I am in the process of updating my Pivot Table course and decided that I take another look at  the GetPivotData function.
GET PIVOT DATA is an Excel function that pulls data from your pivot table. I personally don’t use it  because if you hide a field you referenced in GETPIVOTDATA, the function stops working. Sometimes, just rearranging the fields in the table can impact the function as well. However, I did want you to be aware of it.
If you try to multiply a total in a pivot table, you will immediately see that Excel automatically references the GETPIVOTDATA function.  This is a problem because if you copy the formula,  you will get the same answer for the entire column or row.
In the example below, I opened Pivot_Rearrange.xlsx and removed the Product Name field from the Pivot Table.  Next I  clicked on cell C5, as I wanted to multiply B5 by 1.10 to estimate next year’s order amount by carrier.

Instead of showing =B5 it shows =GETPIVOTDATA(“Order Amount”,$A$3,”Ship Via”, “FedEx”)*1.10

Pivot Table Function GETPIVOT

 

 

Notice that A3 is treated as an absolute cell reference. If you copy the formula down,  you will get the same answer for all of the Ship Via carriers.  As a work around, I know many people who copy and paste the pivot table into another workbook if they want to do any math on the pivot table.  However, I found a great tip on the MrExcel.com website on how to avoid this problem.

  1. Go up the Options icon and click the drop-down arrow to the right of it.
  2. Uncheck Generate GetPivotData.

Pivot Table- GETPIVOT 2

 

 

 

Now, if you go back to cell C5 and recreate the formula, you will see  the formula bar now shows =B5*1.10. It will now copy down correctly. (Excel will not correct the GETPIVOTDATA formula so you need to delete it and then type in =B5*1.1.)

GETPIVOT

 

 

 

The best part is that once you uncheck it, Excel remembers so you do not have to keep unchecking the Generate GetPivotData icon every time you want to use a formula that references the pivot table.
This is an excerpt from my new Pivot Table Course that will be out the first week of June 2016.