Data & spreadsheets · course 36 of 105

Excel Pivot Tables: Build, Summarize, Fix

Turn a sales table into answers with PivotTables: Rows, Columns, Values and Filters, % of total, running totals, ranks, dates by month, and the fixes when one breaks.

4 modules

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What it teaches

How a PivotTable thinks: which field goes in Rows, Columns, Values and Filters to answer a question; Sum vs Count vs Average vs Max; % of grand total, % of row total, running totals and ranks; grouping dates by month; and the fixes for the classic problems (Count instead of Sum, new rows missing, blank rows, a filter hiding data, the same name twice). Everything runs on one small sales table, so every number can be checked against it. The AI asks 3 questions, places you, shows a short card per module, then gives one pivot question at a time.

How long

34 items. About 25-45 rounds plus a 12-item final: 2 sessions (estimate, not timed with a real student). The tutor gives a one-line save code at the end of each session.

From the answer key · M1, row B6

The 3 West / Pro rows of the course’s 18-row Sales table

With Region in Rows and Product in Columns, what’s the West / Pro cell (Sum of Revenue)?

Date	Region	Rep	Product	Units	Revenue
2026-01-09	West	Ben	Pro	4	200
2026-02-24	West	Cara	Pro	2	100
2026-03-09	West	Ben	Pro	7	350

Think first, then show the answer

Answer$650

WhyWest Pro rows: 4 + 2 + 7 = 13 units × $50.

The wrong answer it catches$1,550 → That’s all of Pro (31 units × $50); the West / Pro cell is only West’s Pro rows.

A cell = the sum of the rows that match its row label AND its column label.

The modules

4 modules, drilled one item at a time.

M0
The basics and the Sales table
Concept questions
M1
Build the pivot
Areas and results
M2
Summarize and show values as
Results
M3
Fix and check
Troubleshooting

Before it teaches, it asks

1
What do you use Excel for, and have you made a PivotTable before? Do you have Excel open right now (fine to say no)?
AI voice (ElevenLabs)
2
To see total Revenue for each Region, which field goes in Rows and which in Values?
3
Revenue shows as “Count of Revenue” instead of a sum. What’s the likely cause?

What’s exact, and what isn’t

Show

Straight from the course’s own notes.

Computed by script: Every result, by a script that adds up the Sales table; 5 of the 7 listed wrong answers reproduced by running the mistake.
Sourced: PivotTable behavior from Microsoft Support (4 pages), 15 short quotes matched word for word on 2026-10-10. Menu names are for Excel for Windows; on a Mac some differ, and the course says where.
Fix items: Are graded on key facts in any words.
Not in it yet: PivotCharts, slicers, calculated fields, Power Pivot, Google Sheets.