evaluate.
1+0.2 will be evaluated as 1.2. SQRT(1.2) is underlined

showing it as next step. Click Evaluate.
SQRT(1.2) will be evaluated as 1.09544511501033. C10 is

underlined showing it as next step. Click Evaluate.
C10 will be evaluated as 4976.8518518515.
1.09544511501033*4976.8518518515 is underlined
showing it as next step. Click Evaluate.
1.09544511501033*4976.8518518515 will be evaluated as

5,451.87.
There are no more expressions to evaluate and this is the
answer. The Evaluate button will be changed
to Restart button, indicating completion of evaluation.
ERROR CHECKING
It is a good practice to do an error check once your
worksheet and/or workbook is ready with calculations.
Consider the following simple calculations.
The calculation in the cell has resulted in the error #DIV/0!.

 Click the arrow next to Error Checking in the
Formula Auditing group. In the drop-down list, you
will find that Circular References is deactivated,
indicating that your worksheet has no circular
references.
 Select Trace Error from the drop-down list.
The cells needed to compute the active cell are indicated by
blue arrows.
 Click Remove Arrows.

 Click the arrow next to Error Checking.
 Select Error Checking from the drop-down list.
The Error Checking dialog box appears.
Observe the following −
 If you click Help on this error, Excel help on the

error will be displayed.
 If you click Show Calculation Steps, Evaluate
Formula dialog box appears.
 If you click Ignore Error, the Error Checking dialog
box closes and if you click Error
Checking command again, it ignores this error.
 If you click Edit in Formula Bar, you will be taken
to the formula in the formula bar, so that you can
edit the formula in the cell.
Inquire
You can use Inquire to −
 Compare two workbooks.

 Analyze a workbook for problems or inconsistencies.
 View the links between workbooks.
 View the links between worksheets.
 View the relationships between cells.
 Clean excess cell formatting.
 Manage passwords.
The INQUIRE tab will be on the Ribbon. If you find the

INQUIRE tab on the Ribbon, you can skip to the next
section.
If you do not find the INQUIRE tab on the Ribbon, make

the Inquire Add-in active.
 Click File > Options.

 In Excel Options window, click on Add-Ins.
 In Manage box, click on COM Add-ins.
 Click Go.
COM Add-Ins dialog box appears.
 Check the Inquire box.

 Click OK. Now, Inquire Add-In is active. You will
find the INQUIRE tab on the Ribbon.
INQUIRE COMMANDS
Let us learn about the INQUIRE commands.
Click the INQUIRE tab. You will find the following

commands −
 Workbook Analysis
 Workbook Relationship
 Worksheet Relationship
 Cell Relationship
 Compare Files
 Clean Excess Cell Formatting
 Workbook Passwords
COMPARING TWO WORKBOOKS

You can compare two workbooks cell by cell and find the
differences, if any, in terms of changes in the second
workbook as compared to the first.
Follow the below given steps −
 Open two workbooks that you want to compare.

 Click on INQUIRE tab on the Ribbon.
 Click on Compare Files in the Compare group.
 The Select Files To Compare dialog box appears.
 Check the file names displayed in the boxes next
to Compare and To.
 If any File name that is displayed is not the one you

wanted, click the down-arrow next to that File name.
 Only the workbooks that are open will be displayed.

 Select the File.
 Check if the order of Files in Compare and To is
OK.
 If the order is not OK, click Swap Files. The order

of Files in Compare and To gets changed.
 Click Compare.
The results of the comparison appear in a two-pane grid −
 The workbook on the left corresponds to the

"Compare" file you have chosen.
 The workbook on the right corresponds to the "To"
file you have chosen.
Details of changes in workbook-To as compared to

Workbook-Compare appear in a pane below these two grids.
The changes are highlighted by color, depending on the kind
of change. The legend for the highlight colors appears in the
lower-left pane.
Click Resize Cells to Fit on the Ribbon to view the cell

contents in the Compare and To workbooks. The cells in
both the workbooks are resized so that the contents are
visible.
Click the Export Results in the Export group on the Ribbon.
The Save As dialog box appears. You can save the results to
an Excel workbook. Note that only .xlsx file type is
available.
If you need the results in another application, you can do it
by copying it to Clipboard.
Click Copy Results to Clipboard in the Export group on the

Ribbon.
Paste in an application you want.
CREATING AN INTERACTIVE REPORT

You can use the Workbook Analysis command to create an
interactive report that can show detailed information about
the workbook and its Structure, Formulas, Cells, Ranges and
Warnings.
 Click the Inquire tab on the Ribbon.

 Click Workbook Analysis in the Report group.
The report will be displayed after the Workbook Analysis is

completed.
The Report has the following six categories −
 Summary − General information about the structure

and content of the workbook.
 Workbook (with subcategories) − General
workbook statistics.
 Formulas (with subcategories) − Specific
information about formulae in the workbook.
 Cells (with subcategories) − Specific information
about cells in the workbook.
 Ranges (with subcategories) − Specific information
about ranges in the workbook.
 Warnings − Several types of warnings about
workbook structure and content.
Selecting a category gives you more information about that
category.
Check the Formulas option. The sub-categories of formulas

will be displayed.
You will observe the following in the workbook that you are
analyzing −
 All formulas are 224 in number.

 With numeric values, they are 224 in number.
 Click Sub-Category With numeric values.
In the Results pane, for each of the cells with formula with
numeric values, worksheet name, cell address and formula
are displayed.
Click the Excel Export button. The Save As dialog box
appears.
 Save the Report as an Excel file.

 Load Export File button appears next to Excel
Export button.
 Click on Load Export File button.
The saved Report Excel workbook opens and you can

clearly view the workbook analysis results.
VIEWING WITH DIAGRAMS
You can view workbook relationships, worksheet
relationships and cell relationships with interactive diagrams
created by links. The links show the dependencies between
the nodes in the diagram. You can drag the links or nodes to
arrange them and align them to view whatever you are
looking for.
VIEWING WORKBOOK RELATIONSHIPS

You can have an interactive, graphical map of workbook
dependencies created by connections (links) between files
using workbook relationship diagram.
The types of links in the diagram can include other

workbooks, Access databases, text files, HTML pages, SQL
Server databases and other data sources.
 Click the INQUIRE tab on the Ribbon.

 Click Workbook Relationship in the Diagram group.
The Workbook Relationship Diagram appears, showing
links of the workbook with different Data Sources.
VIEWING WORKSHEET RELATIONSHIPS

You can use Worksheet Relationship Diagram to create an
interactive, graphical map of connections (links) between
worksheets in the same workbook and /or worksheets in
other workbooks.

 Click Worksheet Relationship in the Diagram group.
The Worksheet Relationship Diagram appears, showing
links between the worksheets in the same workbook, and in
other workbooks.
The difference between these two can be identified by the

direction of the arrows.
VIEWING CELL RELATIONSHIPS
You can use the Cell Relationship Diagram to get a detailed,
interactive map of all links from a selected cell to cells in
other worksheets or even other workbooks.

 Click Cell Relationship in the Diagram group.
The Cell Relationship Diagram Options dialog box appears.
 Check Span sheets and Span workbooks.

 Select Trace both under Trace cell precedents and
Trace cell dependents.
 Under Initial number of expansion levels,
select limited and type 5 in the box next to it.
 Click OK.
The Cell Relationship Diagram appears, showing links
between the selected cell and the cells in the same
worksheet, same workbook and in other workbooks, based
on the options you have chosen.
Click Zoom. You can view the nodes clearly.
CLEANING EXCESS CELL FORMATTING

When you find that a workbook is getting loaded slowly, or
has become huge in size, it might have formatting applied to
rows and/or columns that is not needed (for example,
conditional formatting an entire column that has less than 15
values).
You can use the Clean Excess Cell Formatting command to

remove excess formatting and greatly reduce the file size.
This also results in improving Excel's speed.
Before cleaning the excess cell formatting, create a backup

copy of your Excel file because there are certain cases
where this process may increase your file size, and there is
no way to undo the change.

 Click Clean Excess Cell Formatting in the
Miscellaneous group.
The Clean Excess Cell Formatting dialog box appears.

Choose All Sheets in the Apply to box
You will get a message about saving changes. Click OK.
MANAGING PASSWORDS OF FILES

If you are using Workbook Analysis or Compare Files
commands for workbooks that are password protected, you
can avoid having to type the password each time those files
are opened. This is possible with using Password Manager.
 Click Workbook Passwords in the Miscellaneous
group.
The Password Manager Dialog box appears. Click the Add

button to add passwords of your workbooks.
Add password descriptions also, for the passwords you
added.
Next time when you need to use any of these files for
comparing or analyzing, you do not have to key in the
passwords.
Advanced Data Analysis -

Overview
Excel provides several commands, functions and tools that
make your complex data analysis tasks easy. Excel lets you
perform various complex calculations with ease. In this
tutorial, you will understand the versatile data analysis tools
of Excel. You will understand data analysis with relevant
examples, step by step instructions and screen shots at every
step.
DATA CONSOLIDATION
You might have to consolidate the data from various sources

and present a report. The data could be in the worksheets of
the same workbook or in different workbooks. With Excel
data tool Consolidate, you can perform this in a few easy
steps.
WHAT-IF ANALYSIS
What-If Analysis provides you tools to handle the following
data analysis situations −
 Find the input values that result in a specified value.

The result could be set up as a formula with the input
values as variables. By varying the values of the
input variables, Excel provides the solution with the
Goal Seek Tool.
 Find the possible output values by varying the values
of one or two variables. The result could be set up as
a formula with one or two input values as variables.
By varying the values for the input variables, Excel
provides the solution with the Data Table Tool.
 Find the possible output values that are a result of
varying the values of more than two variables. The
result could be set up as a formula with the input
values as variables. By varying the values for the
input variables, Excel provides the solution with the
Scenario Manager Tool.
OPTIMIZING WITH EXCEL SOLVER ADD-IN
Solver is used to handle complex goal seek situations. In

such cases, in addition to the inputs and outputs, there will
be defined constraints or limits imposed on the possible
input values. Further, Solver is used to result in an optimal
solution.
Excel has a Solver Add-in that helps you solve such

complex problems.
IMPORTING DATA INTO EXCEL

Your data analysis might depend on various external data
sources. In Excel, you can import data from different data
sources, such as Microsoft Access Database, Web Pages,
Text Files, SQL Server Table, SQL Server Analysis Cube,
XML File, etc.
You can import any number of data tables simultaneously

from a database. When you are importing multiple tables
from a relational database such as Access, the existing
relationships among the tables will be retained in Excel also.
While importing the data, you can also optionally create a
PivotTable or PivotChart or Power View report based on
that data.
You can just create a data connection with a data source, or

import the data into Excel. If you import the data into Excel,
the data tables are added to the Data Model in Excel.
DATA MODEL
Data Model in Excel is used to integrate data from multiple
tables in the current workbook and / or from the imported
data and / or from the data sources connected to the
workbook through data connections. Data model is used
transparently in PivotTable, PivotChart, PowerPivot and
Power View reports.
 You can create a Data Model while importing data,

or from the Excel tables in the workbook.
 The data tables in the Data Model can be viewed
either in Data View or Diagram View.
 With a Data Model, you can create relationships
among the data tables.
 You can either use the Create Relationship command
or just click and drag and connect the fields in the
two tables that define the relationship in the diagram
view of the Data Model.
EXPLORING DATA WITH PIVOTTABLE
As you can integrate the Data Model with a PivotTable, you

can do extensive data analysis by collating, connecting,
summarizing and reporting data from several different
sources. As you can import tables from external data sources
and create a PivotTable, it is possible to have automatic
updates of the values in the PivotTable whenever the data in
the connected data sources is updated.
You can create a PivotTable with the fields from multiple

tables, provided the tables have relationships defined. If a
relationship does not exist, Excel prompts you to create one
and you can do so from the PivotTable itself. The
relationship that you so define is reflected in the Data
Model.
EXPLORING DATA WITH POWERPIVOT
You can use PowerPivot to access, analyze and report data

from various data sources. PowerPivot can help you handle
large data with ease and produce fascinating analysis
reports.
PowerPivot provides you commands to manage the Data

Model, add Excel tables to Data Model, to add calculated
fields in the Data Tables, to define KPIs, etc.
EXPLORING DATA WITH POWER VIEW
Power View provides interactive exploration, visualization

and analysis of large data. Owing to its versatile
visualization options, you can definitely find the one that
gives your data the perfect platform wherein you can
explore the data, summarize and report.
Ranging from Tables to Maps, it is just a play for you to

visualize your data, filter it, analyze it, and report it
interactively. Moreover, you can have multiple
visualizations on the same Power View sheet that reflect and
highlight values, when you click on a data point in any one
of them.
You can explore data in Power View with a table, a matrix,

a card, different chart types, multiples, maps and tiles. You
will get fascinated with the versatility of these different
views once you get hands-on experience. This is because it
is easy to produce interactive reports highlighting significant
values and dynamically switching across the views.
EXPLORING DATA WITH HIERARCHIES
If your data has hierarchies, they can be either defined in the

Data Model that is reflected in the Power View or build the
hierarchies in Power View itself.
Once a hierarchy is defined, you can drill-up and drill-down

the hierarchy, displaying the required data.
AESTHETIC POWER VIEW REPORTS

You can arrive at a report layout based on what you want to
present in Power View. You can add a background image
that reflects your company logo or your corporate view.
Optionally, you can format the background of the report to
give it an elegant look.
You can select a theme for your report that best portrays
your data. You can change the font and text size so that your
report becomes easily readable.
KEY PERFORMANCE INDICATORS (KPIS)
Key Performance Indicators are commonly used to gauge

the performance. In Excel, you define and portray KPIs in
PowerPivot or Power View. The graphical presentation of
KPIs will uplift your reports.

Data Consolidation
You might have come across different situations wherein
you have to present consolidated data. The source of the
data could be from one place, or several places. Another
challenge could be that the data might be updated by other
people from time to time.
You need to know how you can set up a summary worksheet

that consolidates the data from the sources that you set up,
whenever you want. In Excel, you can easily perform this
task in a few steps with the Data Tool – Consolidate.
PREPARING DATA FOR CONSOLIDATION

Before you begin consolidating the data, make sure that
there is consistency across the data sources. This means that
the data is arranged as follows −
 Each range of data is on a separate worksheet.

 Each range of data is in list format, with labels in the
first row.
 Additionally, you can have labels for the categories,
if applicable, in the first column.
 All the ranges of data have the same layout.
 All the ranges of data contain similar facts.
 There are no blank rows or columns within each
range.
In case the data sources are external, ensure usage of a

predefined layout in the form of an Excel template.
Suppose you have the sales data of various commodities

from each of the regions – East, North, South, and West.
You might need to consolidate this data and present a
product wise summary of sales from time to time.
Preparation includes the following −
 One worksheet per region – i.e. four worksheets with

names East, North, South, and West. These could be
in the same workbook or different workbooks.
 Each worksheet has same layout, representing the
details of product, number of units, and amount.
 You need to consolidate the data product wise.
Hence, ensure that the column with the label Product
is the first column and it contains the Product labels.
CONSOLIDATING DATA IN THE SAME
WORKBOOK
If you have all the data, that you have to consolidate, in the
same workbook, proceed as follows −
Step 1 − Ensure that data of each region is on a separate

worksheet.
Step 2 − Add a new worksheet and name it Summary.
Step 3 − Click the Summary worksheet.
Step 4 − Click the cell where you want to place the

summary results.
Step 5 − Click the DATA tab on the Ribbon.
Step 6 − Click the Consolidate button in the Data

Tools group.
The Consolidate dialog box appears.
Step 7 − Select Sum from the dropdown list

under Function.
Step 8 − Select the data from each worksheet as follows.
 Click the icon in the box under Reference.

