How to Reference PivotTable Data in Excel Formulas with

GETPIVOTDATA?
In this article, I have shown you how you can reference PivotTable Cell Data in Excel
formulas using GETPIVOTDATA function. If you feel uneasy with the auto
implementation of GETPIVOTDATA function in the Excel formulas, you can stop it!

After you have created a pivot table, you may want to create formulas that will reference
one or more cells within that pivot table. Here is the way how you can do that.

Related: Excel Pivot Table Tutorials for Dummies [Step by Step]

Reference PivotTable Data Using GETPIVOTDATA

Function
The following figure shows a pivot table. The pivot table displays income and expense
information for the three years.

A pivot table. We shall use this pivot table to explain cell references within this pivot table.

We entered a formula in column M, and this column is not part of our pivot table.
Formulas entered into cells M3, M4, M5, and M6 will calculate the expense-to-income
ratio for each year and grand total. To enter the formula in cell M3, we have selected cell
M3 at first. Then we entered "=" sign, then selected cell J3, then entered "/" sign, and
lastly selected cell I3. We should have "=J3/I3" in cell M3.

1
How to Reference PivotTable Data in Excel Formulas with
GETPIVOTDATA?
In fact, the formula in cell M3 is
=GETPIVOTDATA("Sum of
Expenses",$H$2,"Year",2010)/GETPIVOTDATA("Sum of
Income",$H$2,"Year",2010)

When we have used the pointing technique (selecting cells with the mouse when
entering formula) to create a formula, Excel replaced those simple cell references with a
much more complicated function GETPIVOTDATA. If you type the cell references
manually (instead of pointing to them), Excel will not use the GETPIVOTDATA
function. Using the GETPIVOTDATA function helps ensure that the formula will
continue to reference the pointed cells if the pivot table layout is changed. Following
figure shows the complete work we have done so far.

Expense/ Income zone is calculating expense income ratio for three years and grand total.

The following shows the pivot table after expanding the years to show the month detail.
You will see that the formulas in column M still show the accurate result even though
the referenced cells in the formulas are in a different location. If I had used simple cell
references like "=J3/I3", the formula would not return the same result after expanding
the years.

2
How to Reference PivotTable Data in Excel Formulas with
GETPIVOTDATA?

The formula still shows the correct result after expanding the year.

Caution
Using the GETPIVOTDATA function has one limitation: The data that it retrieves must
be visible. If you modify the pivot table so that the value used by GETPIVOTDATA is no
longer visible, the formula will return an error.

How to stop auto using of GETPIVOTDATA

function?
If you want to prevent Excel from using the GETPIVOTDATA function when you point
to pivot table cells at the time of creating a formula, choose PivotTable Tools ➪
Analyze ➪ PivotTable ➪ Options ➪ Generate GetPivot Data command.

3
How to Reference PivotTable Data in Excel Formulas with
GETPIVOTDATA?
Deselect the check mark to turn off GETPIVOTDATA function working when you point
cells in the pivot table. This command is a toggle.

Stop auto using of GETPIVOTDATA function

Download working file

Download the working file that I've used to create this article from the link below:

pivot-table-cell-referencing.xlsx

Happy Excelling :)