Report parameters

Report parameters are a new Power BI Desktop feature that allows you to create dynamic slicers with which you can influence the appearance of the report. In the previous “recipe”, you could see how it looks when we create field parameters, and now you will find out how to make those that contain numerical values. We will create a parameter that describes the sales target, then we will change it and see how it affects the chart…

Budget vs Actual chart

“Actually an ordinary story, like Cinderella”… these are the words of an old hit from the ’80s, and they came to my mind as an illustration of what I want to describe in this text: a comparison chart of budgeted vs actual. If we use the display of data on the secondary axis, we can easily compare planned and realized values, which can be important for displaying intuitive reports.

Goal achievement chart

How to show on the chart whether the goal has been achieved? If we use the Column Chart for this purpose, the simplest way is to add a line that intersects the y axis at the point that corresponds to the value of the given target. We can do this manually, as well as add a series of data that has only one value – the goal, which could be shown in the report using the Combo chart. And we can also create a goal achievement chart by moving the y axis, which will be discussed here …

Fields for visualization

Various visuals, whether they are tables, cards or charts, have different fields that can be used to adjust their look within the report. We perform this action by dragging dimensions and measures to these fields. In this “recipe” you will be shown usage of fields, depending of common visuals, and how to use them to form quality reports.