Forum Discussion
cumulative columns vs. measure
Trying to create a cumulative total as a column, but the results just don't get right. Created a cumulative total as a measure, which is the correct calculation. anyone knows what's the diffe...
JorgeESAN
Advocate II
Advocate IIThat's a very important question: "when to use a column vs a measure"
In a nutshell:
- you use a column whenever (1) you want to create a value (numeric or not) to FILTER data. For instance, a column with 1 or 0 to distinguish good vs bad customers; or (2) to use it in a relationship with another table.
- you use a measure for everything else.
A column takes up space & memory. A measure does not.
It may be way simpler to use a measure using the function TOTALYTD. For that, you will need a second table - a date table- with one row per day, for every single day for the range of years your data needs.
Regards,
Power BI Ninja
Hi,
Suggest also considering having a cumulative column in the data you import. After trying measures (refer formula here) as well as calculated column, i found it far easier to add a new column in the data source i am importing from with cumulative value.
