data by month

[kaosyeti via AccessMonster.com]

I’m having trouble figuring out how to get started on a
report that takes a set of currency values in a table and totals them in such
a way so that I can break-down total income by month. So if I have 14
different potential values (there will always be some at zero-value) and also
have 1 department field that can have 1 of 3 values, how would I structure a
query (ultimately leading to a pivot-chart which I’ve never used before) that
will total all dollar values for a given month for each of 3 departments?
The date range will be no more than a year at a time but may only be 1 month
of values.
If you can also tell me how to get this into a chart, I would appreciate
that. I’ve never worked with pivot-charts before and can use some tips on
how to get my values from the query into the chart. If it helps to know this,
I want to use a relatively simple columnar graph where the values across the
bottom axis (X, I think) are each month and the values in each column are
the three different departments, resulting in a 3-colored column for each
month.
Thanks for any help you can give me.

 

[SteveM]

Have you tried the Chart Wizard?

Create a query that contains all the fields you need, then use the Chart
Wizard (Reports) to sort, group and summarise your data.

Steve