Today we will learn Excel SUBTOTAL formula and 5 beautiful reasons why you should give it a try.
SUBTOTAL formula is used to find out subtotal of a given range of cells. You give SUBTOTAL two things – (1) a range of data (2) type of subtotal. In return, SUBTOTAL will give you the subtotal for that data.
Unlike SUM, AVERAGE, COUNT etc. which do one thing and only one thing, SUBTOTAL is versatile. You can use it to sum up, average, count a bunch of cells.
Here is the SUBTOTAL syntax:
=SUBTOTAL (TYPE OF TOTAL, RANGE OF CELLS)
So, for example, =SUBTOTAL(9,A1:A10) will give us the sum of all values in A1:A10, provided none are filtered(more on this filtering thing below). That is because “9” stands for SUM in SUBTOTAL lingo. If you want a count of values, you can use “2”.
Hmm, that sounds like any other formula, what is so special about it?
Well, SUBTOTAL is not just any other formula, it is a special one. We don’t need to be Jedi masters to tell that force is with SUBTOTAL.
Here I have listed 5 reasons why this is such a special formula.
1) You can use SUBTOTAL to find sum of filtered values
I think the title says it all. See this example to know more.
2) You can use SUBTOTAL to ignore values in hidden rows
Often, we use hide rows feature in excel to remove irrelevant items from view. You can use SUBTOTAL with special type codes so that values in hidden rows are neglected.
For eg. SUBTOTAL(9,A1:A10) finds the sum of values in cells A1:A10 where as SUBTOTAL(109,A1:A10) will find sum of values in visible rows only.
3) You can use SUBTOTAL to dynamically summarize data
Since the “type of total” is a parameter to SUBTOTAL, we can use that to make a dynamic summary like this:
This is very handy in dashboards or when you don’t have space for everything.
4) If there are subtotals in SUBTOTAL range, they will be neglected
This is a killer feature of SUBTOTAL. If you have any SUBTOTAL formulas in the input range of another SUBTOTAL formula, these values are neglected so that double counting is avoided. Need I say more?
5) You can automatically create SUBTOTALs using Excel Data Tools
While SUBTOTAL formula looks kind of neat, writing them when you have tabular data can be a drag. But you don’t have to worry about that. In Excel’s Data menu / ribbon, there is an option on called “Subtotals” that automates the whole process for you.
To generate automatic SUBTOTALS, just select your table of data, go to Data ribbon (or menu) and click on “Subtotals”. This will launch a Subtotal dialog where you can easily specify the type of total grouping you want.
That simple!
Related Excel Formulas:
SUMPRODUCT | VLOOKUP | SUMIF & COUNTIF
Have you used SUBTOTAL formula?
I have never really bothered to test SUBTOTAL formula until few days ago. Now that I found some really cool uses for it, I am itching to implement some of them in future. What about you? Have you used SUBTOTAL formula before? Do you got any tips to share? Please use comments to discuss.
13 Responses to “Gantt Box Chart Tutorial & Template – Download and Try today”
Hi Chandoo
As one of your students I have followed your detailed example through with great success. However, Excel is acting in an unexpected way and I wonder if you could take a look?
http://cid-95d070c79aef808e.office.live.com/self.aspx/.Public/Gantt%20Box%20Chart.xlsm
On my version, I have to type 40239 (Which equates to 2 Mar 2010) to get the chart to display 31 May 2010 (which should be 40329)!!??
Have I done something wrong or is Excel acting up?
Thx
Oli
PS Your example file in 2007 displays correctly.
Hi,
I like this idea a lot, but I agree the name is a little drab.
As an American I may just be seeing things, but to me the combination of lines and bars on your chart looks like a bunch of cricket bats.
Maybe you could work that into a catchier name. 🙂
Cheers!
Here is some code I use to keep the axis synched.
It may be useful to some of your readers
It is based on a comment I saw on Daily Dose of Excel.
