Jeffa, for pivot tables use MS-Excel. The Perl Win32::OLE module allows one to establish a Perl COM connection to MS-Excel in the background. I have used this for over a decade to send my SQL Result Sets from MS-Access database files to Excel files. I don't use the MS-Access front-end software, but only connect to MS-Access files via Dave Roth's Win32::ODBC Perl module.

Remember, this did not stop Microsoft Corporation from producing MS-Access software for data storage. Likewise, I don't expect most people would object to FlatFile/SDBM databases not providing an all inclusive solution for reporting. If you are looking for a single product that does everything (such as MS-Access/MS-Excel combined into one software), good luck.