In our earlier guide on Mapping a Trial Balance to Financial Statements, we showed how you can take raw accounting data and organize it into a P&L, Balance Sheet, and Cash Flow Statement.

That article focused on the manual method — using SUMIFS and XLOOKUP formulas to roll up trial balance accounts into financial statement line items. It’s a flexible approach, but it can be time-consuming to set up and maintain.

Since publishing that post, we’ve had many requests asking:

“Can we use Pivot Tables instead of formulas to create financial statements?”

The answer is yes — and in this guide, we’ll walk through how to build pivot table financial statements step-by-step, using our downloadable Trial Balance Pivot Table Example.

Pivot Tables for Financial Statements – Multiple Methods

Step 1 – Start With the Mapping

Before you can build any financial statement — whether by formulas or pivot tables — you need to map each trial balance account to:

  1. Statement – P&L or Balance Sheet
  2. Statement Line Item – e.g., Revenue, COGS, Operating Expenses, Cash, Accounts Receivable

In our example workbook:

  • The Trial Balance sheet contains account-level values (debits, credits, and net amounts).
  • The Chart of Accounts Mapping sheet assigns each account to its statement and line item.

This mapping step ensures that when you pivot or sum, everything rolls into the correct financial statement category.

Step 2 – Manual Method (SUMIFS / XLOOKUP)

In our previous blog, we used:

  • XLOOKUP to bring the mapped statement & line item into the trial balance table.
  • SUMIFS to total amounts by line item and by period.

Pros:

  • Full control over layout and formatting.
  • Easy to insert calculated lines like Gross Profit or Net Income.

Cons:

  • More setup time.
  • Risk of formula errors when accounts or line items change.

Step 3 – Pivot Table Method

Once your mapping is in place, pivot tables can generate financial statement summaries in seconds.

How to create:

  1. Select your trial balance data including the mapped fields.
  2. Go to Insert → Pivot Table.
  3. Drag Statement to the Rows area.
  4. Drag Statement Line Item under Statement.
  5. Drag Net Credit (or your amount field) to Values.

You’ll instantly have a roll-up of all accounts into financial statement categories.

Example 1 – All Accounts

In the workbook’s Example 1 sheet, we’ve built a pivot that:

  • Groups by Statement → Statement Line Item.
  • Totals the Net Credit amounts.

This produces a quick high-level report — but it mixes P&L and Balance Sheet unless you filter.

Example 2 – Balance Sheet Filter

In Example 2, we filter the pivot to only show Balance Sheet accounts.
This way, you see assets, liabilities, and equity without P&L rows cluttering the view.

Step 4 – Limitations of Pivot Tables for Financial Statements

While pivot tables are fast and easy, they come with some drawbacks for true financial reporting:

  1. P&L vs. Balance Sheet logic
    • Pivot tables don’t “know” that P&L accounts reset each year while Balance Sheet accounts carry forward.
    • You’ll need separate pivots or pre-processed data to handle this correctly.
  2. Retained Earnings roll-forward
    • Must be calculated manually and inserted.
  3. Sorting and layout
    • Pivots sort line items alphabetically by default, not in proper financial statement order, unless you add a custom sort or helper column.

Pivot Tables for Financial Statements – Download the Example File

Inside you’ll find:

  • Trial Balance data
  • Chart of Accounts Mapping
  • SUMIFS/XLOOKUP example
  • Two Pivot Table examples ready to adapt to your own data

Step 6 – Beyond Pivot Tables – Using a Data Cube

Pivot tables are great for quick summaries, but they have limits.
If you want more power, consider using a data cube application — Why Data Cubes Matter in 2025 explains why this approach is becoming the gold standard.

A data cube is an advanced database that stores your mapped financial data in multiple dimensions — such as time, department, account type, and region.

With a cube, you can:

  • Pivot and filter across unlimited dimensions instantly.
  • Automatically separate P&L and Balance Sheet logic.
  • Roll forward retained earnings without extra steps.
  • Maintain perfect financial statement order — every time.

By using a tool like PivotXL, you can connect that data cube directly to Excel and build custom financial statements in exactly the look and feel you want — while automating the entire refresh process.

This gives you the speed of pivot tables with the control of a dedicated reporting database — all inside Excel.

Related Reads:

📎 Download the Trial Balance Pivot Table Example
➡️ Mapping Trial Balance to Financial Statements
➡️ Why Data Cubes Matter in 2025

Advanced Read:

How to Pivot a Pivot Table in Excel (Step-by-Step Guide)