Toggle varying scenarios from within the source file (Excel)

[Kmason_6]

I am working on a dashboard to summarize a financial model for my company. I would like to structure the PowerBI dashboard to toggle key metrics within the source file and show the impacts instantly in the dashboard. 

As an example - to toggle the construction start date within the model to see how it impacts NPV and Net Income over time. 

I am hoping to avoid having to open a cumbersome financial model, alter the variable, save, open the PowerBI file, and refresh the data to see how the dashboard changes. I am hoping to be able to toggle some key variables and see the impact to the financials quickly while showing the dashboard to key stakeholders. 

Any advice would be greatly appreciated.

[BA_Pete]

Hi @Kmason_6 ,

If your source data is granular enough i.e. it contains the base value that you want to apply scenarios to, then you can use DAX Parameters:

Use this to create a list of values that can be selected to adjust the scenario. It will also automatically create a parameter measure that you can use to visualise the change.

For example:

The PBIX attached below contains the above example so you can see how this fits together.

In order to do this for different dates the principle is the same but you'll need to create our own date list (usually just a calendar table), and you'll need to write a slightly more complex measure or set of measures, maybe something like this:

_noofDaysSelected =
VAR __selectedDate = MAX(calendar[date])
RETURN
DATEDIFF(__selectedDate, TODAY(), DAY)

Pete