Doing Analysis from large amounts of DATA

Hi all,

I have an attachment that's apart of this message & within it I have 3 tabs 1) Revenue 2) Expenses & 3) Net Position. I would like to do some Analysis on the above three thou a way where I can manipulate the Data. How would I go about doing this? I've tried a Pivot Table thou it didn’t work out in the sense that it was messy & just failed in calculating stuff, not sure if I did it right thou.. Would really appreciate all the help as I actually have about 20 of these sheets which from that fall into 4 groups being 5 sheets per group. I hope this all makes sense, would appreciate all the help.

Cheers
Will

What kind of analysis are you trying to do?
Where does the data come from?

The data comes from all places then i dump it in Either
1) Revenue
2) Expenses
3) Net Position
So for an example i might have 10 business centres that will have Revenue, Expenses & Net Position. I copy & paste each one of them to the correct one above, & what you see is ALL Business Centres in
1)Revenue
2) Expenses
3) Net Positon
So now my question is the Analysis side of it. What i'd like to do is:
A) FOR EXAMPLE THE TOP 6, in Revenue, Expenses & Net Position i'd like to now who they are?
B) I'd also like to now the Top 6 again for Revenue, Expenses, & Net Position comparing 2004 year to 2005 year. I'd like this to show the % incease between the 2 years. This will only be Actuals.
c) Also again the top 6 comparing Actuals Vs Budget the Top 6 for Revenue, Expenses & Net Position. This will be for the 2 years combined i think that makes sense. It will show what business centre has over budget or under budgeted for whatever the top 6 product is.
I really don't now what else or what type of analysis i can do with this data am really new to this would love some help, not only in the above thou also in what way i can sort the data out so i can do the above analysis simple & easier as i will be doing this every month. Anyway just like to say thank you for taking the time to reply much appreciate it.
Take care
Will

The first thing I would do is find a way to have Excel automatically import the data (database, another workbook, etc.). This can be tricky depending on the source, but is not really all that difficult (especially if it is from another workbook).

Next, decide how you want/need to use the data. This will make defining what you need to do much simpler, and in the process make your analysis easier because you already have an idea of what the finished "report" will look like.

It is difficult to determine your needs from your description and by looking at your sample data (I do understand your concerns about confidentiality and reluctance to "publish" such).

What you want to do is doable without much effort once you fully define what you want, how you want it, and what you are going to do with it.

Please feel free to contact me, through this forum, or through private e-mail (see my profile). If I can be of any further assistance.