A Step-by-Step Guide to Creating a Pivot Table in QuickBooks Online
Pivot tables in QuickBooks Online (QBO) can revolutionize how you analyze and interpret vast amounts of financial data. Most of you are familiar with creating pivot tables in Excel, and the ability to create simple pivots in QBO is a welcome innovation. If you haven’t learned to harness the power of the pivot, you’re missing out! Follow this detailed, step-by-step guide to create your own pivot tables in QBO and harness the full power of your financial data.
Step 1: Choose Your Report
Begin by selecting the type of report you want to analyze with a pivot table. This could range from vendor transactions to sales by customer details…almost anything!
For a comprehensive analysis, you might choose to analyze the Sales by Customer Detail Report, ensuring you select a wide date range to capture the most data possible.
Step 2: Specify Rows, Columns, and Values
Rows: Decide what you want to analyze by row. If you're focusing on customer transactions, you might choose customers as your row to see each customer's activity.
Columns: Next, select what you want to appear in the columns. This could be products and services if you're interested in understanding which products your customers are buying.
Values: Choose the type of calculation you want to perform in the pivot table. Options might include summing up the total quantity sold, amount spent, or taxable amounts. Selecting quantity, for example, will let you see how many units of each service or product each customer bought.
Step 3: Refine Your Data
To ensure your pivot table only includes relevant data, apply filters to exclude any non-specified products or services. This removes blanks to narrow your analysis to items contributing to your objectives.
Step 4: Adjust Your Pivot Table for Deeper Analysis
Pivot tables are highly versatile, allowing you to twist and flip your initial setup to explore different perspectives:
If you initially chose to analyze data by quantity, you might switch to analyzing by dollar amount to see how much money customers are spending on different services.
You can also flip the rows and columns to view the data from another angle. For instance, switch products and services to the rows and customers across the columns to examine which products are most popular among different customer segments.
The beauty of pivot tables lies in their flexibility, allowing you to regroup data based on new criteria without starting from scratch:
Change the rows to service date and columns to specific customer activities, such as transaction type, counting the quantity of each. Then you can monitor the number of invoices, sales receipts, credit memos, and refunds that were processed each day. This can offer insights into customer buying behaviors and service delivery performance over specific periods.
Step 6: Visualize Your Data with Charts
Transform your pivot table into a chart for a visual representation of your analysis:
Choose the chart type that best suits your data, such as bar, line, or pie chart.
Your rows become your x-axis and your columns become your y-axis.
You can continue to flip and twist your pivot table fields, visualizing the data. Continuing our example using the Sales by Customer report, you could perhaps choose payment methods on the x-axis and total amounts on the y-axis to visualize how customers prefer to pay.
Final Thoughts
Pivot tables in QuickBooks Online Advanced provide a dynamic tool for analyzing and presenting financial data. By following these steps, you can create detailed reports that offer insights into various aspects of your business, from customer spending habits to product popularity. Use pivot tables to turn your financial data into a strategic asset, enabling better decision-making and driving business growth.
In April’s QB Talks, I will showcase the capabilities of the Pivot Tables in QuickBooks Online Advanced. You’ll get to see this new tool in action!
This demo is also a preview of my full two-hour Running Reports in QBO class at the Royalwise OWLS. In my course, I dive into every option to manipulate both Classic and Modern reports and charts.
My full learning portal contains a comprehensive QuickBooks training program, answering your questions and going far deeper than the free content provided by Intuit or found on YouTube. Whether you're seeking to fill in your knowledge gaps or clean up after your clients, my tailored coaching and mentorship programs are designed to bridge the gap between your current capabilities and future goals. Check out my sitewide memberships here!