Excel helps the user by inserting labels in key points to help the user identify what they are looking at.  If you have a dynamic set of data (that is, it can change and represent different different sets of data) that feeds a chart, you might not want to use Excel’s default data labels.  Luckily Excel will allow you to link certain labels to a cell in your file, which will update the label’s value each time the cell value changes.

To do this, simply click on the label so that there is a box surrounding it.  Then click in the formula bar and type “=A1″ (assuming you wish to link the label to cell A1).  Hit Enter and you’re all set!

Linking the chart’s labels is useful when, for example, you have some monthly sales information set up so that when you type “Monthly” in cell A1, it displays the data by month, and when you type “Quarterly” in cell A1 it displays it by quarter.  Essentially its the same data, just aggregated a little differently. 

Having a chart that is as dynamic as the data would be nice so that you don’t have to keep changing the chart title from “Monthly Sales Data” to “Quarterly Sales Data”, or the X-Axis label from “Monthly” to “Quarterly”, and back again each time you change the views.

• Column charts are best suited to compare distinct object levels in a vertical format.
• Line charts compare trends over even time periods, but are not necessarily used to show totals.
• Pie charts show the relative size of a particular data point as a part of the whole.
• Bar charts are best for comparing distinct object levels ina horizontal format. It is similar to a column chart, just flipped on its side.
• Area charts show how individual volume changes over time in relation to a toal volume.
• Scatter charts compare trends over uneven time or measurement intervals. This type of chart is useful to spot trends in a set of data.