Running total in Tableau - Cell-by-Cell Formula Trace

Sample Data

Monthly sales data for five months

Cell	Value
A1	Month
B1	Sales
A2	Jan
B2	100
A3	Feb
B3	150
A4	Mar
B4	200
A5	Apr
B5	120
A6	May
B6	180

Formula Trace

RUNNING_SUM(SUM([Sales]))

Step 1: SUM([Sales]) for Jan

Step 2: RUNNING_SUM up to Jan

Step 3: SUM([Sales]) for Feb

Step 4: RUNNING_SUM up to Feb = Jan + Feb

Step 5: SUM([Sales]) for Mar

Step 6: RUNNING_SUM up to Mar = Jan + Feb + Mar

Step 7: SUM([Sales]) for Apr

Step 8: RUNNING_SUM up to Apr = Jan + Feb + Mar + Apr

Step 9: SUM([Sales]) for May

Step 10: RUNNING_SUM up to May = Jan + Feb + Mar + Apr + May

Cell Reference Map

     A       B
1  Month   Sales
2  Jan     100
3  Feb     150
4  Mar     200
5  Apr     120
6  May     180

Arrows: RUNNING_SUM uses Sales values from B2 to current row

The formula uses the Sales column (B2:B6) to calculate the running total month by month

Result

     A       B       C
1  Month   Sales   Running Total
2  Jan     100     100
3  Feb     150     250
4  Mar     200     450
5  Apr     120     570
6  May     180     750

The Running Total column shows the cumulative sum of sales from January up to each month

Sheet Trace Quiz - 3 Questions

What is the running total value for March?

A 200

B 250

C 450

D 570

Key Result

RUNNING_SUM aggregates values cumulatively over a sorted dimension