Power BI comes ready loaded with a wide range of format options But did you know that you are not limited to the pre-defined options Some organisations have specific standards for things such as date formats, these can be catered for using custom formats https://www.selectdistinct.co.uk/2023/07/20/custom-formats-in-power-bi/ #powerbi #dataviz #customformats

1. Power BI Tips
and Timesavers
Using Custom Formats in
Power BI

2. Power BI comes ready loaded with a wide range of format options
But did you know that you are not limited to the pre-defined options
Some organisations have specific standards for things such as date
formats, these can be catered for using custom formats

3. Custom Formats on Cards
Cards are a great way
to feature key pieces of
information
But if you have a need
to use a custom format
that is not one of the
standard formats then
its not obvious how to
do it
Show data
as Millions
Prefix with a
‘+’
Show as
pence

4. Show data as Millions
Select the card you
need to format
On the
Visualizations
panel
 Format Visual
 Call out Value
Then select the
relevant display
units

5. Prefix with a Plus (or minus)
By default, if the field we want to show on the card is set as
a percentage, it looks like this
To change the card to look as we want it, we need to go to
the model and select a custom format in there
By setting the format to +0%; -0% the format will prefix all
positives with a plus, the semi colon ; then tells it to apply a
different value for negatives
It now looks as we need it to

6. Show values as pence
If we set the field to be a currency format, in our case GBP then
the value is expected to be in £
Earnings per share for example are reported usually in pence
(So remember to multiply by 100!)
Then we can set a custom format to show p suffix in a similar
way, in this example we have not set a negative option
By using the format code 0.0p, this sets it to 1 decimal place

7. Custom Format Strings
If you are used to setting
custom formats in Excel, it is
the same type of process
The semi colon splits the
rules into
[Positives];[Negatives];[Zero]
;[Text Values]
In your Power BI desktop,
click ‘Learn More’ to read
further

8. Custom Format Strings for dates
Here is an example for a date format
At first, date formats appear to be limited to a few
common formats
But if we want to use the format dd-mm-yyyy
then we need to create it as a custom format
On the modelling tab, select the field, then in the
properties you can apply this custom format

9. Mastering the array of options that you can apply using custom formats
can give you more control over the look and feel of your reporting in
Power BI

10. For more Tips, Tricks and
Timesavers, visit our website
Business Analytics Blog – Select Distinct
Credit: simon.harrison@selectdistinct.co.uk