Add dynamic information to your pie chart
by Kara Soos
Application:
Microsoft Excel 2000/2002/2003/2007
Operating System:
Microsoft Windows
I create pie charts each month that show the percentage of company sales by division. My supervisor would now like me to include the total sales on the pie chart. If I display the data label values, it gives me the sales number for each pie slice, but no total. How can I accomplish this?
Kelley Richardson
Data Analyst
Lexington, Ky.
There’s no built-in way to add a sales total to your pie chart, but with a little ingenuity, you can do it. Our technique not only displays your company’s total sales on the pie chart, but it also makes the number dynamic. When you make changes to the chart’s source data, the chart total will update too.
Look at a sample pie chart
Let’s create a pie chart to demonstrate our technique.
To build a pie chart:
1. Launch Excel and open a blank workbook.
2. Enter data in columns A and B similar to ours shown in Figure A.
3. Select cell C2 and type =$B2/(SUM($B$2:$B$5)) to calculate the percentage of the total sales.
Press [Ctrl][Enter] to save the formula and keep the same cell selected. Double-click on cell C2’s Fill handle to copy down the formula.
A:
Your pie chart will show the sale percentages by department, but we’ll add the total sales figure too.
1. Select any cell within the data table and click the Chart Wizard button chart wizard. (In 2007, select the Insert tab and select Pie from the Charts area.)
