Skip to main content
cancel
Showing results for 
Search instead for 
Did you mean: 

Get Fabric Certified for FREE during Fabric Data Days. Don't miss your chance! Request now

Reply
Nigel29
New Member

Measure not recognizing columns

I'm new to Power BI and have really been struggling with these DAX formulas. I've been trying to do gross profit margin as a new measure but it seems the columns are not being recognised and I can't figure out why or where I went wrong. 

Nigel29_0-1653639709715.png

 

1 ACCEPTED SOLUTION
SpartaBI
Community Champion
Community Champion

@Nigel29 you can't reference a "naked" column in a measure without first supplying to it a row context (in most cases the straight forward solution is just wrap it up with an aggregation function). In your case you just need to add an aggregation, probably SUM.
So write: DIVIDE (SUM('Table'[Column1]),SUM('Table'[Column2]))
 


2022-05-19 17_30_22-Re_ Need help on DAX function with measure vs colu... - Microsoft Power BI Commu.png

Showcase Report – Contoso By SpartaBI

Check it out! Give it a thumbs up if you liked it 🙂

SpartaBI_3-1652115470761.png   SpartaBI_1-1652115142093.png   SpartaBI_2-1652115154505.png

Full-Logo11.png

View solution in original post

5 REPLIES 5
SpartaBI
Community Champion
Community Champion

@Nigel29 you can't reference a "naked" column in a measure without first supplying to it a row context (in most cases the straight forward solution is just wrap it up with an aggregation function). In your case you just need to add an aggregation, probably SUM.
So write: DIVIDE (SUM('Table'[Column1]),SUM('Table'[Column2]))
 


2022-05-19 17_30_22-Re_ Need help on DAX function with measure vs colu... - Microsoft Power BI Commu.png

Showcase Report – Contoso By SpartaBI

Check it out! Give it a thumbs up if you liked it 🙂

SpartaBI_3-1652115470761.png   SpartaBI_1-1652115142093.png   SpartaBI_2-1652115154505.png

Full-Logo11.png

Would I need to alter the formula for it by affected by dates on a splicer

SpartaBI
Community Champion
Community Champion

@Nigel29 It will pick up any filter in the way I wrote you.

There is no calculate their that change the filter context

Thank you very much.

SpartaBI
Community Champion
Community Champion

@Nigel29 my pleasure 🙂
Hey, check out my showcase report:
https://community.powerbi.com/t5/Data-Stories-Gallery/SpartaBI-Feat-Contoso-100K/td-p/2449543
Give it a thumbs up over there if you liked it 🙂

Helpful resources

Announcements
Fabric Data Days Carousel

Fabric Data Days

Advance your Data & AI career with 50 days of live learning, contests, hands-on challenges, study groups & certifications and more!

October Power BI Update Carousel

Power BI Monthly Update - October 2025

Check out the October 2025 Power BI update to learn about new features.

FabCon Atlanta 2026 carousel

FabCon Atlanta 2026

Join us at FabCon Atlanta, March 16-20, for the ultimate Fabric, Power BI, AI and SQL community-led event. Save $200 with code FABCOMM.