Data appropriate for a pivot table

A pivot table can handle data that is in the form of a rectangle. Your database can be
stored in either a worksheet or an external database file. Worksheet database can be
in table form or just a normal range.

Generally, database fields can contain two types of information:

1. Data: Data type fields contain values or data to be summarized. In our Bank-
accounts.xlsx file, the Amount field is a data field.
2. Category: Category fields describe the data fields. In our Bank-
accounts.xlsx example,
the Date, Weekday, AcctType, OpenedBy, Branch, and Customer fields
are category fields because they describe the data in the Amount field.

In summary, numeric fields are regarded as data fields, and text fields are regarded as
category fields in a database.

Data fields and Category fields are shown. Text type fields are Category fields and numeric
fields are regarded as Data fields.

Note: When a database table is appropriate for a pivot table, then it is called
"normalized".

A single database table can have any number of data fields and category fields. When we
create a pivot table, we usually summarize one or more of the data fields. We use the
values in the category fields as rows, columns, or filters.

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 Data appropriate for a pivot table
There are exceptions also. You may find that Excel PivotTable feature works even for
databases that don’t contain any numerical data fields.

Download Sample File

What database pivot table can work with or not

The following Figure shows a database that is not appropriate for a pivot table. Although
this database contains descriptive information about each value, it does not consist of
normalized data. Actually, this database resembles a pivot table summary.

This data range is not normalized. It resembles a pivot table summary.

Normalized Database

The following Figure shows the same data, but it is normalized. This data range contains
78 rows of data. Sales data of first six months in thirteen states are placed in 78 rows.
Notice that each row contains category information for the sales value (data field). This
table is appropriate for a pivot table and contains all information necessary to
summarize the information by region or quarter or month.

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 Data appropriate for a pivot table

Normalized data. Appropriate for pivot table.

A pivot table from the above data range

The following Figure shows a pivot table created from the normalized data. This pivot
table actually identical to the non-normalized data shown in our first figure under the
Non-Normalized heading. Working with normalized data will give you ultimate
flexibility in designing reports.

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 Data appropriate for a pivot table

Pivot Table created from normalized data

Happy Excelling :)