newbie and old guy. 5 years data copied to one sheet. how to

[geecee71]

Hi.
i used to keep all my data month by month... (for my shop). Now with my new android phone i input every days figures, ins and outs, to an APP (finanacisto) and export a CSV file as a back up.
So, i have copied 5 years data to one big sheet and formatted it so i just append the CSV output on the end.
I can get most info i want with pivot tables, but when the size of the table changes other formulas i had to read subtotals need to be changed manually every time. (and the auto format for months (jan, feb, mar...) doesnt always work)
I want to take a different approach and make a list (in a new spreadsheet) in column A of the subtotals descriptions i want and the sums in column B.
My columns are Date, Amount, Account, Catagory, Payee, Day, Month, Year, Notes.
How do i sum March 2008 where payee = x, or
2009 where Catagory = x.
I cant get off the groud with the function wizard

Many thanks
geecee
im months at this

[ken johnson]

[geecee71]

Thanks a mill.
ill work on that.

i have over 10k rows and counting......................