Simplify Your Data Analysis: Essential Looker Studio Formulas for Every Analyst

This is the second blog in our Looker Studio Video Series, where we delve into practical formulas and techniques to elevate your reporting skills. If you missed the first blog, check it out here. In this blog, we’ll dive into three essential Looker Studio formulas to enhance your reports: Rounding Numbers to Specific Decimal Places, Calculating Percentage Change, and Using Case-When for Boolean Values.

1. Round a Number to a Specific Decimal Place

Why is this useful?
 Rounding numbers to specific decimal places improves data readability, especially when working with financial data, rates, or percentages. It ensures your data is clean and easy to interpret without unnecessary precision.

How to do it in Looker Studio

Use the ROUND() function:
ROUND(Value, Decimal_Places)

• Value: The number you want to round.
• Decimal_Places: The number of decimal places to round to.

Example:
To round a sales amount to two decimal places:

ROUND(Average purchase revenue, 1)

This will display 123.456 as 123.46 in your report.

Benefits:

• Creates cleaner reports with standardized data presentation.
• It makes data more comprehensible for non-technical stakeholders.

2. Calculate Percentage Change Between Two Values

Why is this useful?
 Percentage change is crucial for understanding trends and measuring growth or decline over time. This metric is commonly used in performance analysis for KPIs, revenue, and traffic metrics.

How to do it in Looker Studio

Use the following formula to calculate percentage change:
((Current_Value - Previous_Value) / Previous_Value) * 100

Example:
If you’re comparing website traffic between Total users and New users:

((Total users- New Users) / New Users) * 100

Benefits:

• Provides actionable insights into performance trends.
• Highlights areas requiring attention or improvement.

3. Get Boolean Value Using Case-When Formula

Why is this useful?
 Boolean values (True/False) simplify data categorization and filtering. They are helpful when defining thresholds, segmenting data, or flagging anomalies.

How to do it in Looker Studio

Use a CASE WHEN formula to create Boolean values:
CASE  

  WHEN Condition THEN True  

  ELSE False  

END

Example:
Flag sessions with a bounce rate greater than 50%:

CASE  

  WHEN Bounce_Rate > 50 THEN True  

  ELSE False  

END

This will return True for sessions exceeding 50% bounce rate and False otherwise.

Benefits:

• Simplifies data categorization and segmentation.
• Enables easy filtering and focused analysis.

Conclusion

Looker Studio’s formula capabilities allow you to transform raw data into actionable insights. By mastering simple yet effective formulas like ROUND(), percentage change calculations, and Boolean logic, you can build visually appealing and analytically robust reports.

Start applying these formulas in your Looker Studio reports today, and unlock the true potential of your data. For step-by-step guidance, watch our tutorial videos linked below:

1. Rounding Numbers to Decimal Places
2. Calculating Percentage Change
3. Creating Boolean Values Using Case-When Formula

Have questions or need help? Let us know in the comments!