 Select the worksheet – East.
 Select the data range.
 Again, click the icon in the box under Reference.
The selected range appears in the Reference box −

Step 9 − Click the Add button to the right of the box. The
selected data range appears in the box under All
References.
Step 10 − Repeat Steps 1-5 for the rest of the data
worksheets – North, South, and West. The Consolidate
dialog box looks as follows.
You can see that the data ranges appear worksheet wise in
alphabetical order, in the box under All references.
Step 11 − Check the boxes Top row and Left

column under Use labels in. Click OK.
Your data is summarized product wise for the regions –
East, North, South and West.
You can repeat the steps given above to refresh your

summary results manually, whenever you need them.
CONSOLIDATING DATA AUTOMATICALLY

Suppose you want your summary sheet to be updated
automatically, whenever there are changes in the data. To
accomplish this, you need to have links to the source data.
Step 1 − Check the box - Create links to source data in the

Consolidate dialog box and click OK.
Your summary results appear with an outline as follows −

You will observe that a new column is inserted to the right
of the column named Product.
Step 2 − Click the + sign on the outline in the row

containing the Product value named Soap. You can see that
the new column contains the consolidated value for each set
of product values, region wise.
CONSOLIDATING DATA FROM DIFFERENT
WORKBOOKS
In the previous example, all the data that you need to
summarize is in the same workbook. However, it is likely
that the data is maintained separately for each region and is
updated region wise. In such a case, you can consolidate the
data as follows −
Step 1 − Open the workbooks containing the data, say,
workbooks – East-Sales, North-Sales, South-Sales and
West-Sales.
Step 2 − Open a new workbook.
Step 3 − On a new worksheet, click a cell where you want

the summary to appear.
Step 5 − Click Consolidate in the Data Tools box.
A Consolidate dialog box appears. In the Consolidate

dialog box −
 Select Sum from the dropdown list in the box under

Function.
 Click the icon in the box under Reference.
 Select the workbook – East-Sales.xlsx.
 Again, click the icon in the box under Reference.
 Click the Add button to the right.
The Consolidate dialog box looks as follows −

 Click the icon to the right of the box under
References.
 Select the workbook – North-Sales.xlsx.
 Again, click the icon to the right of the box under
References.
 Click Add.
Step 6 − Repeat the steps 1–6 to add the data ranges from
the workbooks – South-Sales.xlsx and West-Sales.xlsx.
Step 7 − Under Use labels in, check the following boxes.
 Top row.
 Left column.
Step 8 − Check the box Create links to source data.

Your Consolidate dialog box looks as follows −
Your data is summarized in your workbook.

What-If Analysis
What-if analysis is the process of changing the values in
cells to see how those changes will affect the outcome of
formulas on the worksheet. You can use several different
sets of values in one or more formulas to explore all the
various results.
What-if analysis is useful in many situations while doing

data analysis. For example −
 You can propose different budgets based on revenue.

 You can predict the future values based on the given
historical values.
 If you are expecting a certain value as the result from
a formula, you can find different sets of input values
that produce the desired result.
Excel provides you with the following What-if analysis

tools that can be used based on your data analysis needs −
 Data Tables
 Scenario Manager
 Goal Seek
Data Tables and Scenarios take sets of input values and

project forward to determine possible results. Goal seek
differs from Data Tables and Scenarios in that it takes a
result and projects backwards to determine possible input
values that produce that result.
In this chapter, you will understand the possible situations
where you can use the Whatif Analysis tools. For details on
usage of these tools, refer to the later chapters in this
tutorial.
DATA TABLES
A Data Table is a range of cells in which you can change
values in some of the cells and come up with different
answers to a problem. For example, you might want to know
how much loan you can afford for a home by analyzing
different loan amounts and interest rates. You can put these
different values along with the PMT function in a Data
Table and get the desired result.
A Data Table works only with one or two variables, but it

can accept many different values for those variables.
For the details on Data Tables, refer to the chapter – What-If

Analysis with Data Tables in this tutorial.
SCENARIO MANAGER
A scenario is a set of values that Excel saves and can
substitute automatically in cells on a worksheet.
The key features are −
 You can create and save different groups of values

on a worksheet and then switch to any of these new
scenarios to view different results.
 A scenario can have multiple variables, but it can
accommodate only up to 32 values.
 You can also create a scenario summary report,
which combines all the scenarios on one worksheet.
For example, you can create several different budget
scenarios that compare various possible income
levels and expenses, and then create a report that lets
you compare the scenarios side-by-side.
 Scenario Manager is a dialog box that allows you to
save the values as a scenario and name the scenario.
For the details on Scenarios, refer to the chapter – What-If

Analysis with Scenario Manager in this tutorial.
GOAL SEEK
Goal Seek is useful if you know the result that you want
from a formula, but not sure what input value the formula
needs, to get that result. For example, if you want to borrow
a loan and you know the loan amount, tenure of loan and the
EMI that you can pay, you can use Goal Seek to find the
interest rate at which you can avail the loan.
Goal Seek can be used only with one variable input value. If
you have more than one variable for input values, you can
use the Solver add-in.
For details on the usage of Goal Seek, refer to the chapter –

What-If Analysis with Goal Seek in this tutorial.
SOLVER
Solver comes with Excel as an add-in. You can use Solver
to find an optimal value for a formula in a cell called the
target cell on a worksheet.
Solver works with a group of cells that are related to the
formula in the target cell. Solver adjusts the values in the
adjustable cells that you specify, to produce the result that
you specify, from the target cell formula.
For the details on the usage of Excel Solver add-in, refer to

the chapter - Optimization with Excel Solver in this tutorial.
What-If Analysis with Data

Tables
With a Data Table in Excel, you can easily vary one or two
inputs and perform What-if analysis. A Data Table is a
range of cells in which you can change values in some of the
cells and come up with different answers to a problem.
There are two types of Data Tables −
 One-variable Data Tables

 Two-variable Data Tables
If you have more than two variables in your analysis

problem, you need to use Scenario Manager Tool of Excel.
For details, refer to the chapter – What-If Analysis with
Scenario Manager in this tutorial.
ONE-VARIABLE DATA TABLES

A one-variable Data Table can be used if you want to see
how different values of one variable in one or more
formulas will change the results of those formulas. In other
words, with a one-variable Data Table, you can determine
how changing one input changes any number of outputs.
You will understand this with the help of an example.
Example
There is a loan of 5,000,000 for a tenure of 30 years. You

want to know the monthly payments (EMI) for varied
interest rates. You also might be interested in knowing the
amount of interest and Principal that is paid in the second
year.
ANALYSIS WITH ONE-VARIABLE DATA

TABLE
Analysis with one-variable Data Table needs to be done in
three steps −
Step 1 − Set the required background.
Step 2 − Create the Data Table.
Step 3 − Perform the Analysis.
Let us understand these steps in detail −
STEP 1: SET THE REQUIRED BACKGROUND
 Assume that the interest rate is 12%.

 List all the required values.
 Name the cells containing the values, so that the
formulas will have names instead of cell references.
 Set the calculations for EMI, Cumulative Interest
and Cumulative Principal with the Excel functions –
PMT, CUMIPMT and CUMPRINC respectively.
Your worksheet should look as follows −
You can see that the cells in column C are named as given in
the corresponding cells in column D.
STEP 2: CREATE THE DATA TABLE
 Type the list of values i.e. interest rates that you

want to substitute in the input cell down the column
E as follows −
As you observe, there is an empty row above the Interest
Rate values. This row is for the formulas that you want to
use.
 Type the first function (PMT) in the cell one row

above and one cell to the right of the column of
values. Type the other functions (CUMIPMT and
CUMPRINC) in the cells to the right of the first
function.
Now, the two rows above the Interest Rate values

look as follows −
The Data Table looks as given below −
STEP 3: DO THE ANALYSIS WITH THE WHAT-IF ANALYSIS

DATA TABLE TOOL
 Select the range of cells that contains the formulas

and values that you want to substitute, i.e. select the
range – E2:H13.
 Click What-if Analysis in the Data Tools group.
 Select Data Table in the dropdown list.
Data Table dialog box appears.
 Click the icon in the Column input cell box.

 Click the cell Interest_Rate, which is C2.
You can see that the Column input cell is taken as $C$2.
Click OK.
The Data Table is filled with the calculated results for each
of the input values as shown below −
If you can pay an EMI of 54,000, you can observe that the
interest rate of 12.6% is suitable for you.
TWO-VARIABLE DATA TABLES

A two-variable Data Table can be used if you want to see
how different values of two variables in a formula will
change the results of that formula. In other words, with a
twovariable Data Table, you can determine how changing
two inputs changes a single output. You will understand this
with the help of an example.
Example
There is a loan of 50,000,000. You want to know how

different combinations of interest rates and loan tenures will
affect the monthly payment (EMI).
ANALYSIS WITH TWO-VARIABLE DATA

TABLE
Analysis with two-variable Data Table needs to be done in
three steps −
Step 1 − Set the required background.
Step 2 − Create the Data Table.
Step 3 − Perform the Analysis.
STEP 1: SET THE REQUIRED BACKGROUND
 Assume that the interest rate is 12%.

 List all the required values.
 Name the cells containing the values, so that the
formula will have names instead of cell references.
 Set the calculation for EMI with the Excel function –
PMT.
Your worksheet should look as follows −
You can see that the cells in the column C are named as
given in the corresponding cells in the column D.
STEP 2: CREATE THE DATA TABLE
 Type =EMI in cell F2.

 Type the first list of input values, i.e. interest rates
down the column F, starting with the cell below the
formula, i.e. F3.
 Type the second list of input values, i.e. number of
payments across row 2, starting with the cell to the
right of the formula, i.e. G2.
The Data Table looks as follows −
DO THE ANALYSIS WITH THE WHAT-IF ANALYSIS TOOL

DATA TABLE
 Select the range of cells that contains the formula
and the two sets of values that you want to substitute,
i.e. select the range – F2:L13.
 Select Data Table from the dropdown list.
Data Table dialog box appears.
 Click the icon in the Row input cell box.

 Click the cell NPER, which is C3.
 Again, click the icon in the Row input cell box.
 Next, click the icon in the Column input cell box.
 Click the cell Interest_Rate, which is C2.
 Again, click the icon in the Column input cell box.
You will see that the Row input cell is taken as $C$3 and
the Column input cell is taken as $C$2. Click OK.
The Data Table gets filled with the calculated results for
each combination of the two input values −
If you can pay an EMI of 54,000, the interest rate of 12.2%

and 288 EMIs are suitable for you. This means the tenure of
the loan would be 24 years.
DATA TABLE CALCULATIONS
Data Tables are recalculated each time the worksheet

containing them is recalculated, even if they have not
changed. To speed up the calculations in a worksheet that
contains a Data Table, you need to change the calculation
options to Automatically Recalculate the worksheet but not
the Data Tables, as given in the next section.
SPEEDING UP THE CALCULATIONS IN A

WORKSHEET
You can speed up the calculations in a worksheet containing
Data Tables in two ways −
 From Excel Options.

 From the Ribbon.
FROM EXCEL OPTIONS
 Click the FILE tab on the Ribbon.

 Select Options from the list in the left pane.
Excel Options dialog box appears.
 From the left pane, select Formulas.

 Select the option Automatic except for data
tables under Workbook Calculation in the
Calculation options section. Click OK.
FROM THE RIBBON

 Click the Calculation Options in the Calculations
group.
 Select Automatic Except for Data Tables in the
dropdown list.
What-If Analysis with
Scenario Manager
Scenario Manager is useful in the cases where you have
more than two variables in sensitivity analysis. Scenario
Manager creates scenarios for each set of the input values
for the variables under consideration. Scenarios help you to
explore a set of possible outcomes, supporting the following
−
 Varying as many as 32 input sets.

 Merging the scenarios from several different
worksheets or workbooks.
If you want to analyze more than 32 input sets, and the

values represent only one or two variables, you can use Data
Tables. Although it is limited to only one or two variables, a
Data Table can include as many different input values as
you want. Refer to What-If Analysis with Data Tables in
this tutorial.
SCENARIOS
A scenario is a set of values that Excel saves and can
substitute automatically on your worksheet. You can create
and save different groups of values as scenarios on a
worksheet and then switch between these scenarios to view
the different results.
For example, you can have several different budget

scenarios that compare various possible income levels and
expenses. You can also have different loan scenarios from
different sources that compare various possible interest rates
and loan tenures.
If the information that you want to use in scenarios is from

different sources, you can collect the information in separate
workbooks, and then merge the scenarios from the different
workbooks into one.
After you have all the scenarios you need, you can create a
scenario summary report −
 That incorporates information from all the scenarios.

 That lets you compare the scenarios side-by-side.
SCENARIO MANAGER
Scenario Manager is one of the What-if Analysis tools in
Excel.
To create an analysis report with Scenario Manager, you

have to follow these steps −
Step 1 − Define the set of initial values and identify the

input cells that you want to vary, called the changing cells.
Step 2 − Create each scenario, name the scenario and enter
the value for each changing input cell for that scenario.
Step 3 − Select the output cells, called the result cells that
you want to track. These cells contain formulas in the initial
set of values. The formulas use the changing input cells.
The Scenario Manager creates a report containing the input

and the output values for each scenario.
INITIAL VALUES FOR SCENARIOS

Before you create several different scenarios, you need to
define a set of initial values on which the scenarios will be
based.
The steps for setting up the initial values for Scenarios are −
 Define the cells that contain the input values.

 Name the input cells appropriately.
 Identify the input cells with constant values.
 Specify the values for the constant inputs.
 Identify the input cells with changing values.
 Specify the initial values for the changing inputs.
 Define the cells that contain the results. The result
cells contain formulas.
 Name the result cells appropriately.
 Place the formulas in the result cells.
Consider the previous example of loan. Now, proceed as

follows −
 Define a cell for Loan Amount.

o This input value is constant for all the
scenarios.
o Name the cell Loan_Amount.
o Specify the value as 5,000,000.
 Define the cells for Interest Rate, No. of payments
and Type (Payment at the beginning or end of the
month).
o These input values will be changing across
the scenarios.
o Name the cells Interest_Rate, NPER and
Type.
o Specify the initial values for the analysis in
these cells as 12%, 360 and 0 respectively.
 Define the cell for the EMI.
o This is the result value.
o Name the cell EMI.
o Place the formula in this cell as −
=PMT (Interest_Rate/12, NPER,

Loan_Amount, 0, Type)
Your worksheet looks as shown below −
As you can see that the input cells and the result cells are in
column C with the names as given in column D.
CREATING SCENARIOS
After setting up the initial values for the Scenarios, you can
create the scenarios using Scenario Manager as follows −

 Select Scenario Manager from the dropdown list.
The Scenario Manager Dialog box appears. You can observe

that it contains a message −
“No Scenarios defined. Choose Add to.”
You need to create scenarios for each set of changing values

in the Scenario Manager. It is good to have the first scenario
defined with initial values, as it enables you to switch back
to initial values whenever you want while displaying
different scenarios.
Create the first scenario with the initial values as follows −
 Click the Add button in the Scenario Manager

Dialog box.
The Add Scenario dialog box appears.
 Under Scenario Name, type Scenario 1.

