Are you still putting your data in plain, old spreadsheets? Excel 2013 makes it easy to link tables, create reports and more.

Excel possesses formidable database powers. Creating a relational database starts with a Master table that links to subordinates called (awkwardly) Slave, Child, or Detail tables.

Here, we show you how to create a pivot table in Excel to take advantage of one of the application’s most powerful tools. Before we start, just what exactly are pivot tables good for?