Best Practice for Adding Commas to Numeric Values in Production Power BI Reports

[manoj_0911]

Hi Community,

I’m currently working on a production Power BI dashboard for a key business stakeholder. One of the feedback points I received was to "add commas to more easily read numbers", such as displaying 176701 as 176,701 for metrics like TOTAL CALLS.

I’d like to understand:

1. What is the best practice to implement comma formatting for numeric values in a production-grade Power BI report?

2. Are there any performance or sorting issues associated with using FORMAT in visuals like tables or cards?

3. What approach is preferred by experienced developers for maintainability and consistency?

Looking forward to your suggestions.

Thank you!

[v-hjannapu]

Hi @manoj_0911,
Thank you @bhanu_gautam , for your reply regarding the issue .

If the solutions provided by @bhanu_gautam  have resolved your issue, please mark it as Accept as  solution .This will also help other members who may have the same question in future.

If you have any more questions or need further help, feel free to share with us. We are always happy to assist you further.

Thank you for being an active part of the Microsoft Fabric Community.
Regards,
Harshitha.

[bhanu_gautam · Accepted solution]

@manoj_0911  for first you can use the FORMAT function in DAX to format your numbers with commas

FormattedCalls = FORMAT([TOTAL CALLS], "0,0")

And You can also set the format directly in the data model. Go to the data view, select the column you want to format, and then set the format to "Comma-separated" in the column tools and You can also use Decimel places in format option

For 2nd Using the FORMAT function in DAX can have some performance implications, especially if used extensively in large datasets. It can also affect sorting because the formatted values are treated as text. To avoid these issues, it is often better to set the format in the data model or use the built-in formatting options in Power BI Desktop.

For 3 rd I  prefer to set the format in the data model or use Power BI Desktop's built-in formatting options. This approach ensures that the formatting is consistent across all visuals and reduces the risk of performance issues. It also makes the report easier to maintain, as the formatting logic is centralized and not scattered across multiple DAX expressions.