The Book

TABLEAU ANALYTICS IN THE
ACCOUNTING CLASSROOM
Charles E Hooper
Copyright 2017 Charles E Hooper

All rights reserved.
ISBN: 154493615X
ISBN-13: 978-1544936154
INTRODUCTION
This book is a Tableau Desktop instruction manual, with five goals:

1. Introduce Tableau Desktop to the non-technical user.
2. Make the reader a good Tableau Desktop user, allowing them to find insights in their data. Since
this will, in most cases, be an additional set of work efforts in an already busy class, it is NOT meant
as a full Tableau Desktop training guide. Rather, it is an introduction to the basic elements of the
software. By the end of the book, you should be comfortable connecting to any data, analyzing it,
visualizing it, and, telling the story in the data!
3. Give the reader some recommended steps for becoming a great Tableau Desktop user!
4. Be used in accounting classes in colleges and universities. There are two goals in this area
a. Better prepare graduating students for future employment. Finding it. Keeping it. Excelling
at it!
b. Help accounting classes meet the A7 accreditation requirements.
5. In the classroom, help make an accounting class just a little more exciting (;-).
The examples used are all geared toward students, in our colleges and universities.
The instructions, and the techniques shown in the examples, apply to any effort in analyzing and visualizing
data!
NOTE#1: Chapters 1-6 are needed just to teach enough Tableau to allow students to do serious
assignments.
Students will be able to do some accounting oriented assignments before completing all of them,
but, we change data sources with chapter 7 (calculations) and start dealing with accounting
specific data (cash flow, balance sheet, income statement)
NOTE#2: September 2017, there will be Youtube videos available for each chapter
just for those of you opposed to reading. Each is targeted at 10 minutes. Links
WILL be at www.BIAlytics.com/AAA.html
What is Tableau Desktop?

Tableau Desktop is a software application designed to help people see, and understand, data. It was
designed to be easy to use, so that anyone can use it, and powerful, so that insights in the data can, easily, be
discovered and shared. Tableau has a program for academia free software for professors and students, as
well as free on-demand training, and, supporting material.
Why do you need Tableau Desktop?

The job of an accountant is not in just tracking debits and credits. Today, accountants are expected to be
able to take any data, reformat it (if required), analyze it, create the story that the data has buried in it, and,
present that story to others in their organization. Tableau Desktop can help in all those areas.
Recent studies say that over 65% of us are visual learners. Tableau allows any user to quickly, and easily,
take any data and visualize the insights hidden in that data. One secret to business success is getting to
insights, faster. Tableau helps you get there. Hiring agents tell us that the skills most in demand, today, are
analytic skills and speaking/presentation skills. Tableau Desktop can help in both areas. The story board
facility, in Tableau Desktop, can help make the user a more effective presenter.
Why this book?
The author has a lot of Tableau experience, including teaching the use of Tableau products to thousands of
end users. (Note that he is not known as an author by any recognized writing experts!). Students, from
accounting classes, using this book, will be better prepared for the real business world. The examples and
assignments are all related to what accounting students might find once they graduate.
Also, from a school perspective, many of the A7 accreditation requirements are in play.
Note that the assignments in the book are, by design, simple, for two reasons:
1. The accounting instructor should feel free to inject his/her own assignments, to match the current
class topics with the Tableau learning experience.
2. Simplicity succeeds. Complexity fails. The goal of data visualization is to communicate the insights
from the data. When we speak, we communicate more effectively when we dont try to overwhelm
the audience. The same goes for data visualization.
Each chapter should require no more than 30 minutes of your time.

The extra workload will pay dividends now, and, later,
not only in the accounting class, but, quite possibly, in many others!
DEDICATION AND ACKNOWLEDGEMENT
This book is dedicated to two awesome groups of people:
1. The Tableau community. The company is great. And, there are employees, ex-employees,
officially designated Zen Masters, customers, bloggers, students, and others, that make this the
best user community in the world. I am honored, and grateful, to be a part of that family!
2. The American Accounting Association (AAA). There are over 7,000 members, most are
accounting professors. There are several people that are with, or associated with, the AAA, that I
really need to thank! They have helped me, often, and in many ways! They have mentored me, and,
as needed, helped steer me away from self-destruction. A heartfelt THANK YOU! to each!
Robyn Raschke, University of Nevada, Las Vegas
Brigitte Muehlmann, Babson College
Julie Smith David, Chief Innovation Officer, American Accounting Association
Susan Crosson, Director, Center for Advancing Accounting Education, American Accounting
Association
CONTENTS
Chapter 1 Getting started Pg #
Chapter 2 Terminology Pg #
Chapter 3 - Connecting to data Pg #
Chapter 4 Some basic chart types Pg #
Chapter 5 - Filtering data Pg #
Chapter 6 - Sorting data Pg #
Chapter 7 - Calculated fields Pg #
Chapter 8 - Parameters Pg #
Chapter 9 - Hierarchies Pg #
Chapter 10 Dashboards Pg #
Chapter 11 - Worksheet & Dashboard Actions Pg #
Chapter 12 Storyboards Pg #
Chapter 13 Advanced calculations Pg #
Appendix A What else does Tableau offer? Pg #
Appendix B Whats next? Pg #
Appendix C The art of the possible Pg #
About the Author Pg #

Chapter 1 - Getting started
What you will learn:

Getting started is easy. You download the software installer, and, install the software. The download process
is a little different for professors and students, versus someone outside of the academic world. Once
downloaded, the installation, and all subsequent steps in this book, are the same.
Why this is important:

