The information in these sheets should have a similar order and arrangement, with details being in their exact location. You only use this technique when your worksheets follow a similar layout, particularly if they’re from a single template. That said, here are the three common ones: There are several methods available that you can use depending on the values you have. As we mentioned earlier, there’s no one-size-fits approach to the process.
How to Consolidate Data in ExcelĮxcel allows you to centralize data in several ways. Excel’s combining functionality can take this load off your back, allowing you to manage your tasks more efficiently.
As data becomes more extensive, workbooks pile, and cells multiply, the approach turns into a chore. The copy-and-paste approach works well only when you have a few cells to fill. Also, if information changes in any of your source worksheets, you have to adjust the summaries manually. The downside, though, is that you’d have to put in a lot of effort and the process would consume too much time. You can copy and paste this information, and you’d probably arrive at accurate results. Let’s say you have to get comprehensive summaries for annual budgets for your business, for a time-period spanning decades. The consolidation function’s true potential, however, is maximized when you have to combine large data sets.
Excel can help them develop an error-free budget, allowing them to avoid the hassle of calculating manually. One of their duties may be coming up with an organization’s budget by combining accounts from several different departments. Financial analysts often spend large parts of their day collecting information from multiple sources. The consolidation function in Excel can help just about anyone organizes their data. Enabling this option allows the summary table to refresh once you change the information in the source worksheets. The function also gives you an option to link to your source worksheets (the sheets you’re copying data from). While this can seem like a major drawback, most of the sets of data you’ll come across will follow this format. So if your table has multiple labels, the tool may not work for you. The data to consolidate needs to have a single column and a single row of labels and headings, respectively. Located under the “Data”’ tab, it helps keep things organized for future analysis.īut it only works under one condition. Its main function is simple: combining information from several worksheets or workbooks and displaying it in a neat summary. A handy function for FP&A analysts, it has been around for over two decades. The result? Your information becomes much easier to read and understand in its new aggregate form.Įxcel makes this possible through the ‘Consolidate’ tool. In simple terms, it creates for you a ‘master’ table where you can access data summarized from other sheets. What is Data Consolidation in Excel?ĭata Consolidation is an Excel feature that enables you to collect data from different worksheets and compile it in one, centralized worksheet. In this guide, we’ll be demystifying the Excel process for finance professionals. But there are no hard-and-fast rules for the consolidating process, contrary to what you may assume. Mistakes can be costly when you’re handling a lot of your company’s financial data, and you’d have to repeat the process a couple of times to get a hang of it. The default value is False.Trying to consolidate data in Excel for the first time can frustrate many FP&A professionals. False to have the consolidation copy the data.
(Boolean) - True to have the consolidation use worksheet links. (Boolean) - True to consolidate data based on row titles in the left column of the consolidation ranges. (Boolean) - True to consolidate data based on column titles in the top row of the consolidation ranges. Here you can find possible values for XlConsolidationFunction (XlConsolidationFunction) - One of the constants of XlConsolidationFunction, which specifies the type of consolidation.
The references must include the full path of sheets to be consolidated. (String) - The sources of the consolidation as an array of text reference strings in R1C1-style notation. Consolidates data from multiple ranges on multiple worksheets into a single range on a single worksheet.Ĭonsolidate ( Sources, Function, TopRow, LeftColumn, CreateLinks) Worksheets("Sheet1").Range("A1").Consolidate _