 Under Changing Cells, enter the references for the
cells i.e. C3, C4 and C5 with the Ctrl key pressed.
The name of the dialog box changes to Edit Scenario.
 Edit the text in the Comment as – Initial

Values box.
 Select the option Prevent changes under Protection
and then click OK.
The Scenario Values dialog box appears. The initial values

that you have defined appear in each of the changing cells
boxes.
Scenario 1 with the initial values is created.
Create three more scenarios with varying values in the

changing cells as follows −
 Click the Add button in the Scenario Values dialog

box.
Add Scenario dialog box appears. Note that C3, C4, C5

appear in the Changing cells box.
 In the Scenario Name box, type Scenario 2.

 Edit the text in the Comment as – Different Interest
Rate.
 Select Prevent changes under Protection and click
OK.
appear in the changing cells. Change the value
of Interest_Rate to 0.13 and click Add.
The Add Scenario dialog box appears. Note that C3, C4, C5
appear in the box under changing cells.

 Edit the text in the Comment box as – Different no.
of Payments.
OK.
appear in the changing cells. Change the value of NPER to
300 and click Add.
The Add Scenario dialog box appears. Note that C3, C4, C5
appear in the Changing cells box.

 Edit the text in the Comment box as – Different
Type of Payment.
OK.
appear in the changing cells. Change the value of Type to 1.
Click OK as you have added all the scenarios that you
wanted to add.
The Scenario Manager dialog box appears. In the box
under Scenarios, You will find the names of all the scenarios
that you have created.
o Click Scenario 1. As you are aware, Scenario

1 contains the initial values.
Now, click Summary. The Scenario Summary dialog box
appears.
SCENARIO SUMMARY REPORTS

Excel provides two types of Scenario Summary reports −
 Scenario summary.
 Scenario PivotTable report.
In the Scenario Summary dialog box, you can find these two
Report types.
Select Scenario summary under Report type.
SCENARIO SUMMARY
In the Result cells box, select the cell C6 (Here, we had put
the PMT function). Click OK.
Scenario Summary report appears in a new worksheet. The

worksheet is named as Scenario Summary.
You can observe the following in the Scenario Summary

report −
 Changing Cells − Enlists all the cells used as

changing cells. As you have named the cells,
Interest_Rate, NPER and Type, these appear to make
the report meaningful. Otherwise, only cell
references will be listed.
 Result Cells − Displays the result cell specified, i.e.
EMI.
 Current Values − It is the first column and enlists
the values of that scenario which is selected in the
Scenario Manager Dialog box before creating the
summary report.
 For all the scenarios you have created, the changing
cells will be highlighted in gray.
 In the EMI row, the result values for each scenario
will be displayed.
You can make the report more meaningful by displaying the

comments that you added while creating the scenarios.
 Click the + button to the left of the row containing

the scenario names. The comments for the scenarios
appear in the row under the scenario names.
SCENARIOS FROM DIFFERENT SOURCES

Suppose you get the scenarios from three different sources
and you need to prepare the Scenario summary report in a
Master workbook. You can do this by merging the scenarios
from different workbooks into the Master workbook. Follow
the steps given below −
 Assume that the scenarios are in the workbooks,

Bank1_Scenarios, Bank2_Scenarios and
Bank3_Scenarios. Open the three workbooks.
 Open the Master workbook, in which you have the
initial values.
 Click DATA > What-if Analysis > Scenario
Manager in the Master workbook.
The Scenario Manager Dialog box appears.
As you can observe, there are no scenarios as you have not

yet added any. Click Merge.
The Merge Scenarios dialog box appears.

As you can see, under Merge scenarios from, you have two
boxes −
 Book
 Sheet
You can select specific worksheet from a specific workbook

that contains the scenarios, which you want to add to your
results. Click the drop-down arrow of Book to see the
workbooks.
Note − The corresponding workbooks should be open to

appear in this list.
Select the book – Bank1_Scenarios.
Bank1 sheet is displayed. At the bottom of the dialog box,

the number of scenarios found on source sheet is displayed.
Click OK.
The Scenario Manager dialog box appears. The two
scenarios that were merged into the Master workbook will
be listed under Scenarios.
Click the Merge button. The Merge Scenarios dialog box

appears. Now, select Bank2_Scenarios from the drop-down
list in the Book box.
Bank2 sheet is dislayed. At the bottom of the dialog box, the

number of scenarios found on source sheet are displayed.
Click OK.
The Scenario Manager Dialog box appears. The four
scenarios that were merged into the Master workbook are
listed under Scenarios.
Click the Merge button. The Merge Scenarios dialog box
appears. Now, select Bank3_Scenarios from the drop-down
list in the Book box.
Bank3 sheet is displayed. At the bottom of the dialog box,

the number of scenarios found on source sheet will be
displayed. Click OK.
The Scenario Manager Dialog box appears. The five
scenarios that were merged into the Master workbook will
be listed under Scenarios.
Now, you have all the required scenarios to produce the
Scenario summary report.
Click the Summary button. The Scenario Summary dialog

box appears.
 Select Scenario summary.

 In the Result cells box, type C6 and click OK.
The Scenario summary report appears on a new worksheet
in the Master workbook.
DISPLAYING SCENARIOS
Suppose you are presenting your scenarios and you would
like to dynamically switch from one scenario to another and
display the set of input values and result values of the
corresponding scenario.
 Click DATA > What-if Analysis > Scenario

Manager from the Data Tools group. The Scenario
Manager Dialog box appears. The list of scenarios
appear.
 Select the scenario you want to display. Click Show.
The values on the worksheet are updated to that of the
selected scenario. The result values are recalculated.
SCENARIO PIVOTTABLE REPORT

You can see the Scenario report in the form of a PivotTable
also.
 Click the Summary button in the Scenario

Manager Dialog box. The Scenario Summary dialog
box appears.
 Select the Scenario PivotTable report under Report
type.
 Type C6 in the Result cells box.
Scenario PivotTable report appears on a new worksheet.

What-If Analysis with Goal
Seek
Goal Seek is a What-If Analysis tool that helps you to find
the input value that results in a target value that you
want. Goal Seek requires a formula that uses the input value
to give result in the target value. Then, by varying the input
value in the formula, Goal Seek tries to arrive at a solution
for the input value.
Goal Seek works only with one variable input value. If you
have more than one input value to be determined, you have
to use the Solver add-in. Refer to the chapter – Optimization
with Excel Solver in this tutorial.
ANALYSIS WITH GOAL SEEK

Suppose you want to take a loan of 5,000,000 and you want
to repay in 25 years. You can pay an EMI of 50000. You
want to know at what interest rate you can borrow the loan.
You can use Goal Seek to find the interest rate at which you
can borrow the loan as follows −
Step 1 − Set up the Excel cells for Goal Seek as given

below.
Step 2 − Enter the values in column C corresponding to
column D. The cell Interest_Rate is kept empty, as you have
to retrieve that value. Further, though you know the EMI
that you can pay (50000), that value is not included as you
have to use the Excel PMT function to arrive at it. Goal
Seek requires a formula to find the result. The PMT function
is placed in the cell EMI so that it can be used by Goal Seek.
Excel computes the EMI with the PMT function. The table
now looks like −
As the Interest_Rate cell is empty, Excel takes that value as

0 and calculates the EMI. You can ignore the result -
13,888.89.
Perform the Analysis with Goal Seek as follows −
Step 1 − Go to DATA > What If Analysis > Goal Seek on

the Ribbon.
The Goal Seek dialog box appears.
Step 2 − Type EMI in the Set cell box. This box is the
reference for the cell that contains the formula that you want
to resolve, in this case the PMT function. It is the cell C6,
which you named as EMI.
Step 3 − Type -50000 in the To value box. Here, you get

the formula result, in this case, the EMI that you want to
pay. The number is negative because it represents a
payment.
Step 4 − Type Interest_Rate in the By changing cell box.

This box has the reference of the cell that contains the value
you want to adjust, in this case the interest rate. It is cell C2,
which you named as Interest_Rate.
Step 5 − This cell that Goal Seek changes, must be

referenced by the formula in the cell that you specified in
the Set cell box. Click OK.
Goal Seek produces a result, as shown below −
As you can observe, Goal Seek found the solution using cell
C6 (containing the formula) as 12% that is displayed in the
cell C2, which is the interest rate. Click OK.
SOLVING STORY PROBLEMS
You can solve story problems easily with Goal Seek. Let us
understand this with the help of an example.
EXAMPLE
Suppose there is a bookstore that has 100 books in storage.

The original price of the book is 250 and certain number of
books was sold at that price. Later, the bookstore announced
a 10% discount on that book and cleared off the stock. You
might want to know how many books are sold at the original
price to obtain a total revenue of 24,500.
You can use Goal Seek to find the solution. Follow the steps
given below −
Step 1 − Set the worksheet as given below.

the Ribbon.
The Goal Seek dialog box appears.

Step 3 − Type Revenue, 24500 and
Books_OriginalPrice in the Set cell box, To Value box and
By changing cell box respectively. Click OK.
Goal Seek displays the status and solution.

If 80 books were sold at the original price, the revenue
would be 24500.
PERFORMING A BREAK-EVEN ANALYSIS

In economy, break-even point is the point at which there is
neither profit nor loss. This would mean −
Revenue = Expenses, or
Revenue – Expenses = 0
You can do break-even analysis with Goal Seek in Excel.
EXAMPLE
Suppose there is a store that sells toys. You might want to

make a break-even analysis of the store. Collect the
following information from the store −
 Fixed cost of the store.

 Unit cost of the toy.
 Number of toys to be sold.
You need to find at which price they should sell the toys to
break even.
Step 1 − Set the worksheet as given below.

the Ribbon. The Goal Seek dialog box appears.
Step 3 − Type Break_even_Point, 0, and Unit_Price in the

Set cell box, To value box and By changing cell box
respectively. Click OK.
As you can observe, Goal Seek gave the result that if the
Unit Price is 35, the store will break even.
Optimization with Excel

Solver
Solver is a Microsoft Excel add-in program you can use for
optimization in what-if analysis.
According to O'Brien and Marakas, optimization

analysis is a more complex extension of goal-seeking
analysis. Instead of setting a specific target value for a
variable, the goal is to find the optimum value for one or
more target variables, under certain constraints. Then, one or
more other variables are changed repeatedly, subject to the
specified constraints, until you discover the best values for
the target variables.
In Excel, you can use Solver to find an optimal

value (maximum or minimum, or a certain value) for a
formula in one cell called the objective cell, subject to
certain constraints or limits, on the values of other formula
cells on the worksheet.
This means that the Solver works with a group of cells

called decision variables that are used in computing the
formulas in the objective and constraint cells. Solver adjusts
the values in the decision variable cells to satisfy the limits
on constraint cells and produce the result you want for the
objective cell.
You can use Solver to find optimal solutions for diverse

problems such as −
 Determining the monthly product mix for a drug

manufacturing unit that maximizes the profitability.
 Scheduling workforce in an organization.
 Solving transportation problems.
 Financial planning and budgeting.
ACTIVATING SOLVER ADD-IN

Before you proceed with finding solution for a problem with
Solver, ensure that the Solver Add-in is activated in Excel
as follows −
The Solver command should appear in the Analysis
group as shown below.
In case you do not find the Solver command, activate it as

follows −
 Click the FILE tab.

 Click Options in the left pane. Excel Options dialog
box appears.
 Click Add-Ins in the left pane.
 Select Excel Add-Ins in the Manage box and click
Go.
The Add-Ins dialog box appears. Check Solver Add-in and
click Ok. Now, you should be able to find the Solver
command on the Ribbon under the DATA tab.
SOLVING METHODS USED BY SOLVER
You can choose one of the following three solving methods
that Excel Solver supports, based on the type of problem −
LP SIMPLEX
Used for linear problems. A Solver model is linear under the

following conditions −
 The target cell is computed by adding together the

terms of the (changing cell)*(constant) form.
 Each constraint satisfies the linear model
requirement. This means that each constraint is
evaluated by adding together the terms of the
(changing cell)*(constant) form and comparing the
sums to a constant.
GENERALIZED REDUCED GRADIENT (GRG) NONLINEAR
Used for smooth nonlinear problems. If your target cell, any

of your constraints, or both contain references to changing
cells that are not of the (changing cell)*(constant) form, you
have a nonlinear model.
EVOLUTIONARY
Used for smooth nonlinear problems. If your target cell, any

of your constraints, or both contain references to changing
cells that are not of the (changing cell)*(constant) form, you
have a nonlinear model.
UNDERSTANDING SOLVER EVALUATION
The Solver requires the following parameters −
 Decision Variable Cells

 Constraint Cells
 Objective Cells
 Solving Method
Solver evaluation is based on the following −
 The values in the decision variable cells are

restricted by the values in the constraint cells.
 The calculation of the value in the objective cell
includes the values in the decision variable cells.
 Solver uses the chosen Solving Method to result in
the optimal value in the objective cell.
DEFINING A PROBLEM
Suppose you are analyzing the profits made by a company

that manufactures and sells a certain product. You are asked
to find the amount that can be spent on advertising in the
next two quarters subject to a maximum of 20,000. The
level of advertising in each quarter affects the following −
 The number of units sold, indirectly determining the

amount of sales revenue.
 The associated expenses, and
 The profit.
You can proceed to define the problem as −
 Find Unit Cost.

 Find the advertising cost per Unit.
 Find Unit Price.
Next, set the cells for the required calculations as given

below.
As you can observe, the calculations are done for Quarter1
and Quarter2 that are in consideration are −
 No. of units available for sale in Quarter1 is 400 and

in Quarter2 is 600 (cells – C7 and D7).
 The initial values for advertising budget are set as
10000 per Quarter (Cells – C8 and D8).
 No. of units sold is dependent on the advertising cost
per unit and hence is budget for the quarter / Adv.
Cost per unit. Note that we have used the Min
function to take care to see that the no. of units sold
in <= no. of units available. (Cells – C9 and D9).
 Revenue is calculated as Unit Price * No. of Units
sold (Cells – C10 and D10).
 Expenses is calculated as Unit Cost * No. of Units
Available + Adv. Cost for that quarter (Cells – C11
and D12).
 Profit is Revenue – Expenses (Cells C12 and D12).
 Total Profit is Profit in Quarter1 + Profit in Quarter2
(Cell – D3).
Next, you can set the parameters for Solver as given below
−
As you can observe, the parameters for Solver are −
 Objective cell is D3 that contains Total Profit, which

you want to maximize.
 Decision Variable cells are C8 and D8 that contain
the budgets for the two quarters – Quarter1 and
Quarter2.
 There are three Constraint cells - C14, C15 and C16.
o Cell C14 that contains total budget is to set
the constraint of 20000 (cell D14).
o Cell C15 that contains the no. of units sold in
Quarter1 is to set the constraint of <= no. of
units available in Quarter1 (cell D15).
o Cell C16 that contains the no. of units sold in
Quarter2 is to set the constraint of <= no. of
units available in Quarter2 (cell D16).
SOLVING THE PROBLEM

The next step is to use Solver to find the solution as follows
−
Step 1 − Go to DATA > Analysis > Solver on the Ribbon.