I will avoid sarcasm, here . It is important to have installed the software to do the exercises/assignments
in this book. Otherwise, youll have to use your imagination, and, you will, likely, drift off to the up-coming
Friday night party.
The following steps will get the new Tableau Desktop user up and running, in a short (minutes) period of
time.
NOTE: These instructions, and, all images/instructions in this book, are based on the Tableau
Desktop Pro Version 10.2, for MS Windows.
There is a Mac version that is virtually identical (except for some data source connectors). Feel free to
download and install the Mac version if you need to.
If youre a Mac user, my hunch is you are used to interpreting and adjusting to Windows terminology!
Download the Tableau Desktop software:

For students and professors, start here to sign up for FREE Tableau Desktop software:
https://www.tableau.com/academic
Note that you MUST have a school issued email address for this process.
For NON-academia, you can download a fully functional Tableau Desktop trial from:
https://www.tableau.com/products/desktop/download
Once you install and register, you will have a two-week trial license. You can, in 1-2 hours each day,
easily complete the classes in this book, and, still have a week to play with your data to see if you
want to purchase a licensed copy of the software.
See Appendix A What else does Tableau offer? in this book, for more details on all that Tableau
has to offer.
If you want a quick jumpstart, Tableau offers FREE on-demand training. Start here:
https://www.tableau.com/learn/training Try the 3 Getting started videos!
Install the Tableau Desktop software:

1. Install the software by double clicking on the downloaded install file. I, strongly, recommend you
accept all defaults, if possible. All supporting documentation will assume that you installed with the
defaults.
2. Once installed, you will have the Tableau Desktop icon on your desktop.
You are ready to use Tableau Desktop!
Download the files needed for assignments in this book:

1. Download the files needed those that contain the sample datasets referred to in this book. The
files you need are: TrainingData.xlsx and the Tableau Workbook Mergent.twbx.
They are in the list of downloadable files at: http://www.bialytics.com/AAA.html
Test the installation:

Now, you need to test the installation, to be certain you are ready for subsequent chapters.
Double click on the Tableau Desktop icon on your desktop.
The icon:
What should show up should be really close to this:
NOTE that, with each new release, there may be some minor differences. IF you have trouble with the
installation process:
1. email Support@Tableau.com
2. email AAA-help@BIAlytics.com
3. Try again
For a demonstration of Tableau Desktop, showing a little of whats possible, without touching the
keyboard, watch the 5-minute video at http://www.bialytics.com/NoKey.mp4
Regardless of class assignments, feel free to PLAY!

Chapter 2 Terminology

Tableau Desktop can visualize data in many ways. The many just means LOTS of options! To understand
the options, it is imperative you understand Tableau terminology. In this chapter, we will go over Tableau
terminology (VERY IMPORTANT!!!) as well as using a basic visualization (simple bar chart) to aid in
understanding that terminology.
This is, BY FAR, the most critical chapter in this book! Understanding what terminology will be used, in
subsequent chapters, will be critical to your success.
NOTE: Not ALL terminology will be defined in this chapter just what is critical for your success.

The remaining chapters will assume you are familiar with the terminology detailed in this chapter. Failure to
understand the terms being used, will guarantee you have a major struggle, moving forward.
Starting Tableau Desktop:

Double click on the Tableau Desktop icon to open Tableau Desktop to the home screen.
You should see the image below (minus the callouts). Callouts describe some of what you are seeing.
Tableau can
connect to many
file types!
Training
resources
Click MORE to
see all data
These
sources! (next
references will
image)
change, often!
End user defined and

Tableau supplied
saved data sources
sample workbooks
The additional file types Tableau Desktop Professional edition can connect to:
Use ODBC if
YOUR data
source is not
listed to the left.
Worksheet Screen terminology. Highlighted terms are critical:
BUTTON BAR: Similar to Excel quick access to some options. NOTE NOT configurable!
DATA WINDOW: Houses all the field names contained in the data source being queried.
MARK: Think of it like a single cell, in Excel it is a single, referenceable, point of data.
MARKS CARDS: We will be putting fields on these buttons to change how colors, sizes, shapes are used,
in our views.
MENU BAR: Similar to Excel click a menu item to see options associated with that selection.
PANE: All the combined MARKS, for a single Column/Row value.
SHELVES: Called shelves because well put things on them!
TAB AREA: Similar to Excel TABS will contain various view in this workbook. The three buttons to the
right are:
First Click to add a new WORKSHEET Tab
Second Click to add a new DASHBOARD Tab
Third Click to add a new STORYBOARD Tab
TABLE: The highlighted box shows the entire view for this worksheet, referred to as the Table.
Symbols to the left of field names in the DATA WINDOW:
# = Tableau sees this as a number

Abc = Tableau sees this as a character field
= Tableau sees this as a geography field will be able to Map values.
= Calendar / Clock. Is a date/time stamp. (Calendar, only = date field).

Chapter 3 - Connecting to data

You can analyze and visualize data from many different sources, including Excel, Access, flat files, relational
databases (SQL Server, Oracle, Teradata etc.), cloud databases (AWS, Salesforce, etc.), cube databases
(Analysis Services, Essbase, etc.). via native database drivers. When no native driver exists, you can, usually,
connect to your data via an ODBC driver.
Connecting to data is easy. The simplest connection is to a single Excel workbook, with a tab that contains
all the data you need! In this section, we will connect to the TrainingData.xlsx Excel workbook, doing a
simple connection to one tab that contains all the data we need. Later, we will connect to multiple tabs,
creating a single data source.
NOTE that you may find this chapter easier if you understand the database term JOIN, or, the Excel function
VLOOKUP(). You might want to take ten minutes and GOOGLE those terms. I will do my best to explain
them, as we go.

