Need help sorting pivot table

[Randy Harris]

I'm not very experienced with Excel, in particular with Pivot tables, and
would appreciate some help. I have an inherited spreadsheet with a number
of pivot tables in it. The source data for the spreadsheet gets "refilled"
from an Access database, but the rows in the pivot table don't generally get
sorted correctly. The data is in the form of "month year" - e.g. Jan 05,
Feb 05, Mar 05, etc.

I tracked down the source of the data in the spreadsheet, it comes from a
column on another sheet (column V), labeled Month. It's formula seems to
be:

=INDEX(Months,MONTH(F1),1)&" " &RIGHT(YEAR(F1),2)

The pivot table frequently appears:

Jul 05

Jan 05

Feb 05

Mar 05

Apr 05

May 05

Jun 05

Aug 05

Sep 05

Dec 05



So, it's not in date order, nor alpha order. The data does appear in the
source worksheet in date order. What would be a practical means of
correcting this so that the pivot table comes up in proper date order? Or,
what additional information should I post so that you can help me with this?

Thank you in advance for any suggestions.

 

[Debra Dalgleish]

Instead of using the Month field in the pivot table, use the Date field
in the pivot table. Then, group the date by year and month. There are
instructions here:

http://www.contextures.com/xlPivot07.html

 

[Randy Harris]

I've been trying that. It won't let me group the data - "Because the field
is grouped, you cannot add a calculated item to it.". I've repeatedly
ungrouped, but still get that message.

 

[Debra Dalgleish]

Then, change the Month formula to:

=DATE(YEAR(F1),MONTH(F1),1)

In the pivot table, format the Month field (Format>Cells, Number tab) to
the custom format of mmm yy

 

[Randy Harris]

That's a huge improvement. Is there a way to "globally" set the format for
the row label (to mmm yy) for that pivot table? I can set it, but then up
above, when I switch to another year the formatting reverts back to the
default (4/1/2004).

 

[Randy Harris]

I think I figured out why it wouldn't "globally" set that format. I went
back to the source data and put the format back to standard date (I had
changed it to mmm yy trying to get this to work). Now I can set the format
for the row heading.

Thanks very much for your help.

Randy Harris

 

[Debra Dalgleish]

You're welcome. Thanks for describing how you solved the problem.