Quick Table Calculation in Tableau

Quick Table Calculations in Tableau are predefined functions that allow us to perform advanced computations on our visualization with just a few clicks, without writing complex formulas. They are commonly used for operations like calculating percentages, running totals, ranks and moving averages, helping us analyze and interpret data more effectively. Instead of manually creating calculated fields, we can directly apply these quick calculations on measures within our worksheet.

Steps to Apply Quick Table Calculation

• Open Tableau and connect to a dataset.
• Drag and drop a sheet from the connected dataset.
• Click on Sheet1 to open the Tableau worksheet.
• On clicking Sheet1 we will get the whole dataset attributes on the left side and a worksheet for work.

To apply quick table calculation we have to form a crosstab. Examples are given below:

Example 1: Percentage of Sales

• Drag and drop Category and Sub-Category into Columns.
• Drag Sales into Rows.
• Select Crosstab as the visualization.
• Right-click on Sales → Quick Table Calculation → Percent of Total.
• The percentage of total sales will now be displayed.

Example 2: Percentage of Profit & Running Total of Sales

• Drag Category and Sub-Category into Columns.
• Drag Sales and Profit into Rows.
• Select Crosstab.
• Right-click on Profit → Quick Table Calculation → Percent of Total.
• Right-click on Sales → Quick Table Calculation → Running Total.
• Edit calculation direction to Table (Down).
• We now have both percentage of profit and cumulative sales totals.

Example 3: Rank of Discount & Running Total of Sales

• Drag Category and Sub-Category into Columns.
• Drag Sales and Discount into Rows.
• Select Crosstab.
• Right-click on Discount → Quick Table Calculation → Rank.
• Right-click on Sales → Quick Table Calculation → Running Total.
• Edit calculation direction to Pane (Down) to show cumulative values within each category.
• Enable Column Grand Total for an overall summary.
• The result will display ranked discounts and running totals of sales per pane.

Quick Table Calculations in Tableau provide a simple and efficient way to analyze data without writing custom formulas. By applying them to different measures, we can easily calculate percentages, ranks and running totals to gain valuable insights into our dataset.