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Pivot Tables

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15 views9 pages

Pivot Tables

Uploaded by

maachonobody
Copyright
© © All Rights Reserved
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
Available Formats
Download as PDF, TXT or read online on Scribd
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Introduction

Excel includes powerful tools to perform complex mathematical calculations, including what-if analysis.
This feature can help you experiment and answer questions with your data, even when the data is
incomplete. In this lesson, you will learn how to use a what-if analysis tool called Goal Seek.

Goal Seek
Whenever you create a formula or function in Excel, you put various parts together to calculate a result.
Goal Seek works in the opposite way: It lets you start with the desired result, and it calculates the input
value that will give you that result. We'll use a few examples to show how to use Goal Seek.

To use Goal Seek (example 1):


Let's say you're enrolled in a class. You currently have a grade of 65, and you need at least a 70 to pass
the class. Luckily, you have one final assignment that might be able to raise your average. You can use
Goal Seek to find out what grade you need on the final assignment to pass the class.
In the image below, you can see that the grades on the first four assignments are 58, 70, 72, and 60.
Even though we don't know what the fifth grade will be, we can write a formula—or function—that
calculates the final grade. In this case, each assignment is weighted equally, so all we have to do is
average all five grades by typing =AVERAGE(B2:B6). Once we use Goal Seek, cell B6will show us the
minimum grade we'll need to make on that assignment.
. Select the cell with the value you want to change. Whenever you use Goal Seek, you'll need to
select a cell that already contains a formula or function. In our example, we'll select cell B7
because it contains the formula =AVERAGE(B2:B6).

. A dialog box will appear with three fields. The first field, Set cell:, will contain the desired result. In
our example, cell B7 is already selected.

The second field, To value:, is the desired result. In our example, we'll enter 70 because we need
to earn at least that to pass the class.

The third field, By changing cell:, is the cell where Goal Seek will place its answer. In our example,
we'll select cell B6 because we want to determine the grade we need to earn on the final
assignment.
. When you're done, click OK.
. The dialog box will tell you if Goal Seek was able to find a solution. Click OK.

. The result will appear in the specified cell. In our example, Goal Seek calculated that we will need
to score at least a 90 on the final assignment to earn a passing grade.
To use Goal Seek (example 2):
Let's say you're planning an event and want to invite as many people as you can without exceeding a
budget of $500. We can use Goal Seek to figure out how many people to invite. In our example below,
cell B5 contains the formula =B2+B3*B4 to calculate the total cost of a room reservation, plus the cost
per person.
. Select the cell with the value you want to change. In our example, we'll select cell B5.
. From the Data tab, click the What-If Analysis command, then select Goal Seek from the drop-
down menu.

. A dialog box will appear with three fields. The first field, Set cell:, will contain the desired result. In
our example, cell B5 is already selected.

The second field, To value:, is the desired result. In our example, we'll enter 500 because we only
want to spend $500.

The third field, By changing cell:, is the cell where Goal Seek will place its answer. In our example,
we'll select cell B4 because we want to know how many guests we can invite without spending
more than $500.
. When you're done, click OK.
. The dialog box will tell you if Goal Seek was able to find a solution. Click OK.
. The result will appear in the specified cell. In our example, Goal Seek calculated the answer to be
approximately 18.62. In this case, our final answer needs to be a whole number, so we'll need to
round the answer up or down. Because rounding up would cause us to exceed our budget, we'll
round down to 18 guests.
As you can see in the example above, some situations will require the answer to be a whole number. If
Goal Seek gives you a decimal, you'll need to round up or down, depending on the situation.

Other types of what-if analysis


For more advanced projects, you may want to consider the other types of what-if analysis: scenarios
and data tables. Instead of starting from the desired result and working backward, like with Goal Seek,
these options allow you to test multiple values and see how the results change.

Scenarios let you substitute values for multiple cells (up to 32) at the same time. You can create
as many scenarios as you want and then compare them without changing the values manually. In
the example below, we're using scenarios to compare different venues for an upcoming event.
Data tables allow you to take one or two variables in a formula and replace them with as many
different values as you want, then view the results in a table. This option is especially powerful
because it shows multiple results at the same time, unlike scenarios or Goal Seek. In the example
below, we can view 24 possible results for a car loan.

Challenge!
● Open our practice workbook.
● Click the Challenge tab in the bottom-left of the workbook.
● In cell B8, create a function that calculates the average of the sales in B2:B7.
● The workbook shows Dave's monthly sales amounts for the first half of the year. If he reaches a
$200,000 mid-year average, he will receive a 5% bonus. Use Goal Seek to find how much he
needs to sell in June in order to make the $200,000 average.
● When you're finished, your workbook should look like this:

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