DAX & Table Query Best Practice

Hi Byzza - You're on the right track with the idea of merging tables and unpivoting. Here’s a best-practice design to simplify modeling and comparison across all sources.

In Power Query:
Import the wide table
Use “Unpivot Columns” to transform all value columns (like Volume, Revenue…) into rows under Item + Value
Add columns: Source, Phasing, and any necessary metadata.

You can write one dynamic DAX measure that works across all items (using SELECTEDVALUE or slicers)

Actual vs Budget Variance %

Variance % =
VAR Actual =
CALCULATE([Total Value], FactTable[Source] = "Actuals")
VAR Budget =
CALCULATE([Total Value], FactTable[Source] = "Budget")
RETURN
DIVIDE(Actual - Budget, Budget)

Hope the above suggestion and details helps.