DAX function
PARALLELPERIOD — DAX function reference
A whole shifted period.
Syntax
dax
PARALLELPERIOD(<dates>, <number_of_intervals>, <interval>)
Examples
dax
CALCULATE(SUM(Sales[Amount]), PARALLELPERIOD('Date'[Date], -1, YEAR))→ A number
dax
CALCULATE(SUM(Sales[Amount]), PARALLELPERIOD('Date'[Date], -1, MONTH))→ All of last month's sales, even if only a few days of this month are selected
dax
VAR ThisQuarter = CALCULATE(SUM(Sales[Amount]), PARALLELPERIOD('Date'[Date], 0, QUARTER))
VAR LastQuarter = CALCULATE(SUM(Sales[Amount]), PARALLELPERIOD('Date'[Date], -1, QUARTER))
RETURN ThisQuarter - LastQuarter→ Quarter-over-quarter, each side snapped to full quarters
Common mistakes & gotchas
- PARALLELPERIOD always returns the full shifted period (the entire month/quarter/year), unlike DATEADD which preserves however many days were originally selected — pick PARALLELPERIOD specifically for "all of last month" rather than "the same N days, one month back."
- It has no DAY interval option (only MONTH, QUARTER, YEAR) since a full parallel day is meaningless — use DATEADD for day-level shifts.
Related DAX functions
From Time intelligence