Date.IsInPreviousNQuarters

Date.IsInPreviousNQuarters is a Power Query M function that indicates whether the given date(time) value occurs during the previous number of quarters, as determined by the system. The function returns a boolean value (true or false).

Compatible with: Power BI Service Power BI Desktop Excel Microsoft 365

Syntax

Date.IsInPreviousNQuarters(
   dateTime as any,
   quarters as number,
) as nullable logical

Description

Date.IsInPreviousNQuarters determines if a given value (of type date, datetime, or datetimezone) is within a specified number of quarters before the current system date and time, excluding the current quarter. It requires a quarters argument.

Examples

Let’s explore two straightforward examples to understand how the Date.IsInPreviousNQuarters function works.

Identifying Dates in the Previous N Quarters

Imagine you have a calendar table and you want to add a column that shows true for dates within the last n quarters. You can do this by using the Date.IsInPreviousNQuarters function on your [Date] column, where n is the number of quarters you want to check.

Date.IsInPreviousNQuarters( [Date], n ) // Output depends on [Date] column and n

This expression returns true for any date in the [Date] column that falls within the previous n quarters. Let’s say you want to check if your dates are in the last 2 quarters. To do that you can use the expression:

Date.IsInPreviousNQuarters( [Date], 2 )

If today is July 6, 2024, this function will return true for all rows with dates between January 1, 2024, and June 30, 2024. Here’s a screenshot showing this:

You can see that dates within the previous 2 quarters are marked with true.

Using the Current Date and Time

If we retrieve the current date (generated by DateTime.FixedLocalNow) and shift it back 2 quarters, we can check if it falls within the last three quarters by using:

// Output: true
Date.IsInPreviousNQuarters( Date.AddQuarters( DateTime.FixedLocalNow(), -2 ), 3 )

Related functions

Other functions related to Date.IsInPreviousNQuarters are:

• Date.IsInPreviousNDays
• Date.IsInPreviousNMonths
• Date.IsInPreviousNWeeks
• Date.IsInPreviousNYears

Contribute » | Contributors: Rick de Groot
Microsoft documentation: https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/powerquery-m/date-isinpreviousnquarters