Thanks very much, Bernie, that sounds reasonably clear - I'll give it go!
--
David


"Bernie Deitrick" wrote:

David,

I'm sorry that I wasn't clear: I had just answered a Pivot Table question, and sort of went into
your question with that mind set.

Let's say that your table is in columns A through D, with headers in row 1. In cell E1, enter
"Date". Then in cell E2, enter the formula

=DATEVALUE(B2 & " 1, " & A2)

and format that cell for any date option that you prefer, and copy that down column E to match your
data.

Then select the entire data table (column A through E, including all rows) and select Data / Pivot
Table... (the "Pivot Table" option wording depends on your version, but you get the idea) and
click "Finish".

That should create a new sheet with a pivot table template, and the Pivot Table Field List dropdown
showing. Drag the button from the dropdown with the "date" label to the row field area, and drag
the "category" button to the row field area, then drag your 'value' button to the data field area.
Right click the 'value' button and select sum. This will create a pivot table with the values
summed by category and date. Then right click the grey date button on the pivot table, choose
"Group" and select "Quarters" in the 'by' window.

For more on grouping in Pivot Tables, visit:

http://www.contextures.com/xlPivot07.html

HTH,
Bernie
MS Excel MVP