Skillwave Training

13 Apr

Want to save yourself hours of time and manual effort preparing your data in #Excel or #PowerBI? Start to master #DataCleaning 🧼 and transformation so you can automate your #BusinessIntelligence with our FREE #PowerQuery Fundamentals course! Register today at skw-t.com/pqfun

The latest edition of our newsletter is hitting inboxes now! 📨 If you'd like to stay up-to-date on the latest content from our experts, what’s new in #Excel and #PowerBI, info on courses, events, promos, and more, subscribe at skw-t.com/news 📗 You'll also get our free #PowerQuery eBook!

See what people love about our #Dimensional Modeling for the #Excel and #PowerBI Pro course! ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ We'll show you how to work with your #DataModel the right way, building solid and scalable #BusinessIntelligence solutions. Join us today at skw-t.com/modeling

youtube.comCustomize the Power Query QAT - Monkey Shorts Episode 049Have you ever wanted to add your favourite icons to the QAT (Quick Access Toolbar) in the Power Query editor in Excel or Power BI? Wonder no more as Ken shows you how to do so! In this video, Ken…

Have you ever wanted to add your favourite icons to the QAT (Quick Access Toolbar) in the #PowerQuery editor in #Excel or #PowerBI? Wonder no more! In this video, @excelguru.ca will show you how he added the "Detect Data Types" button to the Power Query QAT. 🛠 www.youtube.com/watch?v=fcdC...

We recently had a corporate client apply for the BC Employer Training Grant through workbc.ca, to help cover the cost of team training. 💵 It's available to organizations of all sizes and you could get up to $300,000! If you're based in British Columbia, check out the program: skw-t.com/bctraining

youtube.comLoading Files from Web into ExcelLearn how to load CSV files from the web into Excel using Power Query. In this video, Ken shows two ways to connect to a file hosted online: using the specific From Text/CSV connector, or using the…

Learn how to load CSV files from the web into #Excel using #PowerQuery. 🌐 In this new video, @excelguru.ca shows 2 ways: 🟩 Using the specific From Text/CSV connector, or 🟩 Using the more general From Web connector. Plus, refresh with just a click when data changes! www.youtube.com/watch?v=ISWz...

#PowerQuery allows you to master you data in #PowerBI and #Excel, so you can automate your #DataCleaning 🧹 and #BusinessIntelligence processes. We help people in finance, sales, data analytics, and business owners just like you. 💪 Join the ultimate Power Query course today at skw-t.com/pqacademy

Yesterday we shared a video on how to compare values based on the prior row's data. This #PowerQuery recipe card outlines the steps that @excelguru.ca demonstrated. 👩‍🍳Get the full Power Query Recipe collection here: skw-t.com/pqrecipes #Excel #PowerBI #DataAnalytics #DataPreparation

youtube.comCompare vs Prior Row in Power Query - Monkey Shorts Episode 048Power Query doesn't have a great concept of row context, making it very difficult to compare values across rows. In this week's episode of Monkey Shorts, Ken demonstrates a super-cool black magic…

#PowerQuery doesn't have a great concept of row context, making it very difficult to compare values across rows. 🔢 In this Monkey Shorts, @excelguru.ca demos a super-cool black magic technique that allows you to do exactly that. 😈 www.youtube.com/watch?v=zdNY... #Excel #PowerBI #DataAnalytics

One of our Ask Ken Anything participants wanted to know how to handle Not A Number (NaN) values in a CSV exported from their resource planning system. Replacing them seemed to work, yet the query still reported errors that came up blank when clicked. 😠 @excelguru.ca tested it live in #PowerQuery...🧵

His fix is to deal with it early. Right after promoting headers but before setting data types, replace "NaN" as text. If it has already been converted, change the column to text, replace the values, then convert it back. 🧭Takeaway: Clean up problem values before you set data types, not after.

skw-t.comAsk Ken AnythingGet access to an expert who will help you build real world solutions. The Ask Ken Anything (AKA) sessions are live, interactive coaching calls that are held twice each month. They’re designed to give…

This is the kind of hands-on troubleshooting AKA members get every session, using the messy data they actually work with. Subscribe to the AKAs today at skw-t.com/aka, or get access included with our #SelfServiceBI (skw-t.com/ssbi) or #Excel Fundamentals (skw-t.com/excelfun) Academies.