The Solver Parameters dialog box appears.
Step 2 − In the Set Objective box, select the cell D3.
Step 3 − Select Max.
Step 4 − Select range C8:D8 in the By Changing Variable

Cells box.
Step 5 − Next, click the Add button to add the three

constraints that you have identified.
Step 6 − The Add Constraint dialog box appears. Set the
constraint for total budget as given below and click Add.
Step 7 − Set the constraint for total no. of units sold in

Quarter1 as given below and click Add.
Step 8 − Set the constraint for total no. of units sold in

Quarter2 as given below and click OK.
The Solver Parameters dialog box appears with the three
constraints added in box –Subject to the Constraints.
Step 9 − In the Select a Solving Method box, select

Simplex LP.
Step 10 − Click the Solve button. The Solver Results dialog
box appears. Select Keep Solver Solution and click OK.
The results will appear in your worksheet.
As you can observe, the optimal solution that produces
maximum total profit, subject to the given constraints, is
found to be the following −
 Total Profit – 30000.

 Adv. Budget for Quarter1 – 8000.
 Adv. Budget for Quarter2 – 12000.
STEPPING THROUGH SOLVER TRIAL

SOLUTIONS
You can step through the Solver trial solutions, looking at
the iteration results.
Step 1 − Click the Options button in the Solver Parameters

dialog box.
The Options dialog box appears.
Step 2 − Select the Show Iteration Results box and click

OK.
Step 3 − The Solver Parameters dialog box appears.
Click Solve.
Step 4 − The Show Trial Solution dialog box appears,

displaying the message - Solver paused, current solution
values displayed on worksheet.
As you can observe, the current iteration values are

displayed in your working cells. You can either stop the
Solver accepting the current results or continue with the
Solver from finding solution in further steps.
Step 5 − Click Continue.
The Show Trial Solution dialog box appears at every step

and finally after the optimal solution is found, Solver
Results dialog box appears. Your worksheet is updated at
every step, finally showing the result values.
SAVING SOLVER SELECTIONS

You have the following saving options for the problems that
you solve with Solver −
 You can save the last selections in the Solver

Parameters dialog box with a worksheet by saving
the workbook.
 Each worksheet in a workbook can have its own
Solver selections, and all of them will be saved when
you save the workbook.
 You can also define more than one problem in a
worksheet, each with its own Solver selections. In
such a case, you can load and save problems
individually with the Load/Save in the Solver
Parameters dialog box.
o Click the Load/Save button. The Load/Save
dialog box appears.
o To save a problem model, enter the reference
for the first cell of a vertical range of empty
cells in which you want to place the problem
model. Click Save.
o The problem model (the Solver Parameters

set) appears starting at the cell that you have
given as the reference.
o To load a problem model, enter the reference
for the entire range of cells that contains the
problem model. Then, click on the Load
button.
Importing Data into Excel

You might have to use data from various sources for
analysis. In Excel, you can import data from different data
sources. Some of the data sources are as follows −
 Microsoft Access Database

 Web Page
 Text File
 SQL Server Table
 SQL Server Analysis Cube
 XML File
You can import any number of tables simultaneously from a

database.
IMPORTING DATA FROM MICROSOFT ACCESS

DATABASE
We will learn how to import data from MS Access database.
Step 1 − Open a new blank workbook in Excel.
Step 3 − Click From Access in the Get External Data

group. The Select Data Source dialog box appears.
Step 4 − Select the Access database file that you want to

import. Access database files will have the extension .accdb.
The Select Table dialog box appears displaying the tables
found in the Access database. You can either import all the
tables in the database at once or import only the selected
tables based on your data analysis needs.
Step 5 − Select the Enable selection of multiple tables box
and select all the tables.
Step 6 − Click OK. The Import Data dialog box appears.
As you observe, you have the following options to view the

data you are importing in your workbook −
 Table
 PivotTable Report
 PivotChart
 Power View Report
You also have an option - only create connection. Further,

PivotTable Report is selected by default.
Excel also gives you the options to put the data in your
workbook −
 Existing worksheet
 New worksheet
You will find another check box that is selected and

disabled – Add this data to the Data Model. Whenever
you import data tables into your workbook, they are
automatically added to the Data Model in your workbook.
You will learn more about the Data Model in later chapters.
You can try each one of the options to view the data you are
importing, and check how the data appears in your
workbook −
 If you select Table, Existing worksheet option gets

disabled, New worksheet option gets selected and
Excel creates as many worksheets as the number of
tables you are importing from the database. The
Excel tables appear in these worksheets.
 If you select PivotTable Report, Excel imports the
tables into the workbook and creates an empty
PivotTable for analyzing the data in the imported
tables. You have an option to create the PivotTable
in an existing worksheet or a new worksheet.
Excel tables for the imported data tables will not
appear in the workbook. However, you will find all
the data tables in the PivotTable fields list, along
with the fields in each table.
 If you select PivotChart, Excel imports the tables

into the workbook and creates an empty PivotChart
for displaying the data in the imported tables. You
have an option to create the PivotChart in an existing
worksheet or a new worksheet.

the data tables in the PivotChart fields list, along
with the fields in each table.
 If you select Power View Report, Excel imports the

tables into the workbook and creates a Power View
Report in a new worksheet. You will learn how to
use Power View Reports for analyzing data in later
chapters.

the data tables in the Power View Report fields list,
along with the fields in each table.
 If you select the option - Only Create Connection,

a data connection will be established between the
database and your workbook. No tables or reports
appear in the workbook. However, the imported
tables are added to the Data Model in your workbook
by default.
You need to choose any of these options, based on
your intent of importing data for data analysis. As
you observed above, irrespective of the option you
have chosen, the data is imported and added to the
Data Model in your workbook.
IMPORTING DATA FROM A WEB PAGE

Sometimes, you might have to use the data that is refreshed
on a web site. You can import data from a table on a website
into Excel.
Step 3 − Click From Web in the Get External Data group.

The New Web Query dialog box appears.
Step 4 − Enter the URL of the web site from where you
want to import data, in the box next to Address and click
Go.
Step 5 − The data on the website appears. There will be
yellow arrow icons next to the table data that can be
imported.
Step 6 − Click the yellow icons to select the data you want
to import. This turns the yellow icons to green boxes with a
checkmark as shown in the following screen shot.
Step 7 − Click the Import button after you have selected
what you want.
The Import Data dialog box appears.

Step 8 − Specify where you want to put the data and click
Ok.
Step 9 − Arrange the data for further analysis and/or

presentation.
COPY -PASTING DATA FROM WEB
Another way of getting data from a web page is by copying

and pasting the required data.
Step 1 − Insert a new worksheet.
Step 2 − Copy the data from the web page and paste it on
the worksheet.
Step 3 − Create a table with the pasted data.

IMPORTING DATA FROM A TEXT FILE
If you have data in .txt or .csv or .prn files, you can import
data from those files treating them as text files. Follow the
steps given below −
Step 1 − Open a new worksheet in Excel.
Step 3 − Click From Text in the Get External Data group.

The Import Text File dialog box appears.
You can see that .prn, .txt and .csv extension text files are
accepted.
Step 4 − Select the file. The selected file name appears in

the File name box. The Open button changes to Import
button.
Step 5 − Click the Import button. Text Import Wizard –
Step 1 of 3 dialog box appears.
Step 6 − Click the option Delimited to choose the file type

and click Next.
The Text Import Wizard – Step 2 of 3 dialog box appears.
Step 7 − Under Delimiters, select Other.
Step 8 − In the box next to Other, type | (That is the

delimiter in the text file you are importing).
Step 9 − Click Next.

The Text Import Wizard – Step 3 of 3 dialog box appears.
Step 10 − In this dialog box, you can set column data format
for each of the columns.
Step 11 − After you complete the data formatting of
columns, click Finish. The Import Data dialog box appears.
You will observe the following −
 Table is selected for view and is grayed. Table is the

only view option you have in this case.
 You can put the data either in an existing worksheet
or a New worksheet.
 You can select or not select the check box Add this
data to the Data Model.
 Click OK after you have made the choices.
Data appears on the worksheet you specified. You have

imported data from Text file into Excel workbook.
IMPORTING DATA FROM ANOTHER

WORKBOOK
You might have to use data from another Excel workbook
for your data analysis, but someone else might maintain the
other workbook.
To get up to date data from another workbook, establish a

data connection with that workbook.
Step 1 − Click DATA > Connections in the Connections

group on the Ribbon.
The Workbook Connections dialog box appears.
Step 2 − Click the Add button in the Workbook

Connections dialog box. The Existing Connections dialog
box appears.
Step 3 − Click Browse for More… button. The Select Data
Source dialog box appears.
Step 4 − Click the New Source button. The Data
Connection Wizard dialog box appears.
Step 5 − Select Other/Advanced in the data source list and
click Next. The Data Link Properties dialog box appears.
Step 6 − Set the data link properties as follows −
 Click the Connection tab.

 Click Use data source name.
 Click the down-arrow and select Excel Files from
the drop-down list.
 Click OK.
The Select Workbook dialog box appears.

Step 7 − Browse to the location where you have the
workbook to be imported is located. Click OK.
The Data Connection Wizard dialog box appears with

Select Database and Table.
Note − In this case, Excel treats each worksheet that is

getting imported as a table. The table name will be the
worksheet name. So, to have meaningful table names, name
/ rename the worksheets as appropriate.
Step 8 − Click Next. The Data Connection Wizard dialog
box appears with Save Data Connection File and Finish.
Step 9 − Click the Finish button. The Select Table dialog
box appears.
As you observe, Name is the worksheet name that is
imported as type TABLE. Click OK.
The Data connection with the workbook you have chosen

will be established.
IMPORTING DATA FROM OTHER SOURCES

Excel provides you options to choose various other data
sources. You can import data from these in few steps.
Step 3 − Click From Other Sources in the Get External

Data group.
Dropdown with various data sources appears.
You can import data from any of these data sources into
Excel.
IMPORTING DATA USING AN EXISTING

CONNECTION
In an earlier section, you have established a data connection
with a workbook.
Now, you can import data using that existing connection.

Step 2 − Click Existing Connections in the Get External

Data group. The Existing Connections dialog box appears.
Step 3 − Select the connection from where you want to

import data and click Open.
RENAMING THE DATA CONNECTIONS

It will be useful if the data connections you have in your
workbook have meaningful names for the ease of
understanding and locating.
Step 1 − Go to DATA > Connections on the Ribbon.

Step 2 − Select the connection that you want to rename and

click Properties.
The Connection Properties dialog box appears. The
present name appears in the Connection name box −
Step 3 − Edit the Connection name and click OK. The data
connection will have the new name that you have given.
REFRESHING AN EXTERNAL DATA

CONNECTION
When you connect your Excel workbook to an external data
source, as you have seen in the above sections, you would
like to keep the data in your workbook up to date reflecting
the changes made to the external data source time to time.
You can do this by refreshing the data connections you have
made to those data sources. Whenever you refresh the data
connection, you see the most recent data changes from that
data source, including anything that is new or that is
modified or that has been deleted.
You can either refresh only the selected data or all the data
connections in the workbook at once.
Step 2 − Click Refresh All in the Connections group.
As you observe, there are two commands in the dropdown

list – Refresh and Refresh All.
 If you click Refresh, the selected data in your

workbook is updated.
 If you click Refresh All, all the data connections to
your workbook are updated.
UPDATING ALL THE DATA CONNECTIONS IN

THE WORKBOOK
You might have several data connections to your workbook.
You need to update them from time to time so that your
workbook will have access to the most recent data.
Step 1 − Click any cell in the table that contains the link to
the imported data file.
Step 2 − Click the Data tab on the Ribbon.
Step 3 − Click Refresh All in the Connections group.
Step 4 − Select Refresh All from the dropdown list. All the
data connections in the workbook will be updated.
AUTOMATICALLY REFRESH DATA WHEN A
WORKBOOK IS OPENED
You might want to have access to the recent data from the
data connections to your workbook whenever your
workbook is opened.
Step 2 − Click the Data tab.
Step 3 − Click Connections in the Connections group.
Step 4 − Click the Properties button. The Connection

Properties dialog box appears.
Step 5 − Click the Usage tab.
Step 6 − Check the option - Refresh data when opening the
file.
You have another option also - Remove data from the

external data range before saving the workbook. You can
use this option to save the workbook with the query
definition but without the external data.
Step 7 − Click OK. Whenever you open your workbook, the

up to date data will be loaded into your workbook.
AUTOMATICALLY REFRESH DATA AT

REGULAR INTERVALS
You might be using your workbook keeping it open for

longer durations. In such a case, you might want to have the
data refreshed periodically without any intervention from
you.
Step 2 − Click the Data tab on the Ribbon.
Step 3 − Click Connections in the Connections group.

Step 4 − Click the Properties button.
The Connection Properties dialog box appears. Set the

properties as follows −
 Click the Usage tab.

 Check the option Refresh every.
 Enter 60 as the number of minutes between each
refresh operation and click Ok.
Your Data will be automatically refreshed every 60 min.

(i.e. every one hour).
ENABLING BACKGROUND REFRESH

For very large data sets, consider running a background
refresh. This returns control of Excel to you instead of
making you wait several minutes or more for the refresh to
finish. You can use this option when you are running a
query in the background. However, during this time, you
cannot run a query for any connection type that retrieves
data for the Data Model.
 Click in any cell in the table that contains the link to

 Click Connections in the Connections group. The
Workbook Connections dialog box appears.
Click the Properties button.

The Connection Properties dialog box appears. Click the
Usage tab. The Refresh Control options appear.
 Click Enable background refresh.
 Click OK. The Background refresh is enabled for
your workbook.

Data Model
Data Model is available in Excel 2013 and later versions. In
Excel, you can use the Data Model to integrate data from
multiple tables in the current workbook and / or from the
imported data and / or from the data sources connected to
the workbook through data connections.
With a Data Model, you can create relationships among the
tables. Data model is used transparently in PivotTable,
PivotChart, PowerPivot and Power View reports.
CREATING DATA MODEL WHILE IMPORTING

DATA
When you import data from relational databases like
Microsoft Access database that contain multiple related
tables, Data Model is automatically created if you import
more than one table at once.
You can optionally add tables to the Data Model, when you
import data from the following data sources −
 Relational databases, one table at a time

 Text Files
 Excel Workbooks
For example, while you are importing data from an Excel

workbook, you can observe the option Add this data to the
Data Model, with an enabled check box.
If you want to add the data you are importing to the Data
Model, check the box.
CREATING DATA MODEL FROM EXCEL

TABLES
You can create the Data Model from Excel tables using
PowerPivot commands. You will learn PowerPivot in detail
in later chapters.
All the Data Model commands are available under the
PowerPivot tab on the Ribbon. You can add Excel tables to
the Data Model with these commands.
Consider the following sales data workbook, wherein you

have Product Catalog worksheet that contains Product,
Product ID and Price. You have four worksheets for the
sales in 4 regions – East, North, South and West.
Each of these four worksheets contain No. of Units sold and

Total Amount for each of the Products in each month. You
need to calculate the total amount for each of the products in
each region and total amount of sales in each region.
The following steps enable you to arrive at the desired

results −
 Start with creating the Data Model.

