Link always the first 5 lines from another table, even after a reorder. How

Question

Hello,
I'm creating my own expenses sheet based on the Numbers built-in model. I've about 15 categories and like to show only the top 5 and summarize the rest as other to plot a pie chart.
My idea was to create a new table called Top 5 Expenses with 6 rows, set the order of Expenses by Category table to greater expenses amount first, and on the Top 5 table I'd link the first row with the first row of Expenses by Category. This is pretty easy, just put = and click on the desired cell, but when I reorder the Expenses by Category table the link is updated to keep pointing to the old most expense category.
This is an example:
Expenses by Category
Home - $1000.00
Car - $500.00
Games - $130.00
Computer - $120.00
With this data a Top 3 table would be
Home - $1000.00 (= Expenses by Category :: A1)
Car - $500.00 (= Expenses by Category :: A2)
Games - $130.00 (= Expenses by Category :: A3)
But if I add a new transaction to Computer and it now gets the 3rd position, after a reorder the table is:
Expenses by Category
Home - $1000.00
Car - $500.00
Computer - $180.00
Games - $130.00
And the Top 3 became:
Home - $1000.00 (= Expenses by Category :: A1)
Car - $500.00 (= Expenses by Category :: A2)
Games - $130.00 *(= Expenses by Category :: A4)*
The Top 3 table isn't pointing to the 3rd line anymore. I've tried to set it to =Expenses by Category :: $A3, =Expenses by Category :: A$3 and =Expenses by Category :: $A$3. But it always is updated to A4.
Is there a way to the Top table point to the 5 first lines?

Answer 1

Felipe,
That's a very interesting problem statement. Here's how I would proceed.
Add a Table with the sole function of computing the rank of each category, using SUMIF to do the totals for each category and RANK to determine the position. If you are concerned about what happens in the case of a tie score, we can talk about that later - there's a pretty easy solution.
In a third table, from which you will plot, use VLOOKUP to grab categories in the proper order, as determined by the RANK expression in the second table. Your sixth row, Other, will have the value of the total expenses less the sum of the other five, easy enough to write an expression for.
I'd be happy to fill in any details you need.
Jerry