He found something interesting. Set the column to Decimal Number and NaN becomes a true "not a number" value; set it to Whole Number and it becomes an error. Replace Errors catches the error but not the NaN, and there's no built-in function to replace NaN. 😮

Yesterday was Thanksgiving for our team in Canada, and we've woken up from our turkey coma enough to send out the latest newsletter. 🦃 If you're not subscribed, sign up at skw-t.com/news for info on what's new in #Excel and #PowerBI, courses, events, specials, a free #PowerQuery eBook, and more!

🕒Time intelligence is the collective name for patterns that can be used to solve time comparison problems, such as current VS previous month's sales. 📈 If you do time-based comparisons using #DAX, #Excel #PowerPivot, and/or #PowerBI, this article is for you: exceleratorbi.com.au/dax-time-int...

With an average rating of 4.88 ⭐ / 5, students LOVE Power Query Academy! Want to focus on the #DataAnalysis you were actually hired for? Stop repetitive #DataCleansing and #DataPreparation, and start gaining more data insights. 📊🔍 Enroll today at skw-t.com/pqa

A really great read for anyone who works with #PowerBI.

Eugene Meidinger@sqlgene.com

New blog post: www.sqlgene.com/2026/10/04/m...

youtube.comHow to unfill in Power Query - Monkey Shorts Episode 047Power Query's fill down/fill up feature is amazing, but what if you need to "un-fill" a selection for some reason? There may not be an un-fill command in the Power Query user interface, but that…

#PowerQuery's fill down ⬇️ /fill up ⬆️ feature is amazing, but what if you need to "un-fill" a selection for some reason? There may be an un-fill command coming to #PowerBI, but it's going to be some time before we see it in #Excel. Here's @excelguru.ca's method: www.youtube.com/watch?v=yHwt...

youtube.comWhy PivotTables Show Blanks — and How to Fix ThemIn this video, Ken explains the different types of blanks that can show up in PivotTables built from the Data Model. You’ll see why measure calculations can return blanks when no rows remain after…

Here, @excelguru.ca explains the types of blanks that can show up in #PivotTables built from the #DataModel. 🙃 If you work with #Excel PivotTables, #PowerPivot, #DAX, or #PowerQuery, this will help you understand where blanks come from and how to deal with them: www.youtube.com/watch?v=fnVU...

A question sent in for our recent 'Ask Ken Anything' (AKA) session tackled a common reporting headache: how do you compare hours logged in a project management system against data from time-tracking software? 🕒 @excelguru.ca walked through a solution he built using #PowerQuery and #PowerPivot. 🧵

The breakthrough was one small step: The time tracker stored durations, which turned into tiny, meaningless decimals next to the project hours. Using Transform > Duration > Total Hours converted 5 h, 59 m, 50 s into 5.997 hours, making the two systems directly comparable. 💡 No dividing by 24 and 60!

skw-t.comSelf Service BI AcademyPrepare to change your company's reporting game forever! In the Self Service BI Academy, Ken Puls will teach you how to use Excel, Power Query, and Power BI together to build robust Self Service BI…

🧭Takeaway: When time data won't compare cleanly, make sure you’re using a common data type! Bring your trickiest data puzzles to the AKA and see them solved. Enroll in our #SelfServiceBI (skw-t.com/ssbi) or #Excel Fundamentals (skw-t.com/excelfun) Academies to gain access, or at skw-t.com/aka

1️⃣ Clean both sources. 2️⃣ Replace "0:00:00" entries with nulls so empty records wouldn't clutter the #PivotTable. 3️⃣ Build shared employee and calendar tables 4️⃣ Write measures to calculate the variance.

Unlock the power of #DimensionalModeling by learning the right way to build solid and scalable Data Models in #Excel and #PowerBI.💪 This course pairs #PowerQuery and the #DataModel together using each for what they were designed to do. ➡️Transform your #BusinessIntelligence skills: skw-t.com/modeling

Following up on the Monkey Shorts episode shared yesterday, here's our #PowerQuery Recipe card that outlines the steps to number your data by grouped rows. 👩‍🍳 You can get the full collection (over 95 handy recipes!) at skw-t.com/pqrecipes #Excel #PowerBI #DataTransformation #DataPreparation

youtube.comNumber Grouped Rows in Power Query - Monkey Shorts Episode 046Also known as "number rows by partition" this is a super useful recipe to have in your Power Query arsenal. The basic goal is to provide each item in a group with a row number, restarting the…