 Click in the Product Catalog worksheet.
 Click the POWERPIVOT tab on the Ribbon.
 Click Add to Data Model. The Create Table dialog
box appears.
 Select the table range.
 Check the box My table has headers. Click OK.
A new window – PowerPivot for Excel - <your Excel file

name> appears.
The following message appears in the center of the blank

window −
The table Product Backlog that you added to the Data Model
appears as a sheet in PowerPivot window. Each row in the
table is a record and you can go back and forth the records
using the left and right arrow buttons at the bottom of the
window.
 Click the Linked Table tab in the PowerPivot
window.
 Click Go to Excel Table.
The Excel data window appears.
 Click the worksheet tab – East.

 Click Add to Data Model.
Another sheet appears in the PowerPivot window displaying

the East table.
Repeat for the worksheets – North, South and West. In all,

you have added five tables to the Data Model. Your
PowerPivot window looks as below −
CREATING RELATIONSHIPS BETWEEN
TABLES
If you want to make calculations across the tables, you have
to first define relationships among them.
 Click the Home tab on the Ribbon in the PowerPivot

window. As you can observe, the tables are
displayed in the Data View.
 Click Diagram View.
The tables appear in the Diagram View. As you observe,
some of the tables may be out of display area and all the
fields in the tables may not be visible.
 Resize each table to show all the fields in that table.

 Drag and arrange the tables so that all are displayed.
 In the East table, click on Product ID.

 Click the Design tab on the Ribbon.
 Click Create Relationship. The Create Relationship
dialog box appears.
In the box under Table, East is displayed. In the box under
Column, Product ID is displayed.
 In the box under Related Lookup Table, select

Product Catalog.
 Product ID appears in the box under Related Lookup
Column.
 Click the Create button.
Line representing Relationship between the tables East and
Product Backlog appears.
 Repeat the same steps for the tables – North, South

and West. Relationship Lines appear.
SUMMARIZING THE DATA IN THE TABLES IN

THE DATA MODEL
Now, you are all set to summarize the sales data for each of
the products in each region in just few steps.
 Click the Home tab.

 Click PivotTable.
 Select PivotTable from the drop-down list.
Create PivotTable dialog box appears in the Excel tables

window. Select New Worksheet.
In a new worksheet, an empty PivotTable appears. As you
can observe, the Fields List contains all the tables in the
Data Model with all the fields displayed.
 Select Product ID from Table 1 (Product Catalog).

 Select Total Amount from the other four tables.
 For each of fields in ∑ Values, change the Custom
Name in Value Field Settings to display the region
names as column labels.
The sum of Total Amount will be replaced by the label you

give. PivotTable with summarized values from all the data
tables shows you the required results.
ADDING DATA TO DATA MODEL
You can add a new data table to the Data Model or new
rows of data to the existing tables in the Data Model.
Add a new data table to the Data Model with the following
steps.

 Click Existing Connections in the Get External Data
group. The Existing Connections dialog box appears.
 Click the Tables tab. The names of all the tables in
the workbook will be displayed.
 Click the name of the table you want to add to the
Data Model.
Click on the Open button. The Import Data dialog box
appears.
As you are aware, while importing data table, it is
automatically added to the Data Model. The newly added
table appears in the PowerPivot window.
Add new rows of data to the existing tables in the Data

Model.
Refresh the Data Connection. New rows of data from the

data source get added to the Data Model.
Exploring Data with

PivotTables
You can do extensive data analysis using PivotTables and
produce desired reports. The integration of Data Model with
PivotTable enhances the way the data is collated, connected,
summarized and reported. You can import tables from
external data sources and create a PivotTable with the
imported tables. This facilitates automatic updations of the
values in the PivotTable whenever the data in the connected
data sources is updated.
CREATING A PIVOTTABLE TO ANALYZE
EXTERNAL DATA
To create a PivotTable to analyze external data −
 Open a new blank workbook in Excel.

 Click From Access in the Get External Data group.
The Select Data Source dialog box appears.
 Select the Access database file.
 Click the Open button. The Select Table dialog box

appears, displaying the tables in the database. Access
database is a relational database and the tables will
be similar to Excel tables, with the exception that
relationships exist among those tables.
 Check the box Enable selection of multiple tables.
 Select all the tables. Click OK.
The Import Data dialog box appears. Select PivotTable
Report. This option imports the tables into your Excel
workbook and creates a PivotTable for analyzing the
imported tables.
As you observe, the checkbox Add this data to the Data
Model is selected and disabled, indicating that the tables
will be added to the Data Model automatically.
The data will be imported and an empty PivotTable will be

created. The imported tables appear in the PivotTable Fields
list.
EXPLORING DATA IN MULTIPLE TABLES

You can analyze the data from the imported multiple tables
with PivotTable and arrive at the specific report you want in
just few steps. This is possible because of the pre-existing
relationships among the tables in the source database. As
you imported all the tables from the database together at the
same time, Excel recreates the relationships in its Data
Model.
In the PivotTable Fields list, you will find all the tables that
you imported and the fields in each of them. If the fields are
not visible for any table,
 Click on the arrow next to that table in the
PivotTable Fields list.
 The fields in that table will be displayed.
EXPLORING DATA USING PIVOTTABLE

You know how to add fields to PivotTable and drag fields
across areas. Even if you are not sure of the final report that
you want, you can play with the data and choose the
appropriate report.
Suppose you want to have a report displaying the following

−
 Data for five disciplines - Archery, Diving, Fencing,

Figure Skating and Speed Skating.
 Regions that scored more than 80 medals in these 5
disciplines.
 The count of medals in each of the five disciplines in
each of these regions.
 Total count of medals for the five disciplines in each
of these regions.
You can see how easily you can create this report in few
steps.
To start with, create a PivotTable displaying the count of

medals in all the regions for the selected five disciplines as
follows −
 Drag the NOC_CountryRegion field from the

Medals table to the COLUMNS area.
 Drag Discipline from the Disciplines table to the
ROWS area.
 Filter Discipline to display only the five disciplines
for which you wanted the report. This can be done
either in the PivotTable Fields area, or from the Row
Labels filter in the PivotTable itself.
 Drag Medal from the Medals table to the VALUES
area.
 Drag Medal from the Medals table to the FILTERS
area.
You will get the following PivotTable −
As you observe, Count of Medals is displayed for all the

regions and for the five disciplines that you selected. Next,
you have to fine-tune this report so that only those regions
with total count of medals greater than 80 will be displayed.
 Click the arrow button to the right of Column

Labels.
 Click Value Filters in the drop-down list that
appears.
 Select Greater Than… from the drop-down list that
appears.
Value Filters dialog box appears.
As you observe, Count of Medals and is greater than are

displayed in the boxes below Show items for which. Type
80 in the box next to the box containing is greater than and
click OK.
Now, the PivotTable displays only those regions with total
count of medals in the selected five disciplines greater than
80.
CREATING A RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN

TABLES WITH PIVOTTABLE FIELDS
If you do not import the tables at the same time, if the data is
from different sources, or if you add new tables to your
workbook, you have to create the relationships among the
tables by yourself.
Add a new worksheet with a table that contains Sport and

SportID fields to your workbook.
 Name the table - Sports.
 Click ALL in the PivotTable Fields list in the
PivotTable worksheet.
You can see that the newly added table- Sports is also
visible in the PivotTable Fields list.
Next, add the field Sport also to the PivotTable as follows −

 Drag the field Sport from the table Sports to ROWS
area. The Sport values appear as Row labels in the
PivotTable.
 A message will appear in the PivotTable Fields list
that Relationships between tables may be needed. A
CREATE button appears next to the message.
Click the CREATE button. The Create Relationship dialog

box appears.
 Select Medals under Table.

 Select Sport under Column.
 Select Sports under Related Table. Sport appears
under related column.
 Click OK.
Drag Discipline under Sport in ROWS. This is to define the

hierarchy in the PivotTable. The PivotTable displays the
Sport and the corresponding group of disciplines for that
sport.
Exploring Data with

Powerpivot
PowerPivot is an easy to use Data Analysis tool that can be
used from within Excel. You can use PowerPivot to access
and mashup data from virtually any data source. You can
create your own fascinating reports with PowerPivot.
You can access the PowerPivot commands from PowerPivot

tab on the Ribbon. Click the PowerPivot tab on the Ribbon.
The PowerPivot commands will be displayed on the Ribbon.
You can observe that the commands related to Data Model
also appear here.
ADDING TABLES TO DATA MODEL

If you have imported tables, they are added to the Data
Model. You can manage the Data Model from PowerPivot
Ribbon. You can add tables to Data Model with PowerPivot
as follows −
 Insert a new worksheet in your workbook.

 Copy data from the web page and paste it on the
worksheet.
 Create a table with the pasted data.
 Name the table as Hosts.
 Rename the worksheet as Hosts.
 Click the table Hosts.

 Click Add to Data Model in the Tables group.
The table is added to the Data Model. The PowerPivot

window appears. You will find the table Hosts in the Data
Model tables.
VIEWING TABLES IN THE DATA MODEL
 Click on the POWERPIVOT tab on the Ribbon.
 Click on Manage in the Data Model group.
PowerPivot window appears, in Data View.
PowerPivot has two views −
 Data View − It displays all the tables in the Data

Model with fields displayed in columns and data as
records in the rows, with a calculation area below
each table. The table tabs look similar to the Excel
worksheet tabs with names. You can move from
table to table by clicking on the tabs.
 Diagram View − It displays all the tables as boxes
with table name as caption and the fields listed in the
box. You can drag the tables to align them, resize
them to make all the fields visible, and create
relationships by just clicking on the fields and
connecting them with lines.
You will understand the Diagram View and the

Relationships in detail in the later sections.
Here, observe that all the tables in the Data Model are
visible in the PowerPivot window, irrespective of whether
they are present as worksheets in the workbook or not.
VIEWING RELATIONSHIPS BETWEEN TABLES

You can use the data from different tables for analysis and
reporting only when relationships exist among them.
You can view the relationships between tables from the

diagram view in the PowerPivot window.
 Click Diagram View in the View group.

 Resize the diagram using the scroll bar so that you
can see all the tables in the Data Model in the
diagram.
All the tables in the Data Model appear with their fields
lists. The relationships among the tables are denoted by the
lines connecting them.
CREATING RELATIONSHIPS BETWEEN

TABLES
You might want to create a relationship between the tables –
Medals and Events. In order to do this, there should be a
field that is common in both the tables and contains unique
values in one of the tables. First, you need to verify this.
 Click the Data View in the View group.

 Click the Events tab to view the Events table.
You can observe that the field DisciplineEvent in the
Events table has unique values (no duplicate values).
Click the Medals tab to view the Medals table. The field
DisciplineEvent is available in the Medals table also. Hence,
you can create a relationship using the field DisciplineEvent
as follows −
 Click Diagram View in the View group.

 Rearrange the tables in the view by dragging them so
that Events table and Medals table are close to each
other.
 Resize the tables so that all the fields are visible.
Click the field DisciplineEvent in the Events table and Drag
to the field DisciplineEvent in the Medals table.
A line appears between the Events table and the Medals

table, indicating that a relationship has been established.
VIEWING THE FIELD DEFINING A
RELATIONSHIP
You can view the field that is used to create the relationship
between two tables.
Click the relationship line connecting the two tables. The

relationship line and the field defining the relationship
between the two tables get highlighted.
Exploring Data with Power
View
Power View enables interactive data exploration,
visualization and presentation that encourages intuitive ad-
hoc reporting. Large data sets can be analyzed on the fly
using the versatile visualizations. The data visualizations
can also be made dynamic facilitating ease of presentation
of the data with a single Power View report.
Power View is introduced in Microsoft Excel 2013. Before

you start your data analysis with Power View, make sure
that the Power View add-in enabled and available on the
Ribbon.
Click the INSERT tab on the Ribbon. Power View should be
visible in the Reports group.
CREATING A POWER VIEW REPORT

You can create a Power View report from the tables in the
Data Model.

 Click Power View in the Reports group.
Opening Power View message box appears with a

horizontal scrolling green status bar. This might take a little
while.
Power View sheet is created as a worksheet in your Excel
workbook. It contains an empty Power View report, Filters
space holder and the Power View Fields list displaying the
tables in the Data Model. Power View appears as a tab on
the Ribbon in the Power View sheet.
POWER VIEW WITH CALCULATED FIELDS

In the Data Model of your workbook, you have the
following data tables −
 Disciplines
 Events
 Medals
Suppose you want to display the number of medals that each

country has won.
 Select the fields NOC_CountryRegion and Medal in

the table Medals.
These two fields appear under FIELDS in the Areas. Power
View will be displayed as a table with the two selected
fields as columns.
The Power View is displaying what medals each country has

won. To display the number of medals won by each country,
the medals need to be counted. To get the medal count field,
you need to do a calculation in the Data Model.
 Click PowerPivot tab on the Ribbon.

 Click Manage in the Data Model group. The tables
in the Data Model will be displayed.
 Click the Medals tab.
 In the Medals table, in the calculation area, in the
cell below the Medal column, type the following
DAX formula
Medal Count:=COUNTA([Medal])
You can observe that the medal count formula appears in the
formula bar and to the left of the formula bar, the column
name Medal is displayed.
You will get a Power View message that the Data Model is
changed and if you click OK, the changes will be reflected
in your Power View. Click OK.
In the Power View Sheet, in the Power View Fields list, you
can observe the following −
 A new field Medal Count is added in the Medals

table.
 A calculator icon appears adjacent to the field Medal
Count, indicating that it is a calculated field.
 Deselect the Medal field and select the Medal Count
field.
Your Power View table displays the medal count country

wise.
FILTERING POWER VIEW

You can filter the values displayed in Power View by
defining the filter criteria.
 Click the TABLE tab in the Filters.