Function SynchGanttAxis(Cname, lower, upper)
'Sets the X min and X max for Category axis
Application.Volatile
On Error Resume Next
'
'Top Horizontal Axis
With ActiveSheet.Shapes(Cname).Chart.Axes(xlCategory, 1)
.MinimumScale = lower
.MaximumScale = upper
End With
'Bottom Horizontal Axis
With ActiveSheet.Shapes(Cname).Chart.Axes(xlValue, 2)
.MinimumScale = lower
.MaximumScale = upper
End With
End Function
Function SynchVerticalAxis(Cname, lower, upper)
Application.Volatile
On Error Resume Next
' Excel 2007 only
'Right hand vertical axis
With ActiveSheet.Shapes(Cname).Chart.Axes(xlValue, 1)
.MinimumScale = 0
.MaximumScale = upper
End With
End Function
@Oli.. Can you check your file again.. I see 40329...
@Dave: Even I saw things.. the bars actually looked like lollipops. How about calling this lollipop chart - now that would be yummy and goes along the tradition of naming charts after eatables (bar, pie, donut...)
@Bob: Superb stuff... thanks for sharing 🙂
Hi Chandoo
This looks really good and I think it can also be applied to show project phases / milestones.
Question: Thinking further could this be amended to display a project lifecycle (Idea through to Implementation say 7 phases) on one bar / row? Just imagine 20 projects within a programme all on one chart one bar each showing their respective lifecycle stages i.e. on one page.
Idea: As the Gantt Box Chart this is quite intensive to set up re formatting etc how about the added extra of once you have completed this to "Save as template" i.e. saves the formatting and layout of the chart as a template so you can apply to future charts. Simple to do and will save the time formatting etc again and again and again.
Therefore tip: Click on your chart demo and then click on Save As template icon (2007) - edit file name and click on save. Ready to use / apply via Templates in Change Chart Type window.
Thanks and be very interested if the lifecycle question can be resolved
Mike
How embarrassing.
I was obviously suffering from numerical dyslexia. I was one of those days.
@Mike H: You can easily make this chart to work like a generic project lifecycle plan chart. All you have to do is,
1. in a separate sheet define the steps of lifecycle and various dates in a table (with 5 columns for each of the projects you have).
2. now use a control cell to input the project name you want to show in the chart
3. based on the input, use OFFSET Formulas to get the correct data
4. Rest is same as the tutorial above
For more info on the dynamic charting visit http://chandoo.org/wp/tag/dynamic-charts/ and http://chandoo.org/wp?s=OFFSET
Your solution is really smart but in the en Excel isn't meant to do stuff like this. I, as a former PM, always thought is was frustrating that you had to do stuff like this for something simple like a Gantt chart. So I built Tom's Planner. And would like to plug it here. I think it really solves the problem you are trying to solve in the most efficient way. Check out http://www.tomsplanner.com for a free account or play around with the demo.
Hi there,
Chandoo - this is really a very nice and helpfull chart - I adopted it, so I can report a forecast or the delay of a certain task (coming from my role as an auditor for projects).
One topic I´m currently struggeling with: I do have a project lasting for lets say 12 month. For a management reporting, I want to have kind of snapshot, lets say one month back and 2 month in the future. I tried with the offset formula, but failed. Any idea?
Thx
Lopi
[...] Ein viel geliebter Klassiker ist die Erstellung von GANTT-Diagrammen mit Excel. Wir hatten das Thema wiederholt schon hier. Chandoo.org hat sich mal wieder mit einer neuen Variante hervorgetan: Das GANTT-Box-Chart. [...]
[...] [...]
Hi Chandoo - fantastic xls. One thing I can't figure out how to do is adjust the alignment of the vertical axis. I would like to left align so that I could indent to represent sub tasks. Can that be done? Or is there a better way?
I've been trying to work out if there's a way to show weekends on the graph. The closest thing I've got is to add them on a secondary axis, but then I haven't been able to keep both axis lined up together! Any ideas?
Following on from this - is it possible to show things like holidays?