this might be of help but probably easier to set up months & amounts using
sumproduct
http://peltiertech.com/Excel/Pivots/pivotstart.htm


--
Don Guillett
SalesAid Software

"Ian Roberts" wrote in message
...
Hi

I'm using office XP.

I keep a single spreadsheet were I record orders received.

Its a very simple sheet with one order per row.

In col B I place the date the order was received (in the format DD/MM/YY)

I'd like to make a chart (pie or column) which displays the total number
of
orders per month so that I can see at a glance when were busy and quieter
periods.

I've tried using the wizard but all I ever get is a mess and not what I
expect to see at all.

I suspect I may need to separate my data by month? But is there a way for
Excel to work that out for itself from a single column of dates?

Maybe I'm expecting far too much or I haven't laid out my data correctly.

I'm assuming Excel can distinguish the dates by month and then calculate
the
total number of orders received within each month.

Your guidance would be much appreciated.

Many thanks for your time.

Ian