 Click Medal Count.
 Click the icon Range file mode that is to the right of
Medal Count.
 Select is greater than or equal to from the drop-
down list in the box below Show items for which the
value.
 Type 1000 in the box below that.
 Click apply filter.
Below the field name – Medal Count, is greater than or
equal to 1000 appears. Power View will display only those
records with Medal Count >= 1000.
POWER VIEW VISUALIZATIONS

In the Power View sheet, two tabs – POWER VIEW and
DESIGN appear on the Ribbon.
Click the DESIGN tab.You will find several visualization

commands in the Switch Visualization group on the Ribbon.
You can quickly create a number of different data
visualizations that suit your data using Power View. The
visualizations possible are Table, Matrix, Card, Map, Chart
types such as Bar, Column, Scatter, Line, Pie and Bubble
Charts, and sets of multiple charts (charts with same axis).
To explore the data using these visualizations, you can start

on the Power View sheet by creating a table, which is the
default visualization and then easily convert it to other
visualizations, to find the one that best illustrates your Data.
You can convert one Power View visualization to another,
by selecting a visualization from the Switch Visualization
group on the Ribbon.
It is also possible to have multiple visualizations on the

same Power View sheet, so that you can highlight the
significant fields.
In the sections below, you will understand how you can
explore data in two visualizations – Matrix and Card. You
will get to know about exploring data with other Power
View visualizations in later chapters.
EXPLORING DATA WITH MATRIX

VISUALIZATION
Matrix Visualization is similar to a Table Visualization in
that it also contains rows and columns of data. However, a
matrix has additional features −
 It can be collapsed and expanded by rows and/or

columns.
 If it contains a hierarchy, you can drill down/drill up.
 It can display totals and subtotals by columns and/or
rows.
 It can display the data without repeating values.
You can see these the differences in the views by having a

Table Visualization and a Matrix Visualization of the same
data side by side in the Power View.
 Choose the fields – Sport, Discipline and Event. A

Table representing these fields appears in Power
View.
As you observe, there are multiple disciplines for every
sport and multiple events for every discipline. Now, create
another Power View visualization on the right side of this
Table visualization as follows −
 Click the Power View sheet in the space to the right

of the Table.
 Choose the fields – Sport, Discipline and Event.
Another Table representing these fields appears in Power

View, to the right of the earlier Table.
 Click the right Table.
 Click the DESIGN tab on the Ribbon.
 Click Table in the Switch Visualization group.
 Select Matrix from the drop-down list.
The Table on the right in Power View gets converted to
Matrix.
The table on the left lists the sport and discipline for each
and every event, whereas the matrix on the right lists each
sport and discipline only once. So, in this case, Matrix
visualization gives you a comprehensive, compact and
readable format for your data.
Now, you can explore the data to find the countries that
scored more than 300 medals. You can also find the
corresponding sports and have subtotals.
 Select the fields NOC_CountryRegion, Sport and

Medal Count in both the Table and Matrix
Visualizations.
 In the Filters, select the filter for the Table and set
the filtering criteria as is greater than or equal to 300.
 Click apply filter.
 Set the same filter to Matrix also. Click apply filter.
Once again, you can observe that in the Matrix view, the
results are legible.
EXPLORING DATA WITH CARD
VISUALIZATION
In a card visualization, you will have a series of snapshots
that display the data from each row in the table, laid out like
an index card.
 Click the Matrix Visualization that is on the right

side in the Power view.
 Click Table in the Switch Visualization group.
 Select Card from the drop-down list.
The Matrix Visualization gets converted to Card

Visualization.
You can use the Card view for presenting the highlighted
data in a comprehensive way.
DATA MODEL AND POWER VIEW

A workbook can contain the following combinations of Data
Model and Power View.
 An internal Data Model in your workbook that you

can modify in Excel, in PowerPivot, and even in a
Power View sheet.
 Only one internal Data Model in your workbook, on
which you can base a Power View sheet.
 Multiple Power View sheets in your workbook, with
each sheet based on a different Data Model.
If you have multiple Power View sheets in your workbook,

you can copy visualizations from one to another only if both
the sheets are based on the same Data Model.
CREATING DATA MODEL FROM POWER VIEW
SHEET
You can create and/or modify the Data Model in your
workbook from the Power View sheet as follows −
Start with a new workbook that contains Salesperson data

and Sales data in two worksheets.
 Create a table from the range of data in the

Salesperson worksheet and name it Salesperson.
 Create a table from the range of data in the Sales
worksheet and name it Sales.
You have two tables – Salesperson and Sales in your

workbook.
 Click the Sales table in the Sales worksheet.

 Click Power View in the Reports group.
Power View Sheet will be created in your workbook.
You can observe that in the Power View Fields list, both the
tables that are in the workbook are displayed. However, in
the Power View, only the active table (Sales) fields are
displayed since only the active data table fields are selected
in the Fields list.
You can observe that in the Power View, Salesperson ID is
displayed. Suppose you want to display the Salesperson
name instead.
In the Power View Fields list, make the following changes.
 Deselect the field Salesperson ID in the Salesperson

table.
 Select the field Salesperson in the Salesperson table.
As you do not have a Data Model in the workbook, no

relationship exists between the two tables. No data is
displayed in Power View. Excel displays messages directing
you what to do.
A CREATE button also will be displayed. Click the

CREATE button.
The Create Relationship dialog box opens in the Power

View Sheet itself.
 Create a relationship between the two tables using
the Salesperson ID field.
Without leaving the Power View sheet, you have

successfully created the following −
 The internal Data Model with the two tables, and

 The relationship between the two tables.
The field Salesperson appears in Power View along with the

Sales data.
 Retain the fields Region, Salesperson and ∑ Order
Amount in that order in the area FIELDS.
 Convert the Power View to Matrix Visualization.

 Drag the field Month to the area TILE BY. Matrix
Visualization appears as follows −
As you observe, for each of the regions, the Salespersons of
that region and sum of Order Amount are displayed.
Subtotals are displayed for each region. The display is
month wise as selected in the tile above the view. As you
select the month in the tile, the data of that month will be
displayed.

View Charts
In Power View, you have a number of Chart options: Pie,
Column, Bar, Line, Scatter, and Bubble. The Charts in
Power View are interactive. If you click on a value in one
chart −
 That value in that chart is highlighted.

 That value in all the other charts in Power View is
also highlighted.
 All the tables, matrices and tiles in Power View are
filtered to that value.
Thus, Power View Charts serve as interactive, pictorial data
analysis tools. Further, the charts are interactive in a
presentation setting also, which would enable you to
highlight the analysis results.
EXPLORING WITH LINE CHARTS

You can use Line charts for comparing data points in one or
more data series. Line charts distribute category data evenly
along a horizontal (category) axis, and all numerical value
data along a vertical (value) axis.
Suppose you want to display the Medal Count for each

country.
 Create a Power View with the fields

NOC_CountryRegion and Medal Count selected. By
default, Table will be displayed.
 Click Other Chart in the Switch Visualization group.
 Select Line from the drop-down list. Line Chart will
be displayed in the Power View.
 Click on the Line or the Category (x-axis) axis.
 Drag to left or right. The Categories to the left or
right will be displayed and Line chart will be
displayed accordingly.
 Place the cursor on any of the data points on the line.
The values corresponding to that data point will be

displayed at that point.
EXPLORING WITH BAR CHARTS
You can use Bar charts for comparing data points in one or
more data series. In a Bar chart, categories are organized
along the vertical axis and values along the horizontal axis.
In Power View, there are three Bar chart subtypes −
 Stacked Bar.
 100% Stacked Bar.
 Clustered Bar.
You can convert a Table Visualization to Bar Chart

Visualization as follows −
 Create two Table visualizations side-by-side.

 Click Bar Chart in the Switch Visualization group.
 Click Stacked Bar.
The Table Visualization on the right gets converted to Bar

Chart Visualization. As you observe, the y-axis values are
sorted by the category values in ascending order.
 Take the cursor above the Bar chart. You will find –
sort by NOC_CountryRegion asc.
 Click NOC_CountryRegion. It is changed to Medal
Count.
 Click asc. It is changed to desc. You will find that
the Bar Chart is sorted by descending Medal Count.
 Click the Bar with Category GER. Only that Bar will
be highlighted.
 With Ctrl key pressed, click the Bars with Categories
FRA and ITA. The Bars for GER, FRA and ITA will
be highlighted.
 The Table on the left also shows values for these
three Categories only.
In both the visualizations, click the Gender field also in the
Power View Fields list.
Click the left portion of the Bar – GER. It is highlighted. In
the Table, only the information for GER and Men will be
displayed.
Note − You cannot make multiple selections in this case.
EXPLORING WITH COLUMN CHARTS

You can use Column charts for showing data changes over a
period of time or for illustrating comparison among items.
In Column charts, categories are along the horizontal axis
and values along the vertical axis.
In Power View, there are three Column chart subtypes −
 Stacked Column.
 100% Stacked Column.
 Clustered Column.
You can convert a Table Visualization to Column Chart
Visualization as follows −
 Create two Table visualizations side-by-side.

 Click Column Chart in the Switch Visualization
group.
 Click Stacked Column.
The Table Visualization on the right is converted to Bar

Chart Visualization. As you observe, the x-axis values are
sorted by the category values in ascending order.
 Take the cursor to above the Column chart. You will
find – sort by NOC_CountryRegion asc.
 Click on NOC_CountryRegion. It gets changed to
Medal Count.
 Click on asc. It gets changed to desc. You will find
that the Column Chart is sorted by descending Medal
Count.
Click on the lower portion of the Bar with Category GER. It
gets highlighted.
In the Table, only the information for GER and Men will be
displayed.
EXPLORING WITH SIMPLE PIE CHARTS
Pie charts in Power View are simple or sophisticated. You
will learn simple Pie charts in this section. You will learn
sophisticated Pie charts in the next section.
Start with creating a Pie chart as follows −
 Resize the Stacked Column chart and move it

upwards.
 Create another Table visualization below the Stacked
Column chart.
 Click the new Table.
 Click Other Chart in the Switch Visualization group.
 Select Pie.
The Table Visualization below the Stacked Column chart is
converted to Pie Chart Visualization. As you observe, there
are too many slices in the Pie chart as there are many
categories (countries). Note that Pie charts work well only
when the number of categories is 8 or less.
You can reduce the number of categories by filtering the
values as follows −
 Set the filtering as Medal Count is greater than or

equal to 1300 in −
o Table Visualization
o Column Chart Visualization
o Pie Chart Visualization
Note − You have to define and apply filtering to each of the

visualizations separately.
Now, you have a Simple Pie Chart Visualization, wherein
the count of Medals are shown by the Pie size, and countries
by colors.
Click on a Pie slice. That slice is highlighted and others get

grayed. The corresponding column in the Column chart also
is highlighted. In the table, only the values corresponding to
the highlighted Pie slice will be displayed.
EXPLORING WITH SOPHISTICATED PIE
CHARTS
You can make your Pie Chart Visualization sophisticated,
by adding more features. You can make a pie char that −
 Drills down when you double-click a slice, or

 Shows sub-slices within the larger color slices.
A PIE CHART THAT DRILLS DOWN WHEN YOU DOUBLE-

CLICK A SLICE
 In the Pie chart, in the Power View Fields list, drag

the field Gender to COLOR area, to below the field
NOC_CountryRegion. This means you have two
categories.
 In the Table, include Gender also in the Fields list.
Your Power View looks as follows −
As you observe, there is a single slice with one color for

each category - country.
On the Pie chart, double-click on the USA slice.
The Pie chart in your Power View will be changed to show

values by Gender, which is the second category, for the
selected category (USA). The colors of the pie chart now
show the percentages of the second field, i.e., Gender,
filtered for the pie color you doubleclicked. In other words,
the Pie chart was drilled down. As you observe, a small
arrow appears on the top right corner of the Pie chart. If you
place the mouse over it, the arrow is highlighted and Drill
up will be displayed.
Click the drill up arrow. The Pie Chart returns to its
previous state.
A PIE CHART THAT SHOWS SUB-SLICES WITHIN THE

LARGER COLOR SLICES
In the Pie chart, in the Power View Fields list, drag the field
Gender from COLOR area to SLICES area.
Your Power View looks as follows −

As you can see, in the Pie chart, there are two slices of same
color for the category USA.
Click on one of these slices.
You will be able to see the following changes in Power

View −
 The selected slice is highlighted and other slices are

grayed or deactivated.
 The bar for the category USA displays the medal
count for the selected slice.
 The Table shows the values for the selected slice.
 Click the other slice. You can observe the changes as
given above for this selected slice.
EXPLORING WITH SCATTER CHARTS
You can use Scatter charts to display many related data in
one chart. In Scatter charts, the x-axis displays one numeric
field and the y-axis displays another, making it easy to see
the relationship between the two values for all the items in
the chart.
To create a Scatter Chart Visualization, proceed as follows −
 Add the fields Sport, Medal Count and Event to

Table.
 Click the arrow next to Event in the Power View
Fields list. Click Count (Distinct). The field Event
changes to the numeric field Count of Event.
Therefore, you have one category field – Sport and
two numeric fields – Medal Count and Count of
Event.
 Click Other Chart in the Switch Visualization
group.
 Click Scatter.
You will get the Scatter Chart Visualization, with the data
points displayed as circles of same size, showing how the
Count of Event and Medal Count values are related for each
sport.
 Click the LAYOUT tab on the Ribbon.
 Click Data Labels in the Labels group.
 Select Right from the drop-down list. The Data
labels appear for the data points.
The sport Wrestling has less number of medals in more
number of events as compared to the sport Aquatics that has
more number of medals in less number of events.
EXPLORING WITH BUBBLE CHARTS

You can use Bubble charts to display many related data in
one chart. In Bubble Charts, the x-axis displays one numeric
field and the y-axis displays another, making it easy to see
the relationship between the two values for all the items in
the chart. A third numeric field controls the size of the data
points.
To create a Bubble Chart Visualization, proceed as follows

−
 Drag Medal Count to Size.

 Drag NOC_CountryRegion to ∑ X-VALUE. The
Scatter chart is converted to Bubble chart.
As you observe, the size of each bubble shows the medal

count. The data labels show the Sport.
EXPLORING WITH COLORS

You can also color the bubbles by a category as follows −
 Drag the field NOC_CountryRegion to COLOR area

in the Power View Fields list.
 Drag the field DiscipleEvent to ∑ X-VALUES.
As you observe, Legend shows the values of the category
that is in COLOR area and the respective colors. The data
labels correspond to the category in DETAILS area. The
size of the data points is by the area ∑ SIZE.
Next, you can see how selecting a category in Legend

changes the visualization −
Click on a value in the Legend. Only the data points of that

color (i.e., corresponding to that value) will be highlighted.
All the other data points will be deactivated.
As you observe, all the sports corresponding to the selected
country are displayed and the size of each bubble represents
the medal count.
If you want to know the details of a single data point −
 Highlight the data point by just clicking on that

bubble.
 Place the cursor on that data point.
Only that bubble is highlighted and the rest of the bubbles

get grayed. All the information about that data point will be
displayed in a box next to the data point.
EXPLORING WITH PLAY AXIS
You can visualize the data changes over a period of time
using Play Axis as follows −
 Drag the field Edition in the Power View Fields list

to PLAY AXIS area.
A timeline with a Play button is inserted in your Bubble

chart visualization. You can adjust the timeline by filtering
the Edition field values in the Filters. This would be useful
if you want to focus on a particular time range or if the
timeline is too wide.
 Adjust the timeline by filtering Edition field in

Filters and choosing a span of time values.
 Click the Play button. The bubbles travel, grows and
shrink to show how the values change based on the
play axis. A small vertical line appears on the
timeline that moves across the timeline. The time at
that point also is displayed.
You can pause at any point to study the data in more detail.

