DATEADD – DAX Guide (2025)

Moves the given set of dates by a specified interval.

Syntax

DATEADD ( <Dates>, <NumberOfIntervals>, <Interval> )

Return values

Table A table with a single column.

A table containing a single column of date values.

Notes

In order to use any time intelligence calculation, you need a well-formed date table. The Date table must satisfy the following requirements:

• All dates need to be present for the years required. The Date table must always start on January 1 and end on December 31, including all the days in this range. If the report only references fiscal years, then the date table must include all the dates from the first to the last day of a fiscal year. For example, if the fiscal year 2008 starts on July 1, 2007, then the Date table must include all the days from July 1, 2007 to June 30, 2008.
• There needs to be a column with a DateTime or Date data type containing unique values. This column is usually called Date. Even though the Date column is often used to define relationships with other tables, this is not required. Still, the Date column must contain unique values and should be referenced by the Mark as Date Table feature. In case the column also contains a time part, no time should be used – for example, the time should always be 12:00 am.
• The Date table must be marked as a date table in the model, in case the relationship between the Date table and any other table is not based on the Date.

Remarks

The dates argument can be any of the following:

• A reference to a date/time column. Only in this case a context transition applies because the <Dates> column reference is replaced by
  • CALCULATETABLE ( DISTINCT ( <Dates> ) )
• A table expression that returns a single column of date/time values.
• A Boolean expression that defines a single-column table of date/time values.

If the number specified for NumberOfIntervals is positive, the dates in dates are moved forward in time; if the number is negative, the dates in dates are shifted back in time.

The result table includes only dates that exist in the dates column.

The result table has an entire month if an entire month is selected in the source table. The notion of “month selected” is based on the dates available in the underlying date table. This way:

• If the <Dates> argument includes all the days in April (30 rows), the result for the previous month includes all the days in March (31 days).
• If the <Dates> argument includes the first 15 days in April (15 rows), the result for the previous month includes the first 15 days in March (15 rows).

Examples

-- DATEADD is a more generic functions. -- It shifts a period back and forth over time using -- DAY, MONTH, QUARTER, YEAR-- This example produces the same result as SAMEPERIODLASTYEAREVALUATEVAR StartDate = DATE ( 2008, 07, 25 )VAR EndDate = DATE ( 2008, 07, 31 )RETURN CALCULATETABLE ( DATEADD ( 'Date'[Date], -1, YEAR ), 'Date'[Date] >= StartDate && 'Date'[Date] <= EndDate )ORDER BY [Date]

-- DATEADD has a quite complex logic to move months and quarters-- the right way, handling months with different dates.EVALUATEVAR StartDate = DATE ( 2008, 02, 25 )VAR EndDate = DATE ( 2008, 02, 29 )RETURN CALCULATETABLE ( DATEADD ( 'Date'[Date], +1, MONTH ), 'Date'[Date] >= StartDate && 'Date'[Date] <= EndDate )ORDER BY [Date]

-- This example shows the sales in the current and previous month.-- It also reports sales in the same month in the previous quarter and year.DEFINE MEASURE Sales[Same period last month] = CALCULATE ( [Sales Amount], DATEADD ( 'Date'[Date], -1, MONTH ) ) MEASURE Sales[Same period last quarter] = CALCULATE ( [Sales Amount], DATEADD ( 'Date'[Date], -1, QUARTER ) ) MEASURE Sales[Same period last year] = CALCULATE ( [Sales Amount], SAMEPERIODLASTYEAR ( 'Date'[Date] ) )EVALUATESUMMARIZECOLUMNS ( 'Date'[Calendar Year Month Number], 'Date'[Calendar Year Month], "Sales Amount", [Sales Amount], "Same period last month", [Same period last month], "Same period last quarter", [Same period last quarter], "Same period last year", [Same period last year])ORDER BY [Calendar Year Month Number]

Related articles

Learn more about DATEADD in the following articles:

• Differences between DATEADD and PARALLELPERIOD in DAX

  This article describes the difference between the results of DATEADD and PARALLELPERIOD in DAX. These differences also impact many other time intelligence functions that are syntax sugar of these two. » Read more

• Optimizing time intelligence in DirectQuery

  This article describes how to optimize time intelligence calculations with DirectQuery over SQL in Power BI by avoiding time intelligence DAX functions. » Read more

• Filtering weekdays in DAX

  When using time intelligence functions, the automatic REMOVEFILTERS on Date can make maintaining filters on the Date table challenging. This article shows a technique to handle filter-preserving columns in DAX. » Read more

Related functions

Other related functions are:

• PARALLELPERIOD

Last update: Jun 14, 2025 » Contribute » Show contributors

Contributors: Alberto Ferrari, Marco Russo

Microsoft documentation: https://docs.microsoft.com/en-us/dax/dateadd-function-dax