Improve the Readability of YTD Actual Cost vs Budget Measure Using Power BI FORMAT function

In this video, you'll learn a quick and easy approach to improving the readability of measures. It is useful when showing a measure that calculates a variance from a baseline figure. For example percentage difference of YTD cost from the YTD budget figure.

If the cost is under i.e. cost is -2.34% of the budget, then it's easy enough to read because we instinctively read the minus sign and think "below".

However, if the actual cost is above the budget figure by 3.25% we don't automatically read this as being plus 3.25%. We tend to read it as being 3.25% of a figure and it means we had to stop and think about what the figure actually represents.

I'll explain how to add a '+' sign to the measure using the FORMAT function so it is displayed as +3.25%. It's a simple subtle change but makes a big difference. When we see the plus sign before the figure it's easier for us to read the actual cost as being 'plus' 3.25% over the budget cost.