QT#72- Improve the Readability of YTD Actual Cost vs Budget Measure Using Power BI FORMAT function

In this video, you'll learn a quick and easy approach to improving the readability of measures. It is useful when showing a measure that calculates a variance from a baseline figure. For example percentage difference of YTD cost from the YTD budget figure.

If the cost is under i.e. cost is -2.34% of the budget, then it's easy enough to read because we instinctively read the minus sign and think "below".

However, if the actual cost is above the budget figure by 3.25% we don't automatically read this as being plus 3.25%. We tend to read it as being 3.25% of a figure and it means we had to stop and think about what the figure actually represents.

I'll explain how to add a '+' sign to the measure using the FORMAT function so it is displayed as +3.25%. It's a simple subtle change but makes a big difference. When we see the plus sign before the figure it's easier for us to read the actual cost as being 'plus' 3.25% over the budget cost.

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About the author 

Jason Davidson

Jason Davidson is the founder of EffectiveDashboards.com. He is a maintenance and reliability engineer who uses Power BI every day to create dashboards that help him and others make better decisions. In his spare time, he likes running and has recently got into photography. He also loves spending time hanging out and larking about with his two daughters.

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