Calculation groups - pros and cons? Only answer if you have hands-on experience

[nandic]

Calculation groups look really amazing.
They help us clean data model, remove dozens and dozens of DAX measures.

But, a few times when i wanted to create and use them, i always hit some kind of wall.
Can't filter a visual by it.
Can't do conditional formatting.
Later i've read that there are performance issues.
At the beginning it is nice, but later it becomes hard to maintain.

So, if you have hands-on experience, could you please share your experience?
When it is recommended to use calculation groups?
When they are not recommended?

Please, only answer if you worked with it. Do not respond if you need to consult ChatGPT.

Thanks in advance,
Nemanja

[nandic]

@rohit1991 @xifeng_L  thank you very much for your answers and explanations

[xifeng_L]

Hi @nandic 

Here are some scenarios where I use calculation groups:

1、Use calculation groups to append filters to achieve pseudo-RLS, because native RLS may not be suitable in some scenarios; for example, page A needs to use all data, while page B needs to use the data the current user can view.

2、Bulk logical changes, or custom grouping of dimension fields (correctly mapping filters from auxiliary tables).

3、Use calculation groups to implement dynamic data formatting, but since Power BI also supports dynamic formatting, this is used much less.

4、In addition, they can be used to hide parts of the calculation logic, raising the maintenance threshold, etc.

...

Another scenario I don’t recommend, in my view, is when you need to use multiple calculation groups, because you then have to consider the execution precedence between them.

Different precedences can lead to different results, so you’ll need to spend considerable effort planning the evaluation process.

But this isn’t the fault of calculation groups. If you can master every detail of calculation groups, then feel free to use them.

Did I answer your question? If yes, pls mark my post as a solution and appreciate your Kudos !

Thank you~

[rohit1991 · Accepted solution]

Hii @nandic 

Calculation Groups are amazing  but only when planned intentionally.In my experience, they reduce measure count dramatically,but they do introduce trade-offs in filtering + formatting.If your use case is time intelligence or metric switching, they are a big win.If your report depends heavily on conditional formatting or item-level filtering,
they become restrictive.