Defining Data Types in the Data Model

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In the Power Pivot data model, the entire data in a column must be of the same data type. To accomplish accurate calculations, you need to ensure that the data type of each column in each table in the data model is as per requirement.

Tables in the Data Model

In the data model created in the previous chapter, there are 3 tables −

• Accounts
• Geography Locn
• Finance Data

Ensuring Appropriate Data Types

To ensure that the columns in the tables are as required, you need to check their data types in the Power Pivot window.

• Click a column in a table.

• Note the data type of the column as displayed on the Ribbon in the Formatting group.

If the data type of the selected column is not appropriate, change the data type as follows.

• Click the down arrow next to the data type in the Formatting group.

• Click the appropriate data type in the dropdown list.

• Repeat for every column in all the tables in the data model.

Columns in the Accounts Table

In the Accounts table, you have the following columns −

Sr.No	Column & Description
1	Account Contains one account number for each row. The column has unique values and is used in defining the relationship with the Finance Data table.
2	Class The class associated with each account. Example - Expenses, Net Revenue, etc.
3	Sub Class Describes the type of expense or revenue. Example – People.

All the columns in the Accounts table are of descriptive in nature and hence are of Text data type.

Columns in the Geography Locn Table

The Geography Locn table contains data about each Profit Center.

The column Profit Center contains one profit center identity for each row. This column has unique values and is used in defining the relationship with the Finance Data table.

Columns in the Finance Data Table

In the Finance Data table, you have the following columns −

Column	Description	Data type
Fiscal Month	Month and Year	Text
Profit Center	Profit Center identity	Text
Account	Account number. Each account can have multiple Profit Centers.	Text
Budget	Monthly budget amounts for each Profit Center.	Currency
Actual	Monthly actual amounts for each Profit Center.	Currency
Forecast	Monthly forecast amounts for each profit center.	Currency
Actual People	Month end actual number of employees for each Profit Center of each people Account.	Whole Number
Budget People	Month end budget number of employees for each Profit Center of each people Account.	Whole Number
Forecast People	Month end forecast number of employees for each Profit Center of each people Account.	Whole Number

Types of Tables in the Data Model

Both Accounts and Geography Locn tables are the dimensional tables, also called as lookup tables.

Finance Data table is the fact table, also known as the data table. Finance Data table contains the data required for the profit and analysis calculations. You will also create metadata in the form of measures and calculated columns in this Finance Data table, so as to model the data for various types of profit and loss calculations, as you proceed with this tutorial.