Supercharge Power BI

A hands-on guide to learning DAX from the ground up with practical Power BI examples

Build real Power BI reports and master DAX calculations so you can turn raw data into answers without relying on anyone else.

M Matt Allington

Supercharge Power BI by Matt Allington is a practical, example-driven guide that takes you from the basics of data modeling to writing confident DAX formulas. Whether you are new to Power BI or stuck at the intermediate plateau, this book gives you the mental models and hands-on practice to build reports that actually answer business questions. Published by Holy Macro! Books in 2018, it remains one of the most trusted starting points in the Power BI community.

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About this book

Power BI is easy to open. It is hard to use well. Most users hit the same wall: they can drag fields onto a canvas, but the moment a calculation requires context awareness, filter logic, or a time-intelligence comparison, the results come out wrong and nobody can explain why.

Supercharge Power BI solves that problem directly. Matt Allington — a practicing BI consultant and Microsoft MVP — teaches DAX the way it actually works, not the way it looks on the surface. You will learn how evaluation context shapes every single formula, why CALCULATE is the engine at the center of DAX, and how to build measures that answer real business questions rather than just summing a column.

The book builds knowledge layer by layer. You start with the fundamentals of importing data and shaping a proper data model, because a bad model makes every formula harder than it needs to be. From there you move into calculated columns, then measures, then the filter and row context rules that govern them. By the end you are writing time-intelligence formulas, handling many-to-many relationships, and debugging calculations that are behaving unexpectedly.

Every concept is demonstrated with downloadable practice files and worked examples you can follow step by step. Allington does not just show you the correct formula — he shows you the wrong version first, explains why it fails, and walks you through the reasoning that leads to the right answer. That approach builds genuine understanding instead of a library of copy-paste snippets.

Understand evaluation context — row context and filter context — once and for all
Write CALCULATE correctly and know exactly what it does to the filter context
Model your data so that relationships work in your favor
Build time-intelligence measures for period-over-period and running totals
Debug measures that return blank, wrong totals, or inconsistent results

Whether you are a business analyst building your first serious report or a developer who has been muddling through DAX by trial and error, this book gives you the foundation to work faster and with more confidence in Power BI.

🎯 What you'll learn

Import and shape data into a clean, relationship-based data model ready for analysis
Distinguish between calculated columns and measures and choose the right tool for each task
Explain row context and filter context and apply that understanding to every DAX formula you write
Use CALCULATE to modify filter context and unlock the full power of DAX aggregations
Build time-intelligence measures including year-to-date, prior-period comparisons, and rolling averages
Handle complex relationship patterns including many-to-many and inactive relationships
Debug measures that produce blank values, incorrect totals, or context-dependent errors

👤 Who is this book for?

Business analysts who use Power BI regularly but find DAX formulas unpredictable or confusing
Excel power users making the move to Power BI and wanting to understand the data model layer properly
Developers who have copy-pasted DAX from the internet but never fully understood why it works or fails
BI beginners who want a structured, ground-up introduction rather than scattered video tutorials
Report builders who need to deliver accurate KPIs and time-intelligence calculations to stakeholders

01

Getting Started with Power BI

You load Power BI Desktop and import your first dataset. This chapter orients you to the interface and establishes the habits that make everything else easier.
02

Building a Proper Data Model

You learn why table relationships matter and how to structure a star schema. A well-built model is the prerequisite for every formula in the rest of the book.
03

Calculated Columns

You write your first DAX expressions as calculated columns and learn how row context determines what each formula sees as it evaluates row by row.
04

Introduction to Measures

You create implicit and explicit measures and understand why measures behave differently from calculated columns when placed in a visual.
05

Filter Context and CALCULATE

You work through the single most important concept in DAX: how CALCULATE changes the filter context and why mastering it unlocks nearly every advanced formula.
06

Iterator Functions

You use SUMX, AVERAGEX, and related iterators to perform row-by-row calculations before aggregating, solving problems that simple SUM and AVERAGE cannot handle.
07

Relationships and Cross-Filter Direction

You examine how filter propagation travels across relationships, configure bidirectional filtering deliberately, and handle many-to-many relationship patterns.
08

Time Intelligence

You build period-to-date totals, prior-year comparisons, and rolling calculations using DAX time-intelligence functions and a properly marked date table.
09

Debugging and Troubleshooting DAX

You learn a repeatable approach to diagnosing measures that return wrong results, blanks, or totals that do not add up, using techniques that work on any formula.

Frequently asked questions

Do I need prior DAX experience to read this book?

No. The book starts from the very beginning and assumes only that you are familiar with basic spreadsheet concepts. DAX is introduced gradually with worked examples at every step.

Which version of Power BI does this book cover?

The book was published in 2018 and covers the Power BI Desktop available at that time. The core DAX language and data-modeling principles it teaches have not changed materially, though some interface details may differ in newer releases.

Are practice files included?

Yes. The book references downloadable practice files so you can follow along with every example hands-on rather than just reading about them.

Is this book suitable for someone coming from Excel and Power Pivot?

Yes, it is a natural next step. Allington explains how the Power BI data model relates to the Excel model you may already know, and DAX syntax is shared between both environments.

Does the book cover report design and visualizations?

The primary focus is on data modeling and DAX. Visualization and report layout are touched on but are not the main subject, so readers wanting a deep treatment of visual design should pair this with a dedicated resource.