View Maps
You can use maps to display your data in the context of
geography. Maps in Power View use Bing map tiles, so you
can zoom and pan as you would with any other Bing map.
To make maps work, Power View has to send the data to
Bing through a secured web connection for geocoding. So, it
asks you to enable content. Adding locations and values
places dots on the map. The larger the value, the bigger the
dot. When you add a multivalue series, you get pie charts on
the map, with the size of the pie chart showing the size of
the total.
EXPLORING DATA WITH GEOGRAPHIC FIELDS
You can create a Power View Map Visualization if your
data has a geographic field such as Country/Region,
State/Province, or City.
To create a map visualization for the medal count, country

wise proceed as follows −
 Create a new Power View sheet from INSERT tab

on the Ribbon.
 Drag the fields NOC_CountryRegion and Medal
Count in the Power View Fields list to the Power
View. A Table with these two fields are created.
So, you have a geographic field and a numeric field.

 Click Map in the Switch Visualization group.
The Table Visualization converts into Map Visualization.
As you observe, Power View creates a map with a dot

representing each geographic location. The size of the dot is
the value of the corresponding numeric field, which is the
medal count in this case. Further, in the Power View Fields
list, the Geographic field will be in the Locations area and
the Numeric field will be in the ∑ SIZE area.
To display more information about a data point, you can do

one of the following −
 If you place the cursor on a dot on the map, a box
appears displaying the geographic location name and
the corresponding numeric value.
 If you click on a dot on the map, that particular dot
gets highlighted.
PIE CHARTS AS DATA POINTS

Suppose you want to add another field also to the map
visualization. For example, you might want to display the
details about the medals, viz. the medal types – Gold, Silver
and Bronze. You can do it as follows −
 Drag the field Medal from the Power View Fields

list to the COLOR area.
The dots are converted to Pie charts. A Legend for Medal

appears displaying the types of medals and respective
colors. i.e., each color in the Pie chart represents the type of
the medal.
You can observe that the size of a Pie chart corresponds to
the medal count and the size of each slice in the Pie chart
corresponds to the count of that medal type.
HIGHLIGHTING A DATA POINT

Now, you can filter your data and highlight a significant
data point as follows −
 In the Filters area, set the Medal Count to display

only the values greater than or equal to 300.
 Apply the filter. The map zooms and displays only
the filtered values.
Place the cursor on the dot representing Great Britain. The
dot gets highlighted and zoomed. The details of the Pie chart
will be displayed.
As you can see, the medal count for gold for Great Britain is
514. You can find the medal counts for silver and bronze by
placing the cursor on those slices.
HIGHLIGHTING A PIE SLICE IN A DATA POINT

Next, you might want to highlight the gold medal count of
Great Britain.
 Place the cursor on the slice with red color (as you
can make out that red represents gold in the Legend).
Click it.
That Pie Slice will be highlighted. The other slices in that

Pie chart and all the other Pie charts will be deactivated.
Place the cursor on the dot again. The dot is zoomed. The
slice representing gold will be highlighted. The details of the
slice will be displayed.

View Multiples
Multiples, also called Trellis Charts are a series of charts
with identical X and Y axes. You can arrange Multiples side
by side, to compare many different values easily at the same
time.
 You can have Line charts, Pie charts, Bar charts and
Column charts as Multiples.
 You can arrange the Multiples horizontally or
vertically.
LINE CHARTS AS MULTIPLES

You might want to display the medal count by year for each
Region. Firstly, you need to have the field Year. To get this
field, you need to have a calculated column as follows −
 Click the Medals tab in the Data View of the Data

Model (in the PowerPivot window).
 Click in the first cell in the right most column with
the header Add Column.
 Type =YEAR ([Edition]) in the formula bar and
press Enter.
A new column with header CalculatedColumn1 is created

with values corresponding to the Year values in Edition
column.
Click on the header and rename it as Year.
 Close the PowerPivot window. The Data Model gets

updated. The new field - ∑ Year appears in the
Power View Fields list.
 Create a Table in Power View with fields
NOC_CountryRegion, Count of Year and Medal
Count, by dragging the fields.
 Convert Table into a Line chart in Power View.
 Remove the field NOC_CountryRegion. A Line
chart appears with Medal Count by Year.
As you can observe, Year is in AXIS area and Medal Count

is in ∑ VALUES area in Power View Fields list. In the Line
chart, Year values are on X-axis and Medal count on Y-axis.
Now, you can create Multiples visualization with Line
charts, as follows −
 Drag the field NOC_CountryRegion to VERTICAL

MULTIPLES area in the Power View Fields list.
 Click the tab LAYOUT on the Ribbon.
 Click Grid Height in the Multiples group.
 Click a value in the dropdown list.
 Click Grid Width in the Multiples group.

 Click on a value from the dropdown list.
You will get the Multiples Visualization with Line charts

arranged as a grid, with each Line chart representing a
country (NOC_CountryRegion).
VERTICAL MULTIPLES
As you are aware, you have placed the
NOC_CountryRegion field in the VERTICAL MULTIPLES
area. Hence, the visualization that you have got is the
Vertical Multiples visualization. You can observe the
following in the chart given above.
 One Line chart per category that is placed in

VERTICAL MULTIPLES area, in this case – the
country.
 The grid height and grid width that you have chosen
determine the number of rows and number of
columns for the Multiples.
 A common x-axis for all the multiples.
 A similar y-axis for each row of the multiples.
 A vertical scroll bar on the right side that can be used
to drag the rows of Line charts up and down, so as to
make the other Line charts visible.
HORIZONTAL MULTIPLES
You can have the Multiples Visualization with Horizontal
Multiples also as follows −
 Drag the field NOC_CountryRegion to VERTICAL

MULTIPLES area.
 Click the Layout tab on the Ribbon.
 Select the values for Grid Height and Grid Width in
the Multiples group.
You will get the Horizontal Multiples visualization as

follows −
You can observe the following in the above chart −
 One Line chart per category that is placed in

HORIZONTAL MULTIPLES area, in this case – the
country.
 The grid height that you have chosen determines the
height of the Line charts, unlike the number of rows
of Line charts as is the case in the VERTICAL
MULTIPLES. In other words, there is a single row
of Line charts with the height determined by the Grid
Height that is chosen.
 The grid width that you have chosen determines the
number of columns of Line charts in the row.
 A common x-axis for all the multiples.
 A common y-axis for all the multiples.
 A horizontal scroll bar at the bottom, below the x-
axis, that can be used to drag the row of Line charts
to the left and the right, so as to make the other Line
charts visible.
PIE CHARTS AS MULTIPLES

If you want to explore / visualize more than one category in
Multiples, Pie charts is an option. Suppose you want to
explore the medal count by medal type for each of the
countries. Proceed as follows −
 Click the Design tab.

 Select Pie from the dropdown under Other Chart.
 Drag Medal to the area SLICES.
You will get the Horizontal Multiples visualization with Pie

charts, as you have the field NOC_CountryRegion in the
area HORIZONTAL MULTIPLES.
As you can observe the medal-count for each country is
displayed as a Pie chart with the slices representing the
medal types with the color as given in the Legend.
Suppose you want to highlight the count of gold medals for

all the countries. You can do it in a single step as follows −
Click on the blue color slice one of the Pie charts (as blue is
color for Gold as per the Legend). In all the Pie charts, only
the blue slices are highlighted and other slices are grayed.
As you can observe, this gives a fast way of exploring and

comparing the count of gold medals across the countries.
You might want to display more number of Pie charts in a
visualization. You can do it by simply switching over to
Vertical Multiples Visualization and choosing the right
values for Grid Height and Grid Width for a proper display.
Click on the blue slice on one of the Pie charts. The blue
slices in all the Pie charts are highlighted so that you can
compare the gold medal counts across the countries.
BAR CHARTS AS MULTIPLES
You can choose Bar charts also for Multiples visualization.
 Switch over to Stacked Bar visualization.

 Adjust the Grid Height and Grid Width to get a
proper display of the Bar charts.
With Grid Height of 6 and Grid Width of 2, you will get the
following −
You can have Clustered Bar charts also for this
visualization.
COLUMN CHARTS AS MULTIPLES
You can choose Column charts also for Multiples
visualization.
 Switch over to Stacked Column visualization.

 Adjust the Grid Height and Grid Width to get a
proper display of the Column charts.
With Grid Height of 2 and Grid Width of 6, you will get the
following −
You can have Clustered Column charts also for this
visualization.
WRAP-UP
The fields you choose depend on what you want to explore,

analyze and present. For example, in all the visualizations
above, we have chosen Medal for Slices that helped to
analyze medal count by medal type. You might want to
explore, analyze and present the data gender-wise. In such a
case, choose the field Gender for Slices.
Once again, the visualization that is suitable also depends on

the data you are displaying. If you are not sure about the
suitability, you can just play around to choose the right one
as switching across the visualizations is quick and simple in
Power View. Moreover, you can also do it in the
presentation view, in order to answer any queries that can
arise during a presentation.
View Tiles
Suppose you have lot of data to display with significant data
points at varied places. In such a case, you might have to
scroll very often in your Power View visualizations to find
the data you are looking for. This would be tedious and also
might not be smooth when you are presenting the results.
You can overcome this drudgery, using the tile feature in

Power View. With tiles, you can gain insights from your
data much more quickly. Tiles act as navigation strips, with
a single tile for each possible field value. When you click on
a tile, only data related to that field value is displayed. As it
is easy to scroll the values in the navigation strip that
dynamically changes the corresponding values in the
visualization, tiles become an easy to use tool for you.
You can have Tiles in a Table, Matrix, Card or Chart

visualization. You can have a combination of these in Power
View and get them filtered with Tiles. A Tile can be simple
text or an image.
TABLE WITH TILES

Start with a Table Visualization as follows −
 Drag the fields NOC_CountryRegion, Sport and

Medal Count to Power View. As you observe, as the
number of rows is large, it is difficult to scroll up
and down to highlight values.
 Drag the field Sport from FIELDS area to TILE BY
area in the Power View Fields list.
Navigation Strip appears at the top of the Table.
You can observe the following −
 By default, the first Tile in the Navigation Strip is

selected.
 In the Table, the values are filtered to that of the Tile
selected. In this case, the Sport that is selected.
 There are arrow buttons at the left and right edges of
the Navigation strip to enable scrolling.
You can select a different Tile as follows −
 Scroll the Navigation Strip to display the Tile

representing the Sport you are looking for, for e.g.
Badminton.
 Click the Tile – Badminton. The values in the Table
are filtered to those of Badminton.
You can observe the medal count Total is also displayed.
You have an option to turn Totals on or off from the Ribbon.
You also can make the Tiles more appealing and meaningful
by having images in place of Text.
 Include a column that has hyperlinks to the image

files corresponding to each of the Sports.
 Include that field, for e.g. Discimage in TILE BY.
You will get the Tiles as images, portraying each
sport.
TILE NAVIGATION STRIP - TAB STRIP
There are two types of navigation strips in Excel - Tile Flow
and Tab Strip.
In a Tab strip, you can observe the following −
 Tab strip displays the navigation strip across the top

of the Visualization.
 By default, the first Tile in the navigation strip that is
the leftmost is selected.
 There are arrow buttons at the left and right edges of
the navigation strip to enable scrolling.
 You can scroll to the left or right to display the Tiles.
 The highlighted Tile moves to the left or right as you
scroll the tab strip. It can also go out of view, while
scrolling.
 You can click on a Tile to select it. The Tile gets
highlighted at the same position as it was before.
TILE NAVIGATION STRIP - TILE FLOW
You can covert the navigation strip from tab strip to tile
flow as follows −
 Click a Tile on the navigation strip.

 Click Tile Type in the Tiles group.
 Click Tile Flow in the dropdown list.
The navigation strip shifts to the bottom of the Table.

In a Tile Flow, you can observe the following −
 Tile flow displays the navigation strip across the

bottom of the Visualization.
 By default, the first Tile in the navigation strip is
selected. It will be displayed at the center of the tile
flow.
 There are no arrow buttons for scrolling.
 You can scroll to the left or right by clicking on any
of the Tiles to the left or right of the center Tile.
 The Tiles flow to the left or right and the center Tile
will always get highlighted.
 You can click on a Tile to select it. The Tile gets
highlighted and moves to the center of the Tile flow.
 As the selected Tile is always the center Tile, the
following happens −
o Selected Tile does not go out of view.
o When you scroll to the left or right, the Tile
that comes to the center position gets
automatically selected and highlighted.
o The original selection disappears.
o The Visualization, Table in this case,
automatically is updated to the Tile in the
center of the Tile flow.
MATRIX WITH TILES

Suppose you want the medal count by medal type – Gold,
Silver and Bronze and also the total medal count, by country
for a selected sport, you can display the results in a Matrix
Tile visualization.
 Switch Visualization to Matrix.
 Add the field Medal to Matrix.
You will get the desired results as follows −
STACKED BAR CHART WITH TILES

You can make your explored results more conspicuous by
switching your visualization to Stacked Bar Chart Tile
Visualization −
MAPS WITH TILES
As your data contains geographic locations, you can also
switch over to Map Tile Visualization −
Exploring Data with
Hierarchies
If your data more number of levels, it would be easy for you
to explore and present it with Hierarchies. For any data
value in your Hierarchy, you can drill down to display more
details or drill up to have a holistic view.
If your data model has a hierarchy, you can use it in Power

View. Otherwise, you can create a hierarchy in the Power
View itself with few easy steps.
CREATING A HIERARCHY IN POWER VIEW

In Power View a Hierarchy is best depicted in Matrix
visualization. Create a Hierarchy in Matrix visualization as
follows −
 Drag the fields NOC_CountryRegion, Sport,

Discipline, Year and Medal – in that order to ROWS
area.
 Drag the field Medal Count to ∑ VALUES. The
order of the fields in the ROWS area defines the
Hierarchy in Power View.
 If you are not sure about the order of fields, start
with any order and then rearrange them in the
ROWS area by dragging them up and down, while
looking at the display in the Power View.
You will get the following Matrix visualization showing the

five Hierarchy levels −
As you observe, the levels are nested.
DRILLING UP AND DRILLING DOWN THE

HIERARCHY
You can drill up and drill down the hierarchy such that you
can show just one level at a time. You can drill down for
details and drill up for summary.
To enable drill up and drill down, first set up show levels

option as follows −

 Click Show Levels in the Options group.
 Select Rows – Enable Drill Down One Level at a
Time from the drop-down list.
The Matrix collapses to display only Level 1 data.

As you observe, when you click on each of the data items, a
downward arrow appears on the right side for that item
indicating drill down.
Now, you can drill down the data one level at a time as
follows −
 Click Level 1 data item for which you want further

details. For example, click AUS. As you observe,
Medal Count for AUS is 1079.
 Click on the arrow to the right side of it.
Alternatively, you can double click on the data item.
 Level 2 data pertaining to AUS will be displayed.
As you observe, an upward arrow appears on the left side of
the first item, indicating drill up and when you click on each
of the data items, a downward arrow appears on the right
side for that item indicating drill down.
Now, you can drill down the data one more level as follows
−

details. For example, click Aquatics. As you observe,
the medal count for Aquatics is 354.
 Level 3 data pertaining to Aquatics will be
displayed.

