3. PivotTable: Grouping Dates and % of Grand Total

In a sales log, every deal has its own date. A PivotTable on the "Date" field without grouping gives you one row per day, but you want totals by month.

• Grouping: in Excel, right-click a date in the PivotTable › Group › Months, Quarters, Years. In the trainer, use the "Group dates in rows" field in the PivotTable window;
• % of Grand Total: in Excel, right-click a value › Show Values As › "% of Grand Total". Each number is divided by the grand total, and the "Grand Total" itself becomes 100%.

You can get the same monthly total with a formula: SUMIFS(amounts, dates, ">="&DATE(2026,3,1), dates, "<"&DATE(2026,4,1)). A PivotTable is handier for an overview, a formula for a report that must update itself.