Create a Pivot Chart to Present a Frequency Distribution Report

: Combination Chart for Frequency Report

Quite a few of my viewers requested that I continue my series of creating and presenting a “Frequency Distribution Report” using an Excel Pivot Table. So, here is the new Part 3 in the series!

In this Excel Video Tutorial, I demonstrate – using Excel 2010 – how to create a Pivot Chart for the Frequency Distribution Pivot Table that I created and modified in Parts 1 and 2 of this series.

Key Point: A Pivot Chart Must be based on a Pivot Table Report!

Any structural changes that you make to the Pivot Table are reflected in the Pivot Chart.
If you “filter” the Pivot Chart, those filters apply to the Pivot Table that is the basis for your Pivot Chart – and vice versa.

Focus on the Chart

As I demonstrate in this video – posted on YouTube – I prefer to focus on one task at a time. I prefer to get the formatting and structure of the Chart “right” before I think about using Filers and other “goodies to add .” This “Best Practice” helps me to get more accomplished in less time!

My bottom line is: “Focus on the task at hand. Eliminate any possible distractions from that primary task!”

A correctly designed Pivot Chart will help you to present your information accurately and interactively! For this presentation, I decided that a “Combination Chart” would be the best way to present the information that I wanted to convey. A “Combination Chart” allows you to have a Primary Axis (Revenue) that uses a Column Chart Type and a Secondary Axis (Invoice Count) that uses a Line Chart Type.

When to Use a Secondary Chart Axis

In this example, there is a wide difference between the two fields that we are charting:

Revenue for the Invoices in the “Bin Range” is in “the millions!
Count of Invoices in the “Bin Range” falls into the hundreds and low thousands.

Using a “Combination Chart” in this example – (Column Chart for Revenue in Millions) and Count of Invoices (Line Chart for Count in Hundreds) allows you to present the “relationship” between both metrics. I show you step-by-step how to create this combination chart!