−

details. For e.g. click on Diving. As you observe, the
medal count for Diving is 17.
 Level 4 data pertaining to Diving will be displayed.

−
 Click on the Level 4 data item for which you want

further details. For example, click on 2008. As you
observe, the medal count for 2008 is 3.
 Level 5 data pertaining to 2008 will be displayed.
As you observe, for the first Level 5 data item an upward
arrow appears on the left side indicating drill up. Drill down
arrows do not appear on the right side for the data items as
there are further levels to drill down.
Now, you can drill up the data one level at a time by

clicking on the upward arrow to the left side of the first item
at each Level.
EXPLORING A HIERARCHY IN STACKED BAR

CHART
You might want to highlight certain values in a hierarchy in
a significant way. In such a case, you can use a chart
visualization, such as Stacked Bar chart as follows −
 Click the Matrix visualization and switch to Stacked

Bar Chart.
 Drag the field Medal to LEGEND area.
You will get the Stacked Bar chart visualization as follows −

In this case, you need to double-click on a Bar to drill down.
Double-click on Bar representing AUS. The chart is drilled

down to display the next level of data in the hierarchy.
As you can observe, an upward arrow indicating drill up
appears at the top-right corner of the chart.
Drill down one more level by double-clicking on Aquatics

Bar. The chart is drilled down to display the next level of
data in the hierarchy.
You can drill down by double-clicking on a Bar or drill up
by clicking on the drill up arrow on the top-right corner of
the chart.
This gives you an interactive exploration of data during

presentation also.
Aesthetic Power View

Reports
You have learnt how to explore data interactively using
Power View in the earlier chapters of this tutorial. Each
Power View sheet can in turn be used as an interactive
report. To make the Power View report more appealing, you
can choose any of the themes, chart palettes, fonts and
background colors that Power View provides you.
When you change the theme, the new theme applies to all
the Power View visualizations in the report. Further, you
can add background images, choose background formatting,
format numbers, and change the Font or the text size.
REPORT LAYOUT FINALIZATION

As with any other report, you need to first decide on what
you are going to report and the best layout so that you can
highlight the significant data points.
Suppose you need to report the details of the medals won by

Australia in aquatics. As you are aware, the details include
the disciplines in aquatics, medal count, and the medal types
(Gold, Silver and Bronze).
You can have three views in the report for the best portrayal
of the data points in this case −
 Matrix that contains the data - country, sport, and

medal count.
 Card that contains the data – country, sport,
discipline and medal Count.
 Stacked Bar chart that contains the data that is drilled
down to discipline, medal and medal count.
As you can observe, the data in the Matrix and Card is
scrolled so that −
 Matrix displays the details of Australia for all sports

and aquatics got 354 medals.
 Card displays Australia – sport aquatics, disciplines
Diving, Swimming and Water polo and medal count
in each of them.
 Stacked Bar chart displays the medal count by medal
type in these three disciplines.
Now that the report layout is ready, you can start making it
appealing. However, you need to keep two points in mind
during this task −
 The look of the report should be based on the

audience (Managers / Top Management / Clients).
 Do not get over bored with the different formatting
options. Just keep it simple and highlight the data
points that require attention.
In the following sections, you will understand how to arrive

at a sample report with the following options −
 Selecting the Background.

 Selecting the Theme.
 Changing the Font.
 Changing the Text Size.
SELECTING THE BACKGROUND

You can have a background color for your Power View
Report. By default, it is white. You can change it with the
Background command.
 Click the POWER VIEW tab on the Ribbon.

 Click Background in the Themes group.
 Click Light1 Center Gradient. (You can choose the
one that best suits your report).
The background color changes to the selected one.

You can even set a background image. For e.g. you can put
your company logo or a view of your company facility.
SELECTING THE THEME

Power View supports several themes. Choose the one that
suits your report as follows −
 Click on the POWER VIEW tab on the Ribbon.

 Click on Themes in the Themes group.
You will get many options to choose from. If you are not
sure about the appropriate one, just play around with some
to find how the display looks.
 Click on the theme Aspect.

Your report will be displayed in the selected theme.
CHANGING THE FONT

As you can observe, the text in the report is not conspicuous.
You can change the font as follows −
 Click on Font in the Themes group.

 Click on Verdana in the dropdown list of fonts. (You
can choose the one that best suits your report).
Next, you have to make the text display a bit larger.
CHANGING THE TEXT SIZE

Change the text size as follows −

 Click on Text Size in the Themes group.
 Click on 150% in the dropdown list. (You can
choose the one that best suits your report).
 Adjust the widths of the columns in Matrix.
 Adjust the size of each view in the report.
Your sample report is ready.
Key Performance
Indicators
Key Performance Indicators (KPI) are a set of quantifiable
measures that an organization uses to measure its
performance over time. KPIs are normally used to evaluate
the success of an organization as a whole or department-
wise (e.g. sales, finance, etc.). You need to define the KPIs
based on the organization objectives and monitor them from
time to time to track the progress.
There are a number of KPI types to choose from based on

your requirements. Examples include −
 Income and Expenses
 Rate of Return
 Average Purchase Value
 Customer Lifetime Value
 Working Capital
Note that KPIs are a form of communication involving the

following activities −
 Identifying the KPIs based on the organization’s

objectives.
 Monitoring and reporting the KPIs.
 Altering the KPIs as the organization progresses and
/ or the organization’s goals change.
IDENTIFYING THE KPIS

The first and the most crucial step in KPI analysis is to
identify the KPIs that effectively monitor the required trends
in the organization. This requires complete understanding of
the objectives and requires proper communication channels
between the analysts and those who are responsible for
fulfilling the objectives.
There are a number of KPIs to choose from, but the success

in monitoring relies on the right choice of those that are
relevant to the objectives. The KPIs differ from organization
to organization and from department to department and will
be effective only when they lead to improvement in the
performance.
You can evaluate the relevance of a KPI using the SMART

criteria – i.e. the KPI should
be Specific, Measurable, Attainable, Relevant and Time-
bound. In other words, the KPI chosen should meet the
following criteria −
 The KPI reflects your Specific objective.

 The KPI enables you to Measure progress towards
that goal.
 The goal for which the KPI is being defined is
realistically Attainable.
 The goal that the KPI is targeting is Relevant to the
organization.
 You can set a time-frame for achieving the goal so
that the KPI reveals how near the goal is as
compared to the time that is left.
The defined KPIs are to be evaluated from time to time to

find their relevance as the time progresses. If required,
different KPIs need to be defined and monitored. Only then,
your KPI monitoring will be relating to the current
organization needs.
Based on the analysis needs, you have to choose the relevant

KPIs, and examples include the following −
 Sales department might use a KPI to measure

monthly gross profit against projected gross profit.
 Accounting department might measure monthly
expenditures against revenue to evaluate costs.
 Human resources department might measure
quarterly employee turnover.
 Business professionals frequently use KPIs that are
grouped together in a business scorecard to obtain a
quick and accurate historical summary of business
success or to identify trends or to identify
performance improvement opportunities.
The examples used in this chapter are indicative so as to

help you in understanding how you can define and monitor
KPIs in Excel. The sole discretion of identifying the KPIs
lies with you based on the objectives so as to reflect the
current scenario as compared to the targets.
KPIS IN EXCEL
 You can analyze performance against the set target
with PowerPivot. For e.g., a PowerPivot KPI could
be used to determine for each year and salesperson
how his actual sales compared to his sales target.
 You can explore and visualize the same KPI with
Power View.
 You can also define new KPIs and /or edit them in
Power View.
 You can produce aesthetic reports with KPIs in
Power View.
DEFINING A KPI IN EXCEL

The first step in KPI analysis is to define the identified KPI.
This requires defining the three parameters for the KPI as
follows −
BASE VALUE
A Base Value is defined by a calculated field that resolves to

a value. The calculated field represents the current value for
the item in that row of the table. E.g., aggregate of sales,
profit for a given period, etc.
TARGET VALUE/ GOAL
A Target Value (or Goal) is defined by a calculated field

that resolves to a value, or by an absolute value. It is the
value against which the current value is evaluated. This
could be a fixed number, for example, average number of
sick-leave days that is applicable to all the employees, or a
calculated field, which results in a different goal for each
row, for example, budget of each department in the
organization.
STATUS
Status is the indicator of the value. It would be striking if

you set it as visual indicator. In Power View in Excel, you
can edit the KPI, choosing which indicators to use and what
values to trigger each indicator.
For example, suppose you want to monitor the Sales targets

of the Salespersons in an organization who are selling a
product. The objective of the analysis is to identify the best
performers who are meeting the target Sales Amount. You
can proceed to define the KPI as follows −
 Base Value − Current Value of the Sales Amount for

each salesperson.
 Target Value / Goal − This is fixed for all the
salespersons so as to enable comparison between the
salespersons. Assume that the Target Sales Amount
is 3500. Note that for a different analysis you could
vary the target values for the salespersons.
 Status − The Status is to be displayed with a graphic
to easily determine the status of the Base Value
compared to the Target Value.
KPIS IN POWERPIVOT
You can define KPIs in PowerPivot as follows −
 Start with two tables SalesPerson and Sales.

o SalesPerson table contains SalesPerson ID
and SalesPerson Name.
o Sales table contains the sales information
salesperson-wise and month-wise.
 Add the two tables to Data Model.
 Create a relationship between the two tables using
the field SalesPerson ID.
To set the Base Value, you need a calculated field for Sales
Amount.
 Add the calculated field in the Sales table for Sales
Amount column in the Data Model as follows −
Total Sales:= sum([Sales Amount])
 Click on PivotTable on the Ribbon in the

PowerPivot window.
 Select New Worksheet in the Create PivotTable
dialog box.
 Add the field Salesperson to ROWS area in the
PivotTable.
 Click on the POWERPIVOT tab on the Ribbon.
 Click on KPIs in the Calculations group.
 Click on New KPI in the dropdown list.
Key Performance Indicator (KPI) dialog box appears.
 Select Total Sales in the KPI base field (value) box.

 Under KPI Status, have the following options −
o Under Define target value, select Absolute
value and type 3500 in the box.
o Under Define status thresholds, adjust the
vertical bars representing the percentages to
40 and 80.
o Under Select icon style, select the first
option.
Click on the OK button. You can observe the following in

the Sales table in PivotTable Fields list −
 Total Sales field is a KPI and is depicted by the
icon .
 The three KPI parameters – Value, Goal and Status
appear as fields under Total Sales KPI.
 Select the three KPI parameters – Value, Goal and

Status under Total Sales.
 The three columns appear in the PowerPivot, with
the Status column displaying the icons as per the
corresponding value.
You can also define the KPI thresholds by values instead of

percentages. To modify a defined KPI, proceed as follows −
 Click on KPIs in the Calculations group on the

Ribbon.
 Click on Manage KPIs in the dropdown list.
Manage KPIs dialog box appears.
 Click on the KPI – Total Sales.

 Click on the Edit button.
Key Performance Indicator (KPI) dialog box appears.
 Under Define status thresholds, adjust the vertical

bars to 1500 and 3000.
 Retain the rest of the earlier options.
 Click on OK.
As you can observe, the status icons reflect the changed
thresholds.
KPIS IN POWER VIEW

You can create aesthetic reports with KPIs in Power View.
You can either use the prior defined KPIs in Data Model or
you can add KPIs in Power View.
To add or edit a KPI in Power View, proceed as follows −
 In the Power View Sheet, click on the PowerPivot

tab.
The PowerPivot Ribbon appears, which you had used in the

previous section.
 Click on KPIs in the Calculation group.
 Click on New KPI to add a KPI.
 Click on Manage KPIs to edit a KPI.
The steps are the same as in the previous section.
You can create an aesthetic report of Sales Performance

with KPIs in Power View as follows −
 Click on DATA tab on the ribbon.

 Click on Power View in the Reports group.
Power View sheet appears.
 Add a Table with the fields – Salesperson, Total

Sales and Total Sales Status.
 Add a second Table with the fields – Salesperson,
Total Sales and Total Sales Goal.
 Convert the second Table to 100% Stacked Bar.
 Add a third Table with the fields – Salesperson,
Region, Total Sales and Total Sales Status.
 Convert the third Table to Card. Drag the field
Region to Tile By.
 Add the Title – Sales Performance.
 Change the font.
 Increase the Text Size.
 Resize Table, 100% Stacked Bar and Card
appropriately.
Your Sales Performance report is ready −

As you can observe, in the Power View you could portray
the results as follows −
 Table with icons for KPI status is similar to the

PowerPivot report.
 100% Stacked Bar depicts the percentage achieved
with respect to the Goal. You can also notice that it
gives a clear comparison of the performance of all.
 Card depicts the KPI status of the Salespersons along
with the Region they belong to. You can
interactively scroll through the Tiles to display
results for different Regions that would give scope to
assess performance region-wise also.
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1. Data Analysis - Overview

TYPES OF DATA ANALYSIS

Data Mining is the analysis of large quantities of data to

Data mining analysis involves computer science methods at

Business Intelligence techniques and tools are for

The goal of business intelligence is to allow easy

Statistics is the study of collection, analysis, interpretation,

In data analysis, two main statistical methodologies are used

 Descriptive statistics − In descriptive statistics, data

Predictive Analytics use statistical models to analyze current

Text Analytics, also referred to as Text Mining or as Text

DATA ANALYSIS PROCESS

Thus, data analysis is a process for obtaining large,

DATA ANALYSIS WITH EXCEL

You will be learning these data analysis techniques with

 Data Analysis with Excel and

Data Analysis Process consists of the following phases that

 Data Requirements Specification

Data is collected from various sources ranging from

Statistical Data Models such as Correlation, Regression

The process might require additional Data Cleaning or

The data analysts can choose data visualization techniques,

Excel Data Analysis -

RANGES AND TABLES

However, there are certain operations that are more effective

DATA CLEANING – TEXT FUNCTIONS, DATES

You need to clean the data obtained from various sources

 With Text Functions

SORTING AND FILTERING

UNDERSTANDING LOOKUP FUNCTIONS

WORKING WITH MULTIPLE WORKSHEETS

Do you want to learn the really advanced content that we

Working with Range Names

Net_Present_Value = NPV (Discount_Rate, Cash_Flows)

is more meaningful than

With Excel, you can create and use meaningful names to

 A meaningful Range name (such as Cash_Flows) is

In this chapter, you will learn −

 Syntax rules for names.

COPYING NAME USING FORMULA

 You can use any combination of letters, numbers and

CREATING RANGE NAMES

 Using the Name box.

CREATE A RANGE NAME USING THE NAME BOX

To create a Range name, using the Name box that is to the

Step 2 − Click on the Name box.

CREATE A RANGE NAME USING THE NEW NAME DIALOG

Step 1 − Select the range for which you want to define a

Step 2 − Click the Formulas tab.

Step 3 − Click Define Name in the Defined Names group.

Step 5 − Check that the range that is selected and displayed

CREATE A RANGE NAME USING THE CREATE NAMES

You can also create Range names using the Create

Step 1 − Select the range for which you want to define a

Step 2 − Click the Formulas tab.