Calculating running totals – totals to date

Running totals are used to provide point-in-time balances where the source data is transactional, and the balance is determined by performing an aggregate on all the values that exist before the current date.

Traditionally, the aggregation of data from the start of the transactional activity has been burdened with performance problems, and model designers have used point-in-time snapshots to reduce the number of calculations required. However, the xVelocity engine in tabular models is very efficient at managing this type of transaction and a simple calculation based on all prior data, could be a viable option when determining totals to date in your model. This recipe shows you how to add a running total to a model.

Getting ready

This recipe determines balances to date for data, and continues with the same type of sales data that has been used in prior chapters. Open the workbook Sales Book - Time Calcs.xls and import the Sales Header, Sales...