This is a critical step its the way we pull in the data to do our visualizations and analysis. Once connected
to the desired data, the rest is the fun part!
Connect to the data:

Before we start, load the TrainingData.xlsx file into Excel and look at the Sales Detail tab. This is the
one we will connect to, from Tableau. Note that it has order and sales detail data for an imaginary office
supply store. All product, customer and order/shipment detail is in the one tab. Each row is a single
ordered/shipped transaction.
Important: The order date and ship date columns are based on calculations. IF you
open, then SAVE the Excel file (with the Sales Detail tab showing), the dates will be
updated so that the latest SHIP DATE will be yesterday. This is done to always have
the data appear to be current.
Here is the Excel data:
1. Double click the Tableau desktop icon to get it loaded.
2. From the home screen, click the Excel link to be able to browse to the TrainingData.xlsx file.
3. Find the TrainingData.xlsx Excel file, and highlight it then click Open.
4. When it loads Drag the Sales Detail link from the lower left side, to the area where it says Drop
Sheets Here
1. At this point, Tableau has connected to the data, read the first few rows and determined the LIKELY
type of data (text, numbers, dates, geographic) in present each column. NOTE that, a little later in
this chapter, we will pull in multiple tabs (tables) and connect them. The resulting data source will be
very similar to this one. Why the difference? Many times, in Excel, all the data we need is in a single
tab. But, in a real business database world, most of the time, data is in multiple tables, where we need
to define connections between them, to get all we want.
2. Now, for a quick look at charting some of this data:
a. Click on the Sheet 1 tab in the TAB BAR, at the bottom
b. Double click on Sales $ in the bottom of the DATA WINDOW
c. Double click on Sub-Category in the top part of the DATA WINDOW
As you drag and drop, and, double click on a data window field, Tableau is executing a query against
the data, and, making a calculated assumption as to the best way to view the selected data. At this
point, you should see something like:
Note that Tableau placed the data field names into two different areas in the DATA WINDOW.
Dimensions dates, text, geographic fields we will use to categorize our data.
Measures numeric fields are ASSUMED to be ones we want to add or average, etc.
YOU CAN drag a field name from one (Dimension / Measure) area to the other, if Tableau has not made a
good decision. An example of where you may need to do this; If you have a numeric field, in the data, for
AGE it is probably numeric and Tableau will assume it is a measure. You would never want to sum ages,
so you, most likely, will want to drag the field from the Measures area to the Dimensions area.
Now, lets look at a more complex connection one where we need to match fields, in different Excel
worksheets, to pull data into a single logical data source. In the relational database world, we call the matching
a JOIN. In Excel, you would use a VLOOKUP() function to do the same thing.
This is a little more complex data connection process:
Again, look at the same TrainingData.xlsx Excel workbook, but, this time we will look at multiple tabs, and,
will link these multiple tabs, to create the data connection.
First, lets look at the tabs we will connect.
Sales Tab:
The Order Date Key, Ship Date Key, Customer ID, and Product ID fields are just codes that we will use to
link/JOIN to other tables (tabs) in the spreadsheet, matching the code in the sale tab to a code in each of the
other tabs.
Look at the other tabs Order Calendar, Ship Calendar, Product, Customer.
We will use the Customer tab as an example
:
We want to tell Tableau to link the Sales tab Customer ID to the Customer tab Customer ID
In EXCEL, this would be done with a VLookUp() function.
In a relational database, we would use a JOIN example SQL could be: WHERE [Sales.Customer ID] =
[Customer.Customer ID]
Also, we need to link the other tabs (Product and Calendars) to the Sales tab:
Sales->Order Date Key to Order Calendar->Order Date Key
Sales->Ship Date Key to Ship Calendar->Ship Date Key
Sales->Product ID to Product->Product Id
1. As before, load Tableau Desktop, connect to the TrainingData.xlxs file.
2. From the home screen, drag the Sales tab from the Sheets area to the Drop Sheets Here area
3. Then, drag the remaining pertinent worksheets (Order Calendar, Ship Calendar, Customer,
Product into the same area being careful NOT to drop one on top of one already in that area. As
you drop each into the work area, they will connect, automatically to the right table. IN THIS
SITUATION, all tabs use field names that facilitate the automatic, CORRECT, linking/joining. At a
later point, we will go into what needs done, when the automatic connecting is not correct.
This is what you should see:
Hover over the VENN symbols showing the JOINS the popup window will show what fields were used to
link the tabs together.
At this point, youve connected to the data source, joined all tables needed, and, are ready to start building
views!
So that we do not have to redo all these steps in the future, we can save our connection information
in a file for referencing, later.
1. Click on the tab Sheet 1
2. Click in the Menu bar -> Data->your data source name->Add to Saved Data Sources.
3. In the SAVE dialog, save the new data source as Accounting.
IF Youve done everything correctly, you can close/exit from Tableau. Start Tableau again and you should
see the following:
Click on Accounting in the Saved Data Sources (Lower left corner) and you should be back to this:
Now, let us clean up this data source for future use!
1. In the DATA WINDOW, right click on every field that ends in Key or ID (Except Order ID) and
select Hide. This removes the field from the view, but, does not delete it. Hidden fields may be
Unhidden by clicking on the black triangle to the right of the word Dimensions in the DATA
WINDOW, click the bottom option Show Hidden Fields. At that point, the hidden fields are
visible, but, are greyed out. Right click on one and select Unhide, to bring it back.
2. To save the updated Accounting datasource for future use:
a. In the menu bar, click Data->Accounting->Add to Saved Data Sources.
Now, each time you open Tableau, the Accounting data source will be there, ready for quick access!
Assignment:
Weve touched on just the basic connection processes. Tableau has many other options to aid in connecting
to problem data sources. We will address some of these in a later chapter.
Go back and redo both the simple and the more complex data connections, WITHOUT using the book for
help!
Continue to retry, until you get it right, both ways!
Feel free to PLAY WITH THE DATA!