AKA "number rows by partition" this is a useful recipe to have in your #PowerQuery arsenal. The basic goal is to provide each item in a group with a row number, restarting the numbering at row 1 when we move to the next group. 🔢 @excelguru.ca shows it's very easy: www.youtube.com/watch?v=9ckP...

youtube.comBuilding a Weekly Forecast History Using Power Query (Without Manual Work!)In this video, Ken Puls tackles a real-world question from an Ask Ken Anything session of Self Service Business Intelligence Academy training course. How do you track a weekly forecast, preserve…

How do you track a weekly forecast, preserve history, and turn it into a meaningful waterfall view—without doing everything manually? 😫 In this video, @excelguru.ca tackles a real student question: www.youtube.com/watch?v=79Ui... #DataAnalysis #BusinessIngtelligence #DataVizualization #Excel

Final takeaway: Take the output of #PowerQuery, feed it back into itself, and build a self-growing forecast history system—just make sure to remove duplicates before appending. If you work with forecasts, budgets, or projections that change over time, this is a simple but powerful pattern. 👍

An recent AKA attendee described a puzzling issue: queries driven by dates in worksheet cells kept showing old values after a refresh. Only clicking Refresh Preview, or saving, closing and reopening the file, seemed to fix it. 🤔 @excelguru.ca's diagnosis? The data probably wasn't wrong at all. 🧵

💡Ken's habit is simple: the first step in any debugging session is clicking Refresh Preview, then checking the loaded output before deciding something is broken. 🧭Takeaway: Refresh the preview before you trust what the Query Editor is showing you. #DataPreparation #BusinessIntelligence

A quirk like this can eat hours when you're on your own. In the AKAs, you get the reason behind it, so you can fix it with confidence and move on. Sign up at skw-t.com/aka, or get access for free with either our #Excel Fundamentals (skw-t.com/excelfun) or #SelfServiceBI (skw-t.com/ssbi) Academies.

#PowerQuery caches preview values inside the file, so the Query Editor and hover cards can show stale results even after Refresh All has loaded fresh data to the worksheet. 🔄 It's even more likely if background data previews have been turned off to speed up large workbooks.

blog.crossjoin.co.ukImprovements to Power Query integration in Power BI Report BuilderConnections are now easier to manage

Some good info on new improvements that weren't mentioned on the official Power BI blog.

Chris Webb@cwebbbi.bsky.social

Improvements to Power Query integration in Power BI Report Builder blog.crossjoin.co.uk/2026/09/27/i...

Skillwave Training reposted

Curtis Frye

@curtisfrye.com

Not all data you import into Excel uses commas to separate values. In this week's Techsoc movie, I'll show you how to use the new IMPORTTEXT function to bring in external data stored as text into Excel regardless of the separator character. youtu.be/63hfQT3yPDo

youtu.beImport text data into Excel using a formulaYouTube video by Curt Frye

The more you learn, the more you earn! 🧠 Kickstart your #DataAnalytics career with our #Excel and #PowerBI training. Our expert trainers will teach you how to get the most from your data, automate processes, and make better business decisions. 💻View our course catalog at skillwave.training/learn/

Transform your #DataAnalysis skills and kickstart your career like Dillon has! 👑 Join our #PowerQuery Academy and reap the rewards of efficient data handling in #Excel and #PowerBI. 💪 Enroll today at skw-t.com/pqa

In last week’s ‘Ask Ken Anything’ (AKA) session, one of our students asked about a frustrating #DataVisualization problem: a carefully formatted combo #PivotChart looked perfect until new forecast data was added. One refresh later, the formatting was gone. 😠 @excelguru.ca reproduced the issue live.🧵

Or you can try driving the chart from #DynamicArrays so it works off worksheet formulas instead of a #PivotTable. 🧭Takeaway: If a PivotChart keeps breaking on refresh, change the foundation instead of fighting the formatting.

skw-t.comExcel Fundamentals AcademyIn the Excel Fundamentals Academy, you’ll learn all the core skills for the Excel analyst, beginning with a refresher on Excel formulas and functions (including the daunting VLOOKUP), and then moving…

That's what the AKA is for: real problems from your own files, worked through live with someone who will tell you honestly what works and what doesn't. Our #Excel Fundamentals (skw-t.com/excelfun) and #SelfServiceBI (skw-t.com/ssbi) Academies include access, or join just the AKAs at skw-t.com/aka

