Self-join to create a measure, columns virtual

dkay84_PowerBI I think you are asking me if I can import the data and convert the virtual columns to actual columns when I do it. I was not aware the Query Editor can do this (which is useful to know), but I know how to do it with SQL anyway. It is just not what I want to do.

My question is really about whether I can model the data in PowerBI the way it comes from the source system. I can leave the columns "vitual" as they are in the source system, or I can pivot them to actual columns as they will almost always be presented. But the latter has some drawbacks I already mentioned and is not my preferred way to go.

I think there should be a way to keep the columns "virtual", as in this case the columns usually correspond to a time period, so they are similar to a date on a sales record. Clearly there are times when users would want to compare sales during one period to sales in a different period. Or expenses in one period to another period. You would not pivot each period to a separate column to do this. Could the DAX time intelligence functions be the answer I am looking for?