Pivot table maker: say the question, get the summary
Pivot tables are the fastest way to answer "how much by month and by region", but choosing rows, columns and values, and fixing the dates first, trips people up. Attach your data and tell your todo.is agent the question in plain words. It prepares the data and builds working pivot tables in Excel, plus a chart and short notes on what stands out.
The prompt
- Make pivot tables from the attached file [FILE NAME]. Questions I want answered: [YOUR QUESTIONS]. For each question, build a real Excel pivot table on its own sheet (so I can still drag fields around), with [ROWS AND COLUMNS] and values as [SUM, COUNT OR AVERAGE]. Group dates by month and year, sort from largest to smallest, show grand totals and format money with 2 decimals. Add one chart per pivot. Before building, check the data: convert text numbers, unify dates and tell me about blanks. On a "Notes" sheet, write 3 to 5 sentences on what the numbers show and how to refresh the pivots when I add rows. Return it as .xlsx.
What to change
- [FILE NAME]: Attach your Excel or CSV, e.g. "sales_2026.xlsx".
- [YOUR QUESTIONS]: e.g. "revenue by month and region, top 10 products by units, average order value by sales channel".
- [ROWS AND COLUMNS]: e.g. "months as rows and regions as columns", or "you choose the best layout".
- [SUM, COUNT OR AVERAGE]: e.g. "sum of revenue" or "count of orders". You can mix them per question.
Example result
- sales_2026_pivots.xlsx (example)
- Data: 9,804 order lines, Jan to Sep 2026. Fixed before building: 312 amounts stored as text, 2 date formats. 14 rows with no region were labeled "Unknown".
- Sheet 1: Revenue by month and region
- • Rows: Order date grouped by month · Columns: Region · Values: Sum of Revenue
- • North: 182,400 · South: 141,950 · West: 120,300 · Unknown: 2,180
- • Best month: June, 61,240 (North and West both peaked)
- • Chart: clustered column by month
- Sheet 2: Top 10 products by units
- • Rows: Product · Values: Sum of Units, filtered to the top 10, sorted descending
- • 1. Trail Bottle 750 ml: 3,912 units
- • 2. Merino Socks 2-pack: 3,404
- • 3. Compact Headlamp: 2,876
- • The top 10 products make up 58% of all units
- • Chart: horizontal bar
- Sheet 3: Average order value by channel
- • Rows: Channel · Values: Average of Order Total
- • Website: 68.40 · Marketplace: 41.15 · Wholesale: 412.90
- • Chart: column
- Notes
- • North brings the most revenue, but West grew fastest (+22% from Q1 to Q3)
- • Marketplace orders are frequent but small. A bundle offer could raise the average
- • To refresh: the data is an Excel Table named SalesData. Paste new rows below it, then Data > Refresh All
- All figures are an illustrative example of the output format.
How to do it with todo.is
- Attach your data and write your questions in plain words in the prompt.
- Paste it into todo.is, or send the file to your agent on Slack or Telegram.
- Your agent cleans what's needed, builds the pivot tables and adds a chart to each.
- Open the .xlsx and drag fields to explore, or ask "add a pivot by sales rep".
Tips for a better result
- Ask questions, not layouts: "Which region grew fastest?" gets you a better pivot than "put region in columns".
- Keep raw data as one flat table: one row per order, one column per field, no merged cells or subtotals.
- Turn your data into an Excel Table (Ctrl+T) so the pivots pick up new rows on refresh.
- If you only need the numbers, ask for a summary table instead. It is easier to paste into a report.
pivot table maker: FAQ
- How do I make a pivot table in Excel? Click inside your data, go to Insert > PivotTable, then drag fields into Rows, Columns and Values. Your agent can build it for you and explain each choice.
- Why does my pivot table count instead of sum? If a column has blanks or text in it, Excel defaults to Count. Fix the numbers, then change Value Field Settings to Sum.
- Can it make a pivot table in Google Sheets? Your agent delivers Excel files. You can open the .xlsx in Google Sheets, or ask for a summary table that works anywhere.
- Will the pivot table update when I add data? Yes, if the data is an Excel Table and you click Refresh. Your agent sets it up that way.
JavaScript is required to use the todo.is app.