3 Excel Tips

I have spend quite some time to find answers to the following 3 questions:

• How do I group a pivot table by month/year/quarter?
  

Click on a single date entry in the pivot table - options - group selection (make sure all date fields are correctly entered as date, no blanks or text like n/a)

• How do I create a running total in a pivot table? 
  

If you don't want the sum of every value separately but want to add it all up over a period of time do the following: Have a look at the Pivot Table Field list (panel on the right), find the entry in the values area ("Sum of..."). Click on the arrow. Select the Value Field Settings in the list. IN the dialog select Summarize by 'Sum', and in the next tab (Show value as) select 'Running Total'. Why is it so complicated?  I don't know.

• How do I use the TODAY() function in a complex formula?
  

If you want to use the TODAY() function in a formula you might get an error (e.g., volatile). I wanted to generate the Sum of values if the date was before today. The trick is to seperate the comparison and the date from another and concatenate it afterwards. Excel seems to like it better this way:

"<=" & TODAY()