Chapter 4 Some basic chart types

In this chapter, well use the Accounting data source and will build four views of the data:
1. 2 Bar Charts
2. Text View
3. Geographic Map

The goal of this chapter is to have the user become familiar with the Tableau drag and drop, and, double click,
options.

Open Tableau and connect to the Accounting data source (select Accounting datasource in lower left of
the screen.). :.
Example:
Creating your first bar chart:
1. Drag Sales $ from the Measures area in the DATA WINDOW, to the Columns shelf. Note that a
new column, containing total Sales $ is displayed
2. Drag Region from the Dimensions area to the Rows shelf. Now, we have a row for each Region.
3. Drag Customer Segment from the Dimensions area of the DATA WINDOW to the Columns
Shelf. Note that we have a new column, for each Customer Segment.
Creating your second bar chart:
1. Create a new tab by clicking on the first of the three buttons in the button bar, at the bottom of the
screen.
2. Double click Sales $ from the Measures area of the DATA WINDOW. Note that when you double
click a MEASURE, to start a view, Tableau will start in CHART mode!
3. Double click Region from the Dimension area of the DATA WINDOW.
4. Double click Customer Segment from the Dimension area of the DATA WINDOW.
Hover over the barrs popup tool tips will show what is represented be each bar.
Drag Profit $ from the DATA WINDOW and drop it on the Marks Card button ToolTip.
Hove over a bar and note that the Profit $ field is now shown. In this way, we can show more data in a chart, without
gumming up the view!
Click the Tooltip button to open an editor that allows you to make changes to how the popup tooltip looks
for the end user.
We will do more on this, later, when we get into formatting.
Create a TEXT reports.
1. Again, create a new tab by clicking on the first of the three buttons in the button bar, bottom of
screen.
2. Double click on Region in the Dimensions area of the DATA WINDOW
3. Double click on Customer Segment in the Dimensions area of the DATA WINDOW
4. Double click on Sales $ in the Measures area of the DATA WINDOW
Note that by double clicking on a Dimension field, to start a view, we start (and STAY) in text report mode.
As before, note that anything put on the Columns shelf creates a column for each unique value in the
data.
Anything placed on the Rows shelf creates a row for each unique value in the data.
We can add totals to reports.
In the Menu bar, click Analysis->Totals->Show Column Grand Totals.
In the Menu bar, click Analysis->Totals->Show Row Grand Totals.
Note that row / columns totals are now present.
Double click Product Category in the Dimensions area.
PLAY with some of the options in the Totals dialog,

Creating a geographic map:
1. Create a new tab by clicking on the first of the three buttons in the button bar, bottom of screen.
2. Double click Customer State from the Dimensions area of the DATA WINDOW. Note that
Tableau instantly draws a map to support the values in the geographic field. A dot is placed at the
center of each state where data exists in the Accounting data source
3. Double click on Sales $ in the Measures area of the DATA WINDOW. Note that each dot is SIZED,
based on the SUM of the Sales$ in each state.
4. Double click on Profit $ in the Measures area of the DATA WINDOW. Note that each dot is
COLORED, based on the SUM of the Profit $ in each state. Note that by clicking on the color
legend, we can open a dialog to edit the colors. Try that!
As each new field is added to the view, Tableau relooks at ALL the fields in the view and decides as
to the, likely, best way to visualize the data. By moving those capsules around, to different shelves
and MARKS CARD buttons, we can get many different views of the same data.
5. Hover over any state dot. A popup window, containing the details from that state, shows up in that
tooltip.
Saving our work:
1. Click File, in the Menu bar
2. Click Save as from the options shown
3. On your desktop (or in a location you can remember!) save the workbook as Accounting-04 using
the default Save as Type as a Tableau Workbook (*.twb).
Note that, in the next few chapters, we will be starting each one with the prior saved version,
and, doing a Save AS to save each new version. The last 2 characters of the file name will
be the chapter number that produced the current workbook.
4. At this point, you can close Tableau. Double clicking on the saved Accounting-04.twb file will
load Tableau and connect to that workbook.
5. Try it. Good news/bad news. If it works, you did a good job. If it doesnt work, you might have to
start over.
In subsequent chapters:
1. We will introduce one major new function in each chapter.
2. We will introduce additional chart types.
3. We will introduce additional formatting functionality offered within each view.
4. We will be less verbose in describing the movement of fields. EXAMPLE:
Instead of an instruction: Double click on Sales $ in the Measures area of the DATA
WINDOW,
It will be just: Double click Sales $.
Assignment:
1. Close Tableau and start over.
2. Try to reproduce something similar, to each of the four views, without referencing the book.
a. Horizontal bar Chart
b. Vertical bar chart
c. Text report WITH row / columns totals
d. Map (State or Zip code based)
YOU CANNOT HURT ANYTHING, so, dont fear mistakes.
With every double click, note what Tableau has done where did it put the field you clicked on?
3. PLAY with the data by swapping the capsules on the Columns and Rows shelves to the other shelf.
Note the changes in the view, as dimensions and measures move between the Columns / Rows
shelves.
4. PLAY some more!
Experienced Tableau experts will tell you the best way to learn, is to PLAY WITH THE DATA!
Chapter 5 - Filtering data

In this chapter, well look at how to limit (filter) data.

The goal of filtering is to limit the data being viewed. We may want to look at just a specific time frame, or
a specific set of values. Tableau has different types of filters. We will use the most common, and, will
mention some of the more complex. We can limit because there is a subset of the data we want to see, or,
we can allow the user to limit on different values, to see different slices of the data.

