Forum Discussion

Dimani's avatar
Dimani
Icon for Helper II rankHelper II
1 year ago
Solved

Monthly cumulative values for pivoted data?

Hi   A colleague is working on some monthly numbers, for different categories, and she wants to calculate and graph the running sum by  month too.   Her data are already pivoted in Excel, and she...
  • Anonymous's avatar
    Anonymous
    1 year ago

    Hi Dimani ,,

     

    The approach 

    "

    Also, in terms of calculating the running sum, I saw some examples that other users use the unpivoted data and a measure to calculate the running sum.  Is that a better approach than using the pivot monthly data to calculate the running sum?"

     

    is the best.

     

    Cheers

     

    CheenuSing

  • Anonymous's avatar
    Anonymous
    1 year ago

    Hi Dimani 

     

    Just as CheenuSing said that you don't need to pivot the data in power bi.

    Different with Excel, Power bi's calculations are primarily column-based, which results in less flexibility than Excel in some ways. Excel allows for quick adjustments and manual interventions if needed, but it might require more manual effort to create complex visualizations. And Power BI offers advanced visualization options and interactive dashboards, making it easier to explore and present data.

     

    In Power BI, you can plot the pivoted running sum by months without unpivoting the data. A measure can easily solve the problem without taking up additional system storage space.

     

    And if you want to get a pivot table, maybe you can try the matrix visual:

     

     

    Best Regards

    Zhengdong Xu
    If this post helps, then please consider Accept it as the solution to help the other members find it more quickly.