USE AdventureWorks2012; GO -- Define the CTE expression name and column list. WITH Sales_CTE (SalesPersonID, SalesOrderID, SalesYear) AS -- Define the CTE query. ( SELECT SalesPersonID, SalesOrderID, YEAR(OrderDate) AS SalesYear FROM Sales.SalesOrderHeader WHERE SalesPersonID IS NOT NULL ) -- Define the outer query referencing the CTE name. SELECT SalesPersonID, COUNT(SalesOrderID) AS TotalSales, SalesYear FROM Sales_CTE GROUP BY SalesYear, SalesPersonID ORDER BY SalesPersonID, SalesYear; GO source : http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/ms175972.aspx