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DAX Cheat Sheet: 32 measures with examples, free printable PDF
Tips & Tricks

DAX Cheat Sheet: 32 Measures With Examples

Written by FutureSavvy Team
Updated 9 Oct 2026 · 1 min read

Every measure below is written against the same model: a Sales fact table with Amount, Quantity, UnitPrice, CustomerID, OrderDate and ShipDate; a Product table with Category and Cost; a Customer table with Region; and a Date table marked as the date table and related to Sales on OrderDate, with a second, inactive relationship on ShipDate. Swap the table and column names and the rest works as printed. Each one has a one-line note on what it does and the mistake people most often make with it.

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Base aggregations

DAX
Total Sales = SUM(Sales[Amount])
The measure everything else builds on. Write it once and reference [Total Sales] elsewhere; repeating SUM(Sales[Amount]) inside other measures is how reports drift.
DAX
Order Count = COUNTROWS(Sales)
Rows in the current filter. COUNT(Sales[Amount]) skips blanks; COUNTROWS counts the row whatever is in it.
DAX
Customers = DISTINCTCOUNT(Sales[CustomerID])
Unique customers who bought. Count the column on Sales, not Customer, so it only counts people with sales in the filter.
DAX
Avg Order Value = DIVIDE([Total Sales], [Order Count])
DIVIDE returns blank on a zero denominator instead of an error. Use it for every ratio; the slash operator gives infinity.
DAX
Total Cost = SUMX(Sales, Sales[Quantity] * RELATED(Product[Cost]))
Row by row: quantity times the product's cost, then summed. RELATED reaches from the many side to the one side.

Iterators

DAX
Sales from Price = SUMX(Sales, Sales[Quantity] * Sales[UnitPrice])
Multiply per row, then add. SUM(Quantity) * SUM(UnitPrice) is the classic wrong answer.
DAX
Avg per Customer = AVERAGEX(VALUES(Sales[CustomerID]), [Total Sales])
Average of a measure per customer, not the average of a column. VALUES gives one row per customer and the measure evaluates for each.
DAX
Best Order = MAXX(Sales, Sales[Quantity] * Sales[UnitPrice])
Largest line value when the value is a calculation rather than a stored column.
DAX
Category Rank = RANKX(ALL(Product[Category]), [Total Sales])
Rank across every category regardless of the visual's row. Without ALL each row only sees itself and ranks 1.

CALCULATE and filters

DAX
UK Sales = CALCULATE([Total Sales], Customer[Region] = "UK")
CALCULATE replaces the filter on Region. If a slicer also filters Region, the slicer loses.
DAX
UK Sales (keep slicer) = CALCULATE([Total Sales], KEEPFILTERS(Customer[Region] = "UK"))
Same, but intersects with the slicer instead of overriding it: a slicer on France gives blank, not the UK figure.
DAX
All Sales = CALCULATE([Total Sales], REMOVEFILTERS(Sales))
Grand total ignoring every filter on the Sales table. ALL(Sales) does the same; REMOVEFILTERS says what it means.
DAX
% of Total = DIVIDE([Total Sales], CALCULATE([Total Sales], ALL(Product[Category])))
Share of the category in the whole. ALL on the column, not the table, so slicers on other fields still apply.
DAX
% of Selected = DIVIDE([Total Sales], CALCULATE([Total Sales], ALLSELECTED(Product[Category])))
Share within what the user has sliced to. ALLSELECTED respects slicers; ALL ignores them.
DAX
Big Orders = CALCULATE([Total Sales], FILTER(Sales, Sales[Amount] > 1000))
FILTER when the condition is a row test. For one column against a value, a plain filter argument is faster.
DAX
Selected Category = SELECTEDVALUE(Product[Category], "Several")
The single value in the filter, or the fallback when more than one is selected. For titles and conditional logic.
DAX
Show Total = IF(HASONEVALUE(Customer[Region]), [Total Sales])
Blank the figure when more than one region is in context. Stops a total row summing things that should not be summed.

Time intelligence

DAX
Sales YTD = TOTALYTD([Total Sales], 'Date'[Date])
Year to date. Needs a date table with no gaps, marked as the date table. Pointing it at Sales[OrderDate] gives wrong totals on missing days.
DAX
Sales FYTD = TOTALYTD([Total Sales], 'Date'[Date], "31/03")
Financial year to date with the year ending 31 March. The third argument is the year-end day and month.
DAX
Sales LY = CALCULATE([Total Sales], SAMEPERIODLASTYEAR('Date'[Date]))
Same period a year earlier at whatever grain the visual shows: day, month, quarter or year.
DAX
YoY % = DIVIDE([Total Sales] - [Sales LY], [Sales LY])
Growth on last year. DIVIDE blanks the first year instead of erroring.
DAX
Sales PM = CALCULATE([Total Sales], DATEADD('Date'[Date], -1, MONTH))
Shifts the visual's dates back one month. PREVIOUSMONTH returns the whole prior month whatever the selection, which is different.
DAX
Rolling 12M = CALCULATE([Total Sales], DATESINPERIOD('Date'[Date], MAX('Date'[Date]), -12, MONTH))
Trailing twelve months ending on the last date in context.
DAX
Running Total = CALCULATE([Total Sales], FILTER(ALL('Date'[Date]), 'Date'[Date] <= MAX('Date'[Date])))
Cumulative across all time. Drop the ALL and it resets to the current row.
DAX
Sales by Ship Date = CALCULATE([Total Sales], USERELATIONSHIP(Sales[ShipDate], 'Date'[Date]))
Switch to the inactive relationship for one measure. Both relationships must exist in the model first.

Variables and logic

DAX
Margin % =
VAR Sales = [Total Sales]
VAR Cost = [Total Cost]
RETURN DIVIDE(Sales - Cost, Sales)
VAR evaluates once and reads clearly. Variables are constants: they do not re-evaluate inside a later CALCULATE.
DAX
Target Status = IF([Total Sales] >= [Target], "Met", "Missed")
Two outcomes. For more than two, use SWITCH below rather than nesting.
DAX
Size Band = SWITCH(TRUE(), [Total Sales] >= 100000, "Large", [Total Sales] >= 10000, "Medium", "Small")
Several conditions in order; the first true wins. The last argument is the catch-all.
DAX
Sales or Zero = COALESCE([Total Sales], 0)
Show 0 instead of blank. Blank rows drop out of visuals; zero rows stay, which is sometimes what you want and sometimes not.
DAX
Sales Label = FORMAT([Total Sales], "£#,##0") & " in " & SELECTEDVALUE('Date'[Year])
A sentence for a card. FORMAT turns the number into text, so nothing downstream can sum it.
DAX
Categories = CONCATENATEX(VALUES(Product[Category]), Product[Category], ", ", Product[Category])
Comma-separated list of what is in context. The fourth argument sorts it.
DAX
Order Year = YEAR(Sales[OrderDate])
A calculated column, not a measure: stored per row and usable in slicers. Prefer a Year column on the Date table for the same job.

Which course covers these

SUM through DIVIDE and the first CALCULATE examples are the first morning of DAX Introduction; time intelligence, iterators and USERELATIONSHIP are its second day. Power BI Introduction covers the model this sheet assumes, including marking a date table. Power BI Intermediate is where these measures meet real report design.

DAX IntroductionPower BI IntroductionPower BI Intermediate

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