Open Tableau and connect to the Accounting-04 data source.
Example:
Lets create a simple chart, then add filtering to the visualization.
1. Double click Region.
2. Double click Customer State
3. Drag Sales $ to the Columns shelf.
4. Drag Profit $ to the Color button on the Marks card.
Your output, at this point, should look like this:
5. Drag Region from the Data Window, to the Filter shelf. Click the Use all radio button. Click
OK. Clicking Use all tells Tableau to use ALL possible values in the filter, even if NEW
Regions appear in the data, later.
6. Right click on Customer State in the Data Windows and select. A Filter dialog will appear along
the right side of the view.
7. Right click on Region in the filter window and select Show Filter. A Filter dialog will appear in the
upper right area of the view.
At his point, your view should look like this:
The filters along the right side of the view are Check Boxes you may select multiple ones, as you
desire.
Play with the filters by unchecking / checking different check boxes.
Lets play with some options!
1. We can have different value selectors. Lets change to Radio Buttons, instead of Check Boxes.
a. Hover over the Region filter box in the upper right of the view. When you hover over it,
note there are some small icons that appear along the top. Click the tringle (far right of the
three). Select Single Value (list) from the dialog. This changes the filters options to
Radio Buttons.
2. Click the Radio Button for East. Note the view shows only the East, BUT, ALL States are still
showing. It would be nice to only show states that are in the selected region!
3. Now, as you select a Region Radio Button, only the pertinent (relevant values) Customer States
are in the State filter!
Example:
Using DATES as filters!
Rarely, is any analysis meaningful without us knowing what dates limit the data! The statement Revenue
was $125,000 is meaningless, unless we know that was yesterday, last week, last month, last quarter, etc.!
So, we need to have powerful date level filtering, in Tableau, to make our analysis meaningful!
Lets bud a simple view, to show some of the date filtering capabilities.
1. Drag Sales $ to the Columns Shelf.
2. Drag Region to the Rows Shelf.
3. Drag Ship Date to the Filter Shelf.
a. Note all the options. I can select to be able to filter on a Range of Dates, by individual date
parts (Years, Quarters, Months etc. even by individual date.
4. Click on Years and select Next. What you see is a list of years, represented by the data. You can
continue from here, and, show the filter allowing the user to select the year(s) they want to see.
OR, you can select the most popular option: Relative Date. In its simplest form, this option
allows us to build a view, one time, based on some relative date criteria, and, have it always run on
that criteria, based on the current data. Example: I want a report that is ALWAYS the LATEST 30
days. I select the Relative Date Filter, and see this dialog:
:
I can use this dialog to select my relative data range in this case, the latest 30 days. This will always
filter the Ship Date, in the data to TODAY plus the prior 29 days.
If I show the filter to the user, that user sees the dialog below, and, can do his/her own relative date
filtering:
MORE Filter options:
By clicking on that upper right little triangle, you can:

1. Change the filter value selection method.
a. Sliders, Multiple Value Dropdown, Single Value Dropdown, Wildcard, and more.
2. Alter the title of the Filter dialog.
3. Format the filter dialog (fonts, colors, borders and more)
4. Remove the All option from the filter selections
a. Select Customize from the drop down and UNCHECK the first option (the Show all
value option)
Power filter!
When we first move a field to the Filter shelf, the resulting dialog box has a Top tab. Select it!
The dialog that opens allows us to select the top/bottom # of the field, based on some value. We will do
an example, below.
Play with the filter dialog options!

A more complex filter option, and an example with multiple complex options:
Tableau has the concept of a Context filter. It is applied before ANY other filters are applied. An
example of the need:
Suppose your boss says, I want a report of the top ten products we sell, by state.. Whats your first step?
Well, it SHOULD be to get clarifications!
Does the boss want:
1. Pick the top ten products, and let me see what each state has done with that set.
2. Pick a State, and let me see THEIR top 10 items.
Tableau can do either. In the first situation, if we do a Top filter and select the top ten products, then, we
filter on state, we will see how each state does with that set of ten products.
1. For this option, we need to tell Tableau to Pick a State, FIRST, then, pick the top 10 items, for that
state. In this case, we need to put the State filter In Context, so that the State is resolved, first,
THEN the items. To do this, set up the top ten filter for the item, and the filter for State. THEN,
right click on the State on the Filter shelf, and select Add to context from the drop-down options.
Lets build a view with a Context filter, AND, a Top filter!

We will satisfy the request from the boss, using the second option from above:
1. Start with a new tab:
2. Drag Sales $ to the Columns shelf.
3. Double Click Product Name.
4. Drag Product Name from the Data Window to the Filter Shelf. Click the Top tab Click By
field:. Make sure the four dropdown values contain:
a. Top
b. 10
c. Sales $
d. SUM
This tells Tableau to limit what is returned to the Top 10 Products, by the Sum of Sales.
Click OK.
5. Right click Customer State in the Data Window and select Show filter.
6. Right click on Customer State in the Filter box and select Add to Context. Weve just told
Tableau to resolve our selected State, before selecting the top ten products.
7. Change the Customer State filter to Single Value (list) Radio Buttons.
8. Done! Now, as you select a single state, you get the top 10 products selling in just that state.
Selecting All states gets the top 10 for all states, combined.
Saving our work:
start over.
Assignment:
2. Rebuild a chart similar to what weve done so far. YOU CANNOT HURT ANYTHING, so, dont
fear mistakes.
3. Drag fields from the Dimensions or Measures area unto the Filter shelf, and, PLAY with the filters
dialog!
With every change, note what Tableau has done
PLAY WITH THE DATA!
Chapter 6 - Sorting data

In this chapter, well look at 5 ways to sort data. There are other ways, that we will get to as we get more
advanced, in the next chapter!

Tableau defaults to an alphabetic sort, based on visible dimensions. Often, we want to see the biggest number
or smallest number, up front. We may want to see them in a specific sequence. Maybe we want a specific
value at the top and all others in some other order. Tableau gives use the power and flexibility to order the
data as we desire.

