Excel Sum by Month - excel

Question

Hi have the following scenario:
Items in Column A, Total Time in Column B, then I have 365 dates in columns.
I want to summarise the column dates by month.
I want, for example, for Item A, in March, total Times taken.
How to do it?
Thanks

Answer 1

So, somewhat overkill but was interested in how to do it with power query and was interested in building a custom function for the MonthNumber.
Powerquery is free add-in for pre 2016 and is inbuilt for 2016
STEPS:
1) Data tab (2016) or powerquery tab (2010 to 2016) => Select query from table and ensure your source data is selected and appears in pop-up
2) Select the first date column, hold shift down and select last date, then select unpivot columns
3) Make sure column Attribute (your pivoted dates) is formatted as a date column
4) Open the advanced query editor window
and paste the following between let and source
fnMonthNum = (input) => let
values = {
{"January", "1"},
{"February", "2"},
{"March", "3"},
{"April","4"},
{"May", "5"},
{"June", "6"},
{"July", "7"},
{"August", "8"},
{"September", "9"},
{"October", "10"},
{"November", "11"},
{"December", "12"},
{input, "Undefined"}
},
Result = List.First(List.Select(values, each _{0}=input)){1}
in
Result,
This is M code for creating a custom function that returns month numbers from month names.
5) Add column tab => Add custom column, rename it MonthName and insert the following text
=Date.ToText([Attribute],"MMMM")
6) Add another custom column, rename it MonthNum and use our new function here:
= fnMonthNum([MonthName])
7) Remove the now unnecessary Attribute column; select column => right click => remove
8) Transform tab => Group by and enter the following:
9) Make sure MonthNum column is numeric.
10) Close and load to => Only create connection,
Tick checkbox for Add to data model, and then Load
11) As per instructions here: CREATE A PIVOT TABLE USING EXCEL’S INTERNAL DATA MODEL
Choose Insert→PivotTable from the Ribbon. The Create PivotTable dialog box opens.
Select the Use an External Data Source option, as shown, and then click the Choose Connection button. You see the Existing Connections dialog box, as shown.
Select the query you just created for Table1 and a destination for the pivottable
12) Arrange the fields as required and sort ascending on the MonthNum rowfield
13) Insert slicer
Note: You could introduce a custom sort to avoid having to use the MonthNum column for sorting.