Skip to main content
cancel
Showing results for 
Search instead for 
Did you mean: 

The Power BI Data Visualization World Championships is back! Get ahead of the game and start preparing now! Learn more

Reply
mikebi
Helper III
Helper III

format negative numbers in paranthesis from a measure

Hello,

What is the best way to format a measure to show the negative numbers in paranthesis, negative 100 is (100).

 

This is my model.

 

Thank You,

Michael

 

mikebi_0-1712840555695.png

 

2 ACCEPTED SOLUTIONS

@mikebi  please use this, it will do the job.
Formatted Sales = IF([Total Sales] < 0, "(" & FORMAT(ABS([Total Sales]), "#,##0.00") & ")", FORMAT([Total Sales], "#,##0.00"))

Did I answer your question? Mark my post as a solution! Appreciate your Kudos !!

View solution in original post

@mikebi So, Dynamic format strings for measures are a preview feature that you have to turn on. Once you turn them on you can go here and choose Dynamic and paste in the format string I provided.

Greg_Deckler_0-1712847486136.png

 

The problem with doing it using FORMAT is that you turn the number into text and that is often a very bad thing if you are trying to plot the number in a line graph for example. But, if you are just displaying it in a table or matrix then it might not be so bad.



Follow on LinkedIn
@ me in replies or I'll lose your thread!!!
Instead of a Kudo, please vote for this idea
Become an expert!: Enterprise DNA
External Tools: MSHGQM
YouTube Channel!: Microsoft Hates Greg
Latest book!:
DAX For Humans

DAX is easy, CALCULATE makes DAX hard...

View solution in original post

4 REPLIES 4
Greg_Deckler
Community Champion
Community Champion

@mikebi Use this as your custom format string:

 

#,0.###############;(#,0.###############);#,0.###############



Follow on LinkedIn
@ me in replies or I'll lose your thread!!!
Instead of a Kudo, please vote for this idea
Become an expert!: Enterprise DNA
External Tools: MSHGQM
YouTube Channel!: Microsoft Hates Greg
Latest book!:
DAX For Humans

DAX is easy, CALCULATE makes DAX hard...

Hello, 

 

Where can I define the Custom Format String in Power BI?

 

Thank You,

 

Michael

@mikebi So, Dynamic format strings for measures are a preview feature that you have to turn on. Once you turn them on you can go here and choose Dynamic and paste in the format string I provided.

Greg_Deckler_0-1712847486136.png

 

The problem with doing it using FORMAT is that you turn the number into text and that is often a very bad thing if you are trying to plot the number in a line graph for example. But, if you are just displaying it in a table or matrix then it might not be so bad.



Follow on LinkedIn
@ me in replies or I'll lose your thread!!!
Instead of a Kudo, please vote for this idea
Become an expert!: Enterprise DNA
External Tools: MSHGQM
YouTube Channel!: Microsoft Hates Greg
Latest book!:
DAX For Humans

DAX is easy, CALCULATE makes DAX hard...

@mikebi  please use this, it will do the job.
Formatted Sales = IF([Total Sales] < 0, "(" & FORMAT(ABS([Total Sales]), "#,##0.00") & ")", FORMAT([Total Sales], "#,##0.00"))

Did I answer your question? Mark my post as a solution! Appreciate your Kudos !!

Helpful resources

Announcements
November Power BI Update Carousel

Power BI Monthly Update - November 2025

Check out the November 2025 Power BI update to learn about new features.

Fabric Data Days Carousel

Fabric Data Days

Advance your Data & AI career with 50 days of live learning, contests, hands-on challenges, study groups & certifications and more!

FabCon Atlanta 2026 carousel

FabCon Atlanta 2026

Join us at FabCon Atlanta, March 16-20, for the ultimate Fabric, Power BI, AI and SQL community-led event. Save $200 with code FABCOMM.

Top Solution Authors
Top Kudoed Authors