Open Tableau and connect to the Accounting data source.
Example:
First, well create a simple view, to use for showing the Sort options.
1. Double click on Product Sub-Category
2. Drag Sales $ to the Columns shelf
3. Drag Profit $ to the right of Sales $ on the Columns shelf.
Your view should look something like this (without the added arrows):
The different type of Sorts:
1. Click on an axis title (Sales $ or Profit $) and look at the Button bar the two sort icons are active.
Click either one to sort the selected column
2. Hover over one of the measure Axis names youll see a sort icon next to the name. Click once to
sort that column in Descending order. Click again to sort in Ascending order, click a third time to
go back to the default /original sort order.
3. Drag & Drop - Click on a Product Sub-Category name and drag it up or down the list to put the
data in random order, based on where YOU want to see the sub-categories!
4. Define a fixed sort order Right click on Product Sub-Category in the Data Window and select
Default Properties->Sort. Click on the Manual Radio button and, move the descriptions in to
some other order. Click OK. NOTE that any views already built, using Product Sub-Category,
will NOT change! But, any new use of that field will use the new default sort order. Try it create
a new tab, double click on Product Sub-Category, and, note that the new order, as your defined it,
is in play.
5. IF you want a sort order to CHANGE when the data changes, use this method. Right click on
Product Sub-Category on the Rows shelf, and, select Sort. Youll get this dialog:
Here, you can select sort options that will, automatically, be processed each time the workbook
is opened.
In the above example, I am telling Tableau to always open the workbook, sorting my view,
Ascending order, on the sum of Sakes$. As my data values change, my sort order will be
reprocessed.
Saving our work:
start over.
Assignment:
At this point, go back over chapters 1-6 and make sure you are comfortable with each
topic.
Grab some NEW data - something you might be interested in and visualize it!
The remaining chapters will be using a new data source (The Mergent Tableau packaged
workbook), and, examples and assignments will be more Accounting specific.
Chapter 7 - Calculated fields

In this chapter, you will create calculated fields. The calculations can use numbers, dates, and text values,
from the data, or, just variables you add in.

At times, your source data may contain all you need, but, when using critical thinking skills to analyze your
data, many times you come up with the need for values not in the data, but, that can be derived from the data
available. Also, there are times you need to reformat data to make analysis/reporting easier. Calculations can
help in all these situations.

We will start using a new data source, at this time. One of the files you should have downloaded is
Mergent.twbx. This is a Tableau packaged workbook. Packaged means that the data has been
included in, with the workbook (.twb). This makes the file easily portable (no need to connect to an external
source of data) AND, because the data has been extracted from its source in a Tableau proprietary format,
large data sets get a performance boost. More on these topics, later. For now, we will just double click on
the Mergent.twbx file to have the workbook AND the data loaded into Tableau Desktop.
About Mergent data, and the Mergent.twbx file:

The data:
Mergent data is available to universities, from a web site. The data comes in Excel format, and, is up to ten
years of financial statement data for public companies. In the Mergent.twbx workbook, data is there for ten
years (through 2015) for Cash flows, Balance sheets and Income statements for Amazon, Apple, Microsoft,
Facebook, PepsiCo and Coca-Cola. Check with your school library to see if you have access to more
data.
The workbook:
The Tableau packaged workbook has gone through a number of processes to make the data usable. At this
time, we will not be concerned with all those efforts.
LOOK at the existing tabs in the starting Mergent.twbx workbook.
We will be creating new tabs for each new calculated field we want.
Examples:
We will create multiple calculated fields in this chapter.
Task#1. In the data, we only have a YEAR, not a full date. CREATE a calculated field that is a full date,
using the Fiscal Year in the data. Use Jan 1 as the Month/Day, for each.
Task#2. Create the calculated field Accounts Payable. Note the formula and explanation for where this
comes from, in the data, is in the first tab in the workbook.
Task#3. Create the field Current Ratio (current Assets / Liabilities), for the year 2015 show for each
company.
Task#1. In the data, we only have a YEAR, not a full date. CREATE a calculated field that is a full
date, using the Fiscal Year in the data. Use Jan 1 as the Month/Day, for each.
To create any calculation, we have a couple options.

1. Right click on any field in the Data Window, and select Create->Calculated field. At this point,
the dialog allowing you to create the calculation will open up. The field you were on, when you did
the Right Click, is in the calculation box. You can use it, or, delete it.
2. If you right click in the Data Window, and are NOT on any field, you can click Create calculated
field.. from the resulting options.
3. Click on Analysis in the menu Bar, and, select Create calculated field...
All three options get you to the same dialog box.
Once youve accessed the calculation dialog box, look for a list of possible calculation functions along the
right side of the dilog box. If you do NOT see this list, click the tiny right arrow (triangle) in the middle of
the right side of the dialog box.
Youll see:
In the upper left corner of the calculation box, youll see the default name for this calculation
(Calculation1). Change it to Current Ratio.
In the open calculation area, enter the following calculation:
IF MIN([Fiscal Year]) = 2015
THEN sum([Total Assets]) / sum([Total Liabilities])
ELSE sum(0)
END
This calculation will return ZERO for all years except 2015. For Fiscal year 2015, it will return the Current
Ration.
Click OK in the lower right of the calculation box.
Tableau defaults numbers to displaying as integers we need to tell Tableau to show 2 decimals.
In the Data Window, find the calculated field, right click on it and select:
Default Properties -> Number Format -> Number (Custom)
Letting it default to 2 decimals.
Assignment: Create a view of Company name, Total Assets, Total Liabilities, and Current Ratio. Limit the
view to just Fiscal year 2015.
Your view should look something like:
Task#2. Create the calculated field Accounts Payable. Note the formula and explanation for
where this comes from, in the data, is in the first tab in the workbook.
Task#3. Create the field Current Ratio (current Assets / Liabilities), for the year 2015 show for
each company.
Saving our work:
2. Click Save as from the options shown. .
the default Save as Type as the Tableau Packaged Workbook (*.twbx). Note that the Save as type:
is now defaulting to *.twbx, a Tableau PPackaged workbook. Do not change this! We want to save
our work, with the Mergent data inside the workbook file for the rest of our efforts.
4. At this point, you can close Tableau. Double clicking on the saved Accounting-07.twbx file will
5. Try it. Good news/bad news (same as before).. If it works, you did a good job. If it doesnt work,
you might have to start over.
Assignment:
1.
PLAY WITH THE DATA!
Chapter 8 Parameters

In this chapter,

The goal of this chapter is to.

