Bill Pearson


Stairway to DAX and Power BI

Stairway to DAX and Power BI Level 19: Dates Functions: STARTOFMONTH(), STARTOFQUARTER(), STARTOFYEAR()

Business Intelligence Architect, Analysis Services Maestro, and author Bill Pearson introduces three DAX Time Intelligence functions related to the Start of Periods: STARTOFMONTH(), STARTOFQUARTER(), and STARTOFYEAR(). He discusses the syntax, uses and operation of each, and then provides hands-on exposure to the function in Power BI.

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2026-08-26 (first published: )

1,484 reads

Stairway to DAX

Level 28: DAX Text Functions: The DAX Extract & Modify Functions: LEFT(), RIGHT(), MID(), REPLACE(), SUBSTITUTE()

Business Intelligence Architect, Data Analyst, CPA, and author Bill Pearson introduces a subseries surrounding the DAX Text Functions, including LEFT(), RIGHT(), MID(), REPLACE(), and SUBSTITUTE() and breaks out the operational groups of functions involved. Next, he introduces the “Extract and Modify” group of text functions as the focus of this Level. Finally, he identifies and examines each functional member of the “Extract and Modify

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2026-02-04

1,689 reads

Stairway to DAX and Power BI

Level 27: Time Intelligence – Dates Functions: The DAX “Parallel Period” and “Same Period Last Year” Functions

Business Intelligence Architect, “Analysis Services Maestro, and author Bill Pearson introduces two somewhat similar DAX Time Intelligence functions related to “parallel” Date periods: PARALLELPERIOD() and SAMEPERIODLASTYEAR(). He discusses the syntax, uses and operation of each function, and then provides hands-on exposure to it in Power BI.

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2024-01-24

1,986 reads

Stairway to DAX and Power BI

Stairway to DAX and Power BI Level 26: Time Intelligence – Dates Functions: The DAX “Total to Date” Functions

Business Intelligence Architect, Analysis Services Maestro, and author Bill Pearson introduces three similar DAX Time Intelligence functions related to Date: TOTALMTD(), TOTALQTD(), and TOTALMYD(). He discusses the syntax, uses and operation of each function, and then provides hands-on exposure to it in Power BI.

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2023-09-27

1,037 reads

Stairway to DAX and Power BI

Stairway to DAX and Power BI Level 25: Time Intelligence – Dates Functions: The DAX CLOSINGBALANCE*() Functions

Business Intelligence Architect, Analysis Services Maestro, and author Bill Pearson introduces three similar DAX Time Intelligence functions related to Date: CLOSINGBALANCEMONTH(), CLOSINGBALANCEQUARTER(), and CLOSINGBALANCEYEAR(). He discusses the syntax, uses and operation of each function, and then provides hands-on exposure to it in Power BI.

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2023-08-30

942 reads

Stairway to DAX and Power BI

Level 24: Time Intelligence – Dates Functions: The DAX OPENINGBALANCE*() Functions

Business Intelligence Architect, Analysis Services Maestro, and author Bill Pearson introduces three similar DAX Time Intelligence functions related to Date: OPENINGBALANCEMONTH(), OPENINGBALANCEQUARTER(). and OPENINGBALANCEYEAR(). He discusses the syntax, uses and operation of each function, and then provides hands-on exposure to it in Power BI.

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2023-08-23

1,603 reads

Stairway to DAX and Power BI

Stairway to DAX and Power BI - Level 23: Time Intelligence – Dates Functions: The DAX PREVIOUS() Functions

Business Intelligence Architect, Analysis Services Maestro, and author Bill Pearson introduces four very similar DAX Time Intelligence functions related to Date: PREVIOUSDAY(), PREVIOUSMONTH(). PREVIOUSQUARTER() and PREVIOUSYEAR(). He discusses the syntax, uses and operation of each function, and then provides hands-on exposure to it in Power BI.

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2023-07-19

1,195 reads

Stairway to DAX and Power BI

Stairway to DAX and Power BI - Level 22: Time Intelligence – Dates Functions: The DAX NEXT() Functions

Business Intelligence Architect, Analysis Services Maestro, and author Bill Pearson introduces four very similar DAX Time Intelligence functions related to Date: NEXTDAY(), NEXTMONTH(). NEXTQUARTER() and NEXTYEAR(). He discusses the syntax, uses and operation of each function, and then provides hands-on exposure to it in Power BI.

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2023-07-05

1,347 reads

Stairway to DAX and Power BI

Stairway to DAX and Power BI - Level 21: Time Intelligence – Dates Functions: FIRSTDATE() and LASTDATE()

Business Intelligence Architect, Analysis Services Maestro, and author Bill Pearson introduces two DAX Time Intelligence functions related to the Date: FIRSTDATE(), and LASTDATE(). He discusses the syntax, uses and operation of each function, and then provides hands-on exposure to it in Power BI.

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2023-03-01

5,181 reads

Stairway to DAX and Power BI

Stairway to DAX and Power BI - Level 20: Time Intelligence – Date Functions: ENDOFMONTH(), ENDOFQUARTER(), ENDOFYEAR()

Business Intelligence Architect, Analysis Services Maestro, and author Bill Pearson introduces three DAX Time Intelligence functions related to the End of Periods: ENDOFMONTH(), ENDOFQUARTER(), and ENDOFYEAR(). He discusses the syntax, uses and operation of each, and then provides hands-on exposure to the function in Power BI.

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2022-12-21

1,258 reads

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Question of the Day

The Empty Aggregate

I have this table in a SQL Server 2025 database:

CREATE TABLE [dbo].[CustomerOrder]
(
[OrderID] [int] NULL,
[CustomerID] [int] NULL,
[total] [money] NULL
) ON [PRIMARY]
GO
What is returned from this code? (answers are for the sum and then the count)
SELECT SUM(total) AS sum,
       COUNT(total) AS count
FROM dbo.CustomerOrder;



See possible answers