Unfortunately , PivotCharts built on the #DataModel are notoriously fragile when a refresh adds new series, because the chart loses track of what it's supposed to format. 😢 Ken offered practical workarounds: You can ayer separate combo and line charts (one with a transparent background) together, OR

youtube.comShift non-aligned Columns in Power Query - Monkey Shorts Episode 045In this week's episode of Monkey Shorts, Ken explores a recipe to fix non-aligned data issues. It all started with a PDF import where data shifted into different columns on different rows. It all…

Here, @excelguru.ca explores a #PowerQuery trick to fix non-aligned data. It all started with a PDF import where data shifted into different columns on different rows.👎 It all ended with success, and a recipe to solve this challenge for others! 👍 www.youtube.com/watch?v=TC_g... #Excel #PowerBI

These are some really good things to think about when building #PowerBI reports!

Martynas Jočys@martynasjocys.bsky.social

The problem with accessibility in Power BI dashboards: Everyone says it's important, no one wants to do it, but what to actually do is vague at most. There are little tool-specific technical explanations. So here I am trying to fill this gap: chartplanet.net/accessibilit...

22 Sept

📩A new edition of our newsletter has just been sent, so time to check your inbox if you're a subscriber! If not, sign up at skw-t.com/news for our expert content, what's new in #Excel and #PowerBI, info on courses, events, specials, and more! Plus, you'll get our free #PowerQuer eBook. 🤓

youtube.comUnpivoting Data With Ease Using Power QueryLearn how to unpivot data easily using Power Query in Excel (and Power BI). In this video, Ken shows how to convert a human-friendly report layout into a clean tabular format that works beautifully…

21 Sept

Here's a must-know #PowerQuery technique to unpivot data easily in #Excel (and #PowerBI). 🙌 @excelguru.ca shows how to convert a human-friendly report layout into a clean tabular format that works beautifully for #PivotTables and #BusinessIntelligence: www.youtube.com/watch?v=KKKZ...

18 Sept

Good reminder - Check 👏 Your 👏 Data 👏

Crystal Lewis@cghlewis.bsky.social

Hey you. The one working with data right now. This is your periodic reminder to check to make sure you don't have duplicates in your data. Did someone submit 2 surveys when they should have only submitted one? Did someone's data get duplicated during a merge? Shit happens. Check your data.

18 Sept

Subscribing to the "Ask Ken Anything" sessions is like having a personal consultant on call for just a fraction of the cost! ☎️ Join @excelguru.ca for his live, interactive support calls held twice each month for personalized help with #Excel, #PowerQuery, #DAX and more. Sign up at skw-t.com/aka

youtube.comUnPivoting Error Values in Power Query - Monkey Shorts Episode 044Have you ever discovered errors in your data after unpivoting? Should you deal with them before you unpivot, or after? Can you remove all errors and still preserve a list of the records which…

17 Sept

Ever discovered errors in your data after unpivoting? 😬 Should you deal with them before you unpivot, or after? Can you remove all errors and still preserve a list of the records which contained errors? 😉 Join @excelguru.ca to find out: www.youtube.com/watch?v=sJaX... #PowerQuery #Excel #PowerBI

16 Sept

Do you know the difference between shaping and modeling your data? You need to do both to build a robust #PowerBI report. 💡 In this article, Matt Allington explains the differences and how they are used during the 4 phases of a #SelfServiceBI Project: exceleratorbi.com.au/shaping-mode...

youtu.beTracking Product Price Changes Using Power Query - Which Method Works Best?In this video, Ken Puls tackles a real-world question from a Self Service BI Academy student in one of the Ask Ken Anything sessions. The question is: how do you reliably identify price changes over…

15 Sept

This is the most popular of @excelguru.ca's video blogs on our YouTube channel, so we wanted to reshare it. He tackles a real-world question from a #SelfServiceBI Academy student: how do you reliably identify price changes over time using #PowerQuery? 🤔 Ken explores 3 methods: youtu.be/vu0HbLJisO4

14 Sept

We LOVE hearing from happy students! 😁 Our #DataVisualization course will help you present data in a clear, engaging, and meaningful way. Master the art of #DataStorytelling and gain all the fundamental skills to create better, more effective charts in #Excel and #PowerBI. Go to skw-t.com/dataviz