Example:
Creating :
Saving our work:

1 Click File, in the Menu bar
2 Click Save as from the options shown
3 On your desktop (or in a location you can remember!) save the workbook as Accounting-04 using
be the chapter number.
4 At this point, you can close Tableau. Double clicking on the saved Accounting-04.twb file will
5 Try it. Good news/bad news. If it works, you did a good job. If it doesnt work, you might have to
start over.
Assignment:
1 Close Tableau and start over.
2 Try to reproduce something similar, to each of the four views, without referencing the book.
1 PLAY with the data by swapping the capsules on the Columns and Rows shelves to the other shelf.
shelves.
2 PLAY some more!
Chapter 9 Hierarchies

In this chapter,


Example:
Creating :
Saving our work:

start over.
Assignment:
shelves.
2 PLAY some more!
Chapter 10 Dashboards

In this chapter,


Example:
Creating :
Saving our work:

start over.
Assignment:
2.Try to reproduce something similar, to each of the four views, without referencing the book.
shelves.
2. PLAY some more!
Chapter 11 - Worksheet & Dashboard Actions

In this chapter,


Example:
Creating :
Saving our work:

1
start over.
Assignment:
shelves.
2. PLAY some more!
Chapter 12 Storyboards

In this chapter,


Example:
Creating :
Saving our work:

start over.
Assignment:
2. Try to reproduce something similar, to each of the four views, without referencing the book.
shelves.
4. PLAY some more!
Chapter 13 Advanced calculations

In this chapter,


Example:
Creating :
Saving our work:

start over.
Assignment:
shelves.
2 PLAY some more!
Appendix A - What else does Tableau offer?
Tableau offers more than just Tableau Desktop.
Other products offered:
Tableau Desktop comes in three versions
Tableau Desktop Professional (what youve been using).
Tableau Desktop Personal connects to fewer data sources, and does not
have the ability to publish to Tableau Server. Organizations with none of
the larger databases, and, no need to share the efforts of the developer, can
get away with this half-priced version.
Tableau Desktop Public a FREE version of Tableau Desktop, limited to
saving all efforts to a cloud Tableau Server. Typically used by bloggers and
others that have access to public data, and, want to show off their Tableau
skills. Some users have published their resume to Tableau Public, as a way
of showing off their skills to prospective employers!
Example: https://public.tableau.com/en-us/s/blog/2016/09/how-create-
interactive-resume-tableau
Tableau Reader Free software than can interact with packaged workbooks
produced by a Tableau Desktop (Professional) user.
Tableau Server A web server, typically hosted at a customers site, configured to
allow Tableau Desktop users to share what theyve done, with people licensed to
view on the Tableau Server. The user interacting with the data dos not need a
Desktop license just the Server license.
Tableau Online This is Tableau Server, in the cloud hosted by Tableau.
Tableau Mobile Gives a user the ability to interact with Tableau Server views via
an iPhone or Android device.
These are simple explanations for some very powerful offerings. Check out the
Tableau web site for all the details! www.tableau.com
Appendix B - What's Next?
Now that you know the basics of Tableau Desktop, what do you do, next?
If your life goal does not include the business world, I am not sure whats next, for you. In reality, youll most
likely be working for someone else, or, for yourself.
If for someone else, every skill you bring to the table is a potential key to success. We are a data driven society.
Being able to take any data, and find the insights, issues, and opportunities present, in that data, is going to
make you more valuable.
If you plan to work for yourself be the entrepreneur, you may need to deal with investors or lenders. They
like to talk about the DATA. If you cant explain your numbers, effectively, your chance of success is minimal.
For a quick lesson in the need for understanding your numbers, watch a few episodes of ABCs Shark Tank!
Once you understand your numbers, being able to present them, to investors, lenders, etc. will be critical to
your success. Tableau is a leading tool in helping you get there!
I will assume youre interested in learning more about what Tableau can do for you, or, just interested in using
what youve already learned.
If its the latter, my guess is you will get to a point where you want to learn more!
Join the Tableau user community! https://community.tableau.com/welcome

It is a vibrant, fun group MANY people involved all love helping each other!
Attend Tableau events, in your area! https://www.tableau.com/community/events

Meet other users that share your needs. Meet local Tableau staff.
Join a TUG (Tableau User Group). Attend meetings! https://community.tableau.com/community/groups

User groups, typically, have great presenters from the user community and from Tableau.
TUGs are great networking events.
As of April 2017, heres a map showing TUGs around the world:
Attend the annual Customer Conference! Next one is in October 2017: http://tc17.tableau.com/
Last year, ~15,000 people attended, from all over the planet!
There are birds of a feather sessions, training sessions, hundreds of customer sessions, and, great keynotes!
And, the reception and customer appreciation parties are second to none!
Follow Tableau, Tableau Zen Masters, Tableau gurus, on Twitter! Start here: https://twitter.com/tableau
This is a GREAT way to be involved, and to make friends that can, and WILL, help you on your journey to
success!
Take an advanced class! Get recommendations from the user community, from TUGs, from Twitter users
etc.
Tableau offers classes. Partners and independent firms offer beginning and advanced classes.
Check out these great BLOGS!

o http://tableaulove.tumblr.com/
o http://vizwiz.blogspot.com/
o http://tableaufriction.blogspot.com/
o http://vizcandy.blogspot.com/
o http://drawingwithnumbers.artisart.org/
o http://paintbynumbersblog.blogspot.com/
o http://datablick.com/blog/
Most of all, PLAY WITH YOUR DATA!!!

