DAX Formula for Returning Previous Month's Balance

Formula Description

To return the balance of the month preceding the current month, you can utilize the following DAX formula. This formula computes the total balance for a specific month based on the month the user is analyzing.

DAX Formula

The DAX formula is structured as follows:

PreviousMonthBalance = 
CALCULATE(
    SUM('Table'[Balance]),
    PREVIOUSMONTH('Table'[Date])
)

Explanation of the Formula Components

1. CALCULATE Function: This is a powerful function that changes the context in which data is evaluated. It allows you to modify the filter context of your calculations.

2. SUM Function: This is used to aggregate the data. In this case, it sums up the [Balance] column from the specified table (here referred to as 'Table').

3. PREVIOUSMONTH Function: This function returns a table that contains all the dates from the previous month relative to the current date context taken from the [Date] column.

Practical Example

Scenario

Assume you have a table named FinancialData with the following columns:

• Date: Dates of financial transactions
• Balance: Balance amounts for each corresponding date

Implementation

Using the formula provided above, you can compute the previous month's balance. This will help you to easily analyze how balances change month over month.

For instance, if you want to create a new measure called Previous Month Balance, you would enter the formula in the measure definition in Power BI or SQL Server Analysis Services (SSAS).

You may visualize the output as follows:

In the table above, for March 2023, the Previous Month Balance value is $5,500, which is the balance from February 2023.

Conclusion

This DAX formula efficiently retrieves the balance from the prior month, facilitating the analysis of financial trends over time. Enhancing your DAX skills through available resources such as on the Enterprise DNA Platform could further refine your analytical capabilities.