What Is a Pivot Table?

Pivot Tables are one of the extremely helpful spreadsheet tools that allow you to summarize as well as analyse the data that you have entered in the spreadsheet. Pivot Tables are extremely useful to generate quick conclusions from a large set of data in real-time. Pivot Tables are an essential component of Microsoft Excel Training.

Below are listed some of the major advantages of Pivot Tables.

Why Pivot Tables Are an Essential Part of Every Microsoft Excel Training?

1. Gain Incredible Insights into the Data

Data creation using Pivot Table can be achieved instantly. If you are looking to get deep insights on a large set of data, without Pivot Tables, it is a tedious task. Pivot Tables help to consolidate a large set of data and allow you to generate the required results quickly. Whatever columns you need to add/remove in your analysis, you can drag and drop them effortlessly making working with Pivot Tables an interactive affair. 

As mentioned above, summarizing a large set of information can be done with ease using Pivot Tables. The coolest part about this is that the summarized version of the data is incredibly simple and anybody can easily understand the same even at a first glance. The following sub-points will help you understand how Pivot Tables help you get better insights into the data.

• Using Pivot Tables, you can sort information by categories easily.

• Comparing information takes seconds using Pivot Tables.

• You can save a ton of time to do a particular task using Pivot Tables as compared to doing the same task manually.

2. Recognize Data Patterns Effortlessly

One of the uses of data for a majority of businesses is forecasting. Based on the data analysis, important decisions are made. Of course, trying to find a pattern in a huge amount of data is an incredibly difficult task. However, Pivot Tables come to the rescue here as well. Since Pivot Tables help you to perform a data analysis efficiently and quickly, you can easily identify any data patterns within the data. These data patterns help the business to recognize the trends thereby enabling them to take the right decisions as far as their strategy is concerned.

3. Steer Clear From Generating Reports Manually

Admit it! One of the most time-consuming tasks at work can be generating different kinds of reports manually. By using pivot tables, not only you can save yourself from the task of the manual generation of reports, but you can create highly effective and dependable reports. Another benefit of this is that you will save a ton of time that you can utilize for other activities. This increases your productivity at the workplace.

4. Make Decisions Quickly

From the above three advantages, you can easily understand that Pivot Tables are incredibly useful in generating reports quickly, recognizing data patterns, and help in better forecasting. This, in turn, helps the business leaders and managers to take exact decisions quickly. A majority of the moments, in the business world, it becomes extremely critical to take an exact decision rapidly. Pivot Tables are a blessing in this case.

5. Easier to Divide Data into Parts

Using Pivot Tables, you can easily segment or divide your analysis based on different data sets present in the spreadsheet. This provides you with a clear picture of the business situation thereby allowing the managers and the leaders to quickly understand whether their business is moving ahead in the intended direction or whether they require making any kind of addition or modification to their business strategy.

6. Pivot Tables Work Seamlessly With SQL Exports

Sometimes, you might import data from SQL into your Excel spreadsheet. You will be glad to know that Pivot Tables work effortlessly with SQL Exports.

Are There Any Disadvantages of Pivot Tables?

Compared to the benefits of Pivot Tables, the disadvantages seem extremely trivial. However, just for the sake of discussing the disadvantages, we have listed some of them below.

1. Pivot Tables Doesn’t Support Automatic Updates

You require running reports every day to make sure that you are having the latest set of data. Automatic updates are not a part of Pivot Tables. Moreover, there’s no dashboard present in a Pivot Table that can provide you with some quick information.

2. You have to invest time in learning Pivot Tables

Of course, this doesn’t seem to be a disadvantage at all. You have to invest a significant amount of time in learning how to use Pivot Tables. However, while it doesn’t take much time to learn how Pivot Tables work; a majority of your time goes into learning how to present data using Pivot Tables in an efficient and usable manner.

As you can see above, the two disadvantages are highly trivial as compared to the advantages of Pivot Tables. Learning and using Pivot Tables will help you save a lot of time from your work schedule thereby leaving sufficient time for your family and friends. Also, you can utilize the remaining time to complete other tasks that you might be having at your workplace enhancing your efficiency and productivity.

Verdict – Pivot Tables in Microsoft Excel

So, if you are thinking of learning advanced Excel, make sure you spend enough time gaining expertise on using Pivot Tables since they are highly beneficial for any business or organization. Using Pivot Tables, you can effortlessly organize any spreadsheet-based data, run an analysis, and generate strategic reports quickly.