Appendix C The art of the possible
Some other charts Tableau can do, if you are creative!

Here are links to various authors views, on Tableau Public some unusual Tableau efforts!
All views were validated as of April 2017.
iPad style menu:

https://public.tableau.com/profile/bialytics#!/vizhome/HospitalDemov10/iPadStyleMenu
Tableau as a PowerPoint alternative:

https://public.tableau.com/profile/bialytics#!/vizhome/TableauasPowerPointAlternative/TitleandTextand
Image
3D charts (brain throbbing effort, I am sure!)

https://public.tableau.com/views/3DChartsinTableau/3DwithAxis?%3Aembed=y&%3AshowVizHome=
no#1
Famous art (The Mona Lisa, in Tableau!)

https://public.tableau.com/profile/whenamanlies#!/vizhome/FamousPaintings-
MonaLisa/FamousPaintings-MonaLisa
More famous art!

https://public.tableau.com/views/6_famous_paintings/6FamousPaintings?
:embed=y&:showVizHome=no&:display_count=y&:display_static_image=y&:bootstrapWhenNotified=tru
e#1
Hex USA Map

https://public.tableau.com/en-us/s/gallery/energy-america
Arcs:
https://public.tableau.com/profile/vizde7382#!/vizhome/GreatArcs/WargamesGreatArc
Another arc:
https://public.tableau.com/profile/nishant.dwivedi#!/vizhome/ArcDiagram/Dashboard1
Go to Public.tableau.com and search for any term/phrase see what you find!
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Charles (Chuck) Hooper is a business intelligence consultant, specializing in data visualization analytics, and,
as of the initial writing of this book, brings 52 years of business/ experience with him.
In addition to the current consulting offerings, Chuck is an author, a speaker, does workshops on being a
better presenter, and, conducts training sessions on the use of Tableau Software Products.
Because the accounting cells of his brain are made of Teflon, he prepared for his American Accounting
Association involvement, and the examples in this book, by skimming the book "Accounting for
Dummies", and, by marrying an accountant.
From 1998-2008, Chuck was an owner of Pro Relational Systems (PRS), a consulting and application
development firm specializing in business intelligence. His most recent experiences include the analysis,
design, implementation, training and support of business intelligence, data warehouse and decision support
system environments in a variety of engagements for clients including: Clorox, E.&J. Gallo Winery,
PepsiCo, Information Resources, Inc. (IRI), Unilever, The Broad Institute, Zeltiq, Align Technology, Harte-
Hanks, Accenture, PWC, Awarepoint, Deloitte, McKesson, UMass Medical, Irish Life, UC Irvine, and many
others.
In 2005, PRS became Tableaus first consulting partner. In 2008, Chuck joined Tableau Software to start
their Professional Services group. In 2011, he retired, back to the independent consulting world.
Chuck was honored as an officially designated Tableau Zen Master in 2012, 2013, 2014.
Currently, Chuck is on the road, delivering speeches on data visualization, and, storytelling with data.
His goal is to die on stage, with the final words he hears being That SOB! He didnt finish his story!.
The Beginning

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TABLEAU ANALYTICS IN THE

Copyright 2017 Charles E Hooper

This book is a Tableau Desktop instruction manual, with five goals:

What is Tableau Desktop?

Why do you need Tableau Desktop?

Each chapter should require no more than 30 minutes of your time.

This book is dedicated to two awesome groups of people:

Chapter 3 - Connecting to data Pg #

Chapter 4 Some basic chart types Pg #

Chapter 5 - Filtering data Pg #

Chapter 6 - Sorting data Pg #

Chapter 7 - Calculated fields Pg #

Chapter 11 - Worksheet & Dashboard Actions Pg #

Chapter 13 Advanced calculations Pg #

Appendix A What else does Tableau offer? Pg #

Appendix B Whats next? Pg #

Appendix C The art of the possible Pg #

About the Author Pg #

What you will learn:

Why this is important:

Download the Tableau Desktop software:

Install the Tableau Desktop software:

Download the files needed for assignments in this book:

Test the installation:

What should show up should be really close to this:

Regardless of class assignments, feel free to PLAY!

What you will learn:

Why this is important:

Starting Tableau Desktop:

End user defined and

# = Tableau sees this as a number

= Tableau sees this as a geography field will be able to Map values.

= Calendar / Clock. Is a date/time stamp. (Calendar, only = date field).

What you will learn:

Why this is important:

Connect to the data:

Feel free to PLAY WITH THE DATA!

What you will learn:

Why this is important:

Connect to the data:

PLAY with some of the options in the Totals dialog,

What you will learn:

Why this is important:

Connect to the data:

By clicking on that upper right little triangle, you can:

Play with the filter dialog options!

Lets build a view with a Context filter, AND, a Top filter!

What you will learn:

Why this is important:

Connect to the data:

Click either one to sort the selected column

What you will learn:

Why this is important:

Connect to the data:

About Mergent data, and the Mergent.twbx file:

To create any calculation, we have a couple options.

What you will learn:

Why this is important:

Connect to the data:

Saving our work:

What you will learn:

Why this is important:

Connect to the data:

Saving our work: