# Running Sums with no hacks in Tableau Prep | New in Tableau 2023.3

> This is content from just-tim, the data-and-analytics channel by Tim Ngwena (formerly 'Tableau Tim'). Tim has 12+ years of hands-on BI experience and covers Tableau most of all, plus Power BI, Looker, Hex, SQL and data modelling, the analytics industry, and the craft of doing the job — always tool-agnostic and honest about the trade-offs.

- **Author:** Tim Ngwena (just-tim, https://just-tim.com/about)
- **Published:** 2023-11-16
- **Format:** Video · 7 min watch · transcript available
- **Topics:** Data prep
- **Tools:** Tableau (prep, running calculations)
- **Canonical:** https://just-tim.com/posts/running-sums-with-no-hacks-in-tableau-prep-new-in-tableau-2023-3
- **Watch:** https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nArFGSLgtXY

I walk through the new native running calculations feature in Tableau Prep, introduced in version 2023.3. Using the default Superstore flow, I show how to create running sums and running averages by selecting a column, choosing a grouping and ordering, and reading the interface that visually explains each calculation.

## Key takeaways

- Running calculations are created by selecting a column, adding a calculated field, and choosing 'running calculation' from the dropdown in a clean step
- Whatever field you order by is automatically removed from the group by options, so you can't both group and order by the same field
- Grouping by a dimension like sales region restarts the running sum within each group, similar to using panes in Tableau Desktop table calculations
- The interface animates the rows being summed and uses blue highlights on the right to show where each running sum ends
- You can compute running sums or running averages on any measure such as sales, profit or discount

## Chapters

- 0:08 Setting up the flow and clean step
- 0:41 Creating a running calculation
- 1:25 Grouping and ordering behaviour
- 2:42 How the interface explains the sum
- 3:15 Grouping by sales region
- 5:16 Running averages and other measures
- 5:45 Renaming fields and wrap-up

Watch the full video, read the transcript and use chapter deep-links on the page: https://just-tim.com/posts/running-sums-with-no-hacks-in-tableau-prep-new-in-tableau-2023-3

---
just-tim — Data and analytics, with a point of view. · https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC7HYxRWmaNlJux-X7rNLZyw · https://twitter.com/TableauTim · https://www.linkedin.com/in/timngwena