Published in 2006 by Pearson Technology Group, Pivot Table Data Crunching Review was written by Bill Jelen and Michael Alexander. Both Jelen and Alexander have extensive experience consulting and developing office solutions for clients worldwide. Jelen is the webmaster for one of the top Excel websites MrExcel.com. Alexander’s website is datapigtechnologies.com. Both sites are excellent resources for information on Excel.

Pivot Table Data Crunching provides comprehensive coverage of Pivot Table techniques from the basics to the advanced skills. I have taught pivot tables in a Fortune 100 company and developed my own training materials because I could not find a text book that specifically tackled the subject matter of Pivot Tables. With the release of Pivot Table Data Crunching, I would now use this book supplemented with my own materials.

Excel provides a variety of powerful tools for managing and analyzing data. Statistically, 50% of Excel users utilize about 20% of its power. The Pivot Table feature is one of the most under utilized utilities, yet provides an amazing functionality for summarizing and analyzing large amounts of data. This book will help you unleash the power of the Pivot Table and improve your productivity and the quality of your analyses.

The book is written in an easy to understand language. Each new concept is fully illustrated with meaningful figures to visually get the ideas across. Throughout the book, you will find Case Studies to help users conceptualize under what circumstances to use a Pivot Table and are illustrative of the concepts presented in the chapter. The data source for the book is downloadable at MrExcel.com. There are notes, practical tips, and cautions imbedded in both the text and case studies that provide additional guidance, many that can be used generally within Excel.

There are 13 Chapters in the book. Chapter headings are as follows:

• Pivot Table Fundamentals
• Creating a Basic Pivot Table
• Formatting Your Pivot Table Report
• Controlling the Way you View your Pivot Data
• Performing Calculations within your Pivot Tables
• Creating and Using Pivot Charts
• Using Disparate Data Sources for you Pivot Table
• Using External Data Sources for your Pivot Table
• Leveraging the Power of OLAP cubes
• Enhancing your Pivot Table Report with Macros
• Using VBA to Create Pivot Tables
• Exhibit A is a solution guide to common questions and issues with Pivot Table.

What I like about this book is that it builds your skills as you progress through the chapters. Although there is some very advanced concepts and techniques in this book, you don’t need to be a technology guru to get something from it.