This is part 3 of 6 on Profit & Loss Reporting using Excel series, written by Yogesh
Data sheet structure for Preparing P&L using Pivot Tables
Preparing Pivot Table P&L using Data sheet
Adding Calculated Fields to Pivot Table P&L
Exploring Pivot Table P&L Reports
Quarterly and Half yearly Profit Loss Reports in Excel
Budget V/s Actual Profit Loss Report using Pivot Tables
This is continuation of our earlier post Preparing Pivot Table P&L using Data. We have learned to prepare Pivot Table P&L. The report prepared in last post has all the major data to prepare a P&L but it is not a complete P&L report. Now we will add calculated fields to make it a complete P&L. We will also format data points to make it a complete P&L report.
We need the following extra values in our P&L
- Gross Margin = Sales – Cost of Goods Sold
- Gross Margin % = Gross Margin / Sales
- Operating Expenses = Rent + Personnel Cost + Utilities + Consumables + Misc Exp
- Operating Profit = Gross Margin – Operating Expenses
- Operating Profit % = Operating Profit / Sales
Making these extra fields in Pivot Table using Calculated Fields Features:
Click on PivotTable Tools > Calculated Items to define a new calculated field. [tutorial: how to add calculated fields to pivot tables]
Check out below screencast. Just replace the Field Names and Formulas to add the rest of the calculated fields.
Once you have added all the calculated fields to Pivot Table, these will start showing at the end of PivotTable. You will need to drag them to their respective position on P&L
Now you are almost ready with your P&L report, only few steps more to format data are required. You may have noticed that % Fields are showing as zero as of now. This is because they are formatted as numbers instead of percentages.
Do not use standard cell formatting to format them, instead use Value Field Setting Option to format pivot table fields. This one is useful as it will show data always as per the format set for particular field. Use Percentage format for % fields and Accounting Format for other value fields.
Few More steps like formatting certain fields as bold and italics and your PivotTable P&L is ready, you can play with is as any other pivot table and start presenting on various dimensions with few clicks
Make sure that you have correctly setup “Preserve Cell Formatting on update” option under pivot table options. This will help you retain the same format while you play with your PivotTable P&L.
The Final Profit & Loss Pivot Report
Once you finish all the formatting and settings, this is how the final report should look like:
Download the profit and loss report excel file
Download the excel file and play with it to understand the techniques discussed in this post.
What Next?
In the next part of this series, we explore this pivot table further, Continue reading.
Added by PHD:
- Please share your feedback and ideas for this series using comments. Yogesh and I will reply to your questions. Also, say thanks if you like the idea and want to learn more.
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Yogesh is an accountant with 13 years of experience in India and abroad. His specialties are budgeting and costing, supplier accounting, negotiation of contracts, cost benefit analysis, MIS reporting, employees accounting. He writes about excel at http://www.yogeshguptaonline.com/
14 Responses to “Group Smaller Slices in Pie Charts to Improve Readability”
I think the virtue of pie charts is precisely that they are difficult to decode. In many contexts, you have to release information but you don't want the relationship between values to jump at your reader. That's when pie charts are most useful.
[...] link Leave a Reply [...]
Chandoo,
millions of ants cannot be mistaken.....There should be a reason why everybody continues using Pie charts, despite what gurus like you or Jon and others say.
one reason could be because we are just used to, so that's what we need to change, the "comfort zone"...
i absolutely agree, since I've been "converted", I just find out that bar charts are clearer, and nicer to the view...
Regards,
Martin
[...] says we can Group Smaller Slices in Pie Charts to Improve Readability. Such a pie has too many labels to fit into a tight space, so you need ro move the labels around [...]
Chandoo -
You ask "Can I use an alternative to pie chart?"
I answer in You Say “Pie”, I Say “Bar”.
This visualization was created because it was easy to print before computers. In this day and age, it should not exist.
I think the 100% Bar Chart is just as useless/unreadable as Pies - we should rename them something like Mama's Strudel Charts - how big a slice would you like, Dear?
My money's with Jon on this topic.
The primary function of any pie chart with more than 2 or 3 data points is to obfuscate. But maybe that is the main purpose, as @Jerome suggests...
@Jerome.. Good point. Also sometimes, there is just no relationship at all.
@Martin... Organized religion is finding it tough to get converts even after 2000+ years of struggle. Jon, Stephen, countless others (and me) are a small army, it would take atleast 5000 more years before pie charts vanish... patience and good to have you here 🙂
@Jon .. very well done sir, very well done.
good points every one...
I've got to throw my vote into Jon's camp (which is also Stephen Few's camp) -- bars just tend to work better. One observation about when we say "what people are used to." There are two distinct groups here (depending on the situation, a person can fall in either one): the person who *creates* the chart and the person who *consumes* the chart. Granted, the consumers are "used to" pie charts. But, it's not like a bar chart is something they would struggle to understand or that would require explanation (like sparklines and bullet graphs). Chart consumers are "used to" consuming whatever is put in front of them. Chart creators, on the other hand, may be "used to" creating pie charts, but that isn't an excuse for them to continue to do so -- many people are used to driving without a seatbelt, leaving lights on in their house needlessly, and forwarding not-all-that-funny anecdotes via email. That doesn't mean the practice shouldn't be discouraged!
[...] example that Chandoo used recently is counting uses of words. Clearly, there are other meanings of “bar” (take bar mitzvah or bar none, for [...]
[…] Grouping smaller slices in pie chart […]
Good article. Is it possible to do that with line charts?
Hi,
Is this available in excel 2013?