October 9, 2020
Tableau How-to: Use formatting to create KPI up & down arrows
Business challenge:
This tip is a good one! You can very easily format KPIs in Tableau, to look like anyone of the examples below, without creating any calculated fields.
You simply need to right-click a field, choose Default Properties > Number Format > Custom and enter your custom format into the window.
Below is a table I’ve created for easy reference. Just copy & paste the text into the custom format box.
| Decimal places | Number (+/-) | Number (+/-) with arrows | Percentage (+/-) | Percentage (+/-) with arrows |
| 0 d.p. | “+”#,###;”-“#,###; | “+”#,### ▲;”-“#,### ▼; | “+”#,###%;”-“#,###%; | “+”#,###% ▲;”-“#,###% ▼; |
| 1 d.p. | “+”#,###0.0;”-“#,###0.0; | “+”#,###0.0 ▲;”-“#,###0.0 ▼; | “+”#,###0.0%;”-“#,###0.0%; | “+”#,###0.0% ▲;”-“#,###0.0% ▼; |
| 2 d.p. | “+”#,###0.00;”-“#,###0.00; | “+”#,###0.00 ▲;”-“#,###0.00 ▼; | “+”#,###0.00%;”-“#,###0.00%; | “+”#,###0.00% ▲;”-“#,###0.00% ▼; |
You can keep adding zeros for more decimal places. You can also replace the up/down arrows with different symbols, or even whole words like “Profit” and “Loss”.
For currency, simply add a currency symbol after the plus and minus e.g. “+£”#,### ▲;”-£”#,### ▼;.
Happy KPI-ing!
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Business challenge:
Joe is a certified Tableau trainer and Analytics Consultant. He uses his background as a Mathematics & Statistics graduate to build advanced analytics solutions for various Public Sector organisations, specialising in Tableau Desktop and Tableau Prep. His philosophy is '“Behind every boring spreadsheet is a brilliant visualisation waiting to be built. I love helping our clients see what’s possible with their data.”
