You have heard of the 80:20 rule (Pareto) Power BI has a TOPN function in DAX This guide shows you how to start using it https://www.selectdistinct.co.uk/2023/06/28/topn-in-power-bi/ #powerbi #topn #businessintelligence In the world of data analysis, having the ability to efficiently rank and prioritize information is crucial. This is where the TOPN function in Power BI comes into play. By utilizing this powerful ranking function, analysts and data professionals can gain valuable insights from their datasets. The TOPN function, short for "top n," allows users to identify and retrieve the top or bottom records based on a specified criteria. This function is particularly useful when dealing with large datasets that require quick and accurate analysis. With Power BI's extensive capabilities, the TOPN function can be utilized through its native DAX (Data Analysis Expressions) formula language. By incorporating this formula into your Power BI reports and dashboards, you can effectively sort and filter data to highlight key trends, outliers, or patterns. The importance of the TOPN function lies in its ability to streamline decision-making processes by presenting relevant information in a concise manner. Whether you are analysing sales figures, customer satisfaction ratings, or any other dataset, being able to quickly identify the top performers or underperformers can greatly impact strategic decision-making. In this section, we will delve deeper into understanding how the TOPN function works within Power BI and explore real-world use cases where it can be applied effectively. So let's dive in and unlock the full potential of this essential feature in Power BI!

1. Power BI Tips
and Timesavers
TOPN measure in Power
BI

2. You have heard of the 80:20 rule (Pareto)?
This principle suggests that typically 80% of value comes from the top
20% of your data
In Power BI we can focus the attention of readers on the most significant
pieces of data that drive almost all of the value, using the TOPN function

3. Top 5 in a Measure
Although Power BI has
a built-in Top N filter
feature
It is often useful to be
able to show that value
as a measure and what
percent of the whole it
represents
This guide shows you
how to do it

4. Step by Step
Create a measure to
aggregate sales for the
top 5 products
We create a Variable to
identify the top 5
products, and a
separate variable to
aggregate the sales
amount
This makes the DAX
easier to follow
Top 5 Products Sales =
VAR TopNProducts =
TOPN (
5,
SUMMARIZE(Sales,
'Product'[Product],"SALESVALUE",sum(Sales[Sales Amount])),
[SALESVALUE],desc
)
VAR Result =
CALCULATE (
SUM(Sales[Sales Amount]),
TopNProducts
)
RETURN Result

5. DAX Breakdown
SUMMARIZE creates subtotals, in this case a column with each ‘Product’
and a second column for the total sales
SUMMARIZE(Sales, 'Product'[Product],"SALESVALUE",sum(Sales[Sales
Amount]))
TOPN – The ‘5’ sets how many top rows to return
We use the summarise row to define the data rows (see above)
The last row defines the field to sort by (SALESVALUE in Descending order)
TOPN (
5,
SUMMARIZE(Sales, 'Product'[Product],"SALESVALUE",sum(Sales[Sales
Amount])),
[SALESVALUE],desc

6. DAX Breakdown
Next we calculate the Sum of Sales for each Product in the Top N products
VAR Result =
CALCULATE (
SUM(Sales[Sales Amount]),
TopNProducts
)

7. Top X in a Measure
We have then used this
measure on a card to
highlight how much of the
total the top X products
represent
We added a simple
secondary measure showing
what percentage this is
We then created similar for
the bottom 20 products
And Finally added these to
the chart

8. Having the ability to focus on the top few drivers of performance the TOPN
function is a powerful way to eliminate noise from insignificant items
TOPN in Power BI is easy to learn and apply once you understand the syntax
Keep an eye out for the more advanced use of this with an amendable
parameter in the coming weeks

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