Running Total Issue when Summarizing

We're having an issue where we've created a running total for Unable to Schedule at a product level. However, when we try to roll it up in the hierarchy, we're getting incorrect information. Attached is a sample workbook with simulated data. You can see if you run it that the Tablets product three running total UTS figured, -549, -1,098, and -1,647. We would expect that when we summarize in Alteryx/Tableau/Excel pivots that we would see a total Running UTS for all three dates to summarize under Tablets as -3294. However, when adding a summarize tool, it comes up at -8,682. How can we rectify this issue?

Running Total Issue.yxmd

Test2.xlsx

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GMG0241

Hi Kristinbell,

I can't download the .xlsx because it's still virus scanning. Please may you try reuploading the file, or replying with some example data so that I can debug the workflow, thanks!

Edit: Alternatively, upload the workflow as a .yxzp by going to Options>Export Workflow

Screenshot 2025-03-27 151826.png

Kristinbell

Hi - thanks for responding. Reposting here to see if that works. Thanks!

Test2.xlsx

Kristinbell

Strange - having the virus scan issue still. Let me paste it, it's just a short table:

Category	Subcategory	Product ID	Product Name	NRP	cMPS	Date 1	Date 2	Date 3
Electronics	Laptops	P001	Dell XPS 13	256	1500	7/15/2023	8/20/2023	9/10/2023
Electronics	Laptops	P002	Apple MacBook Air	300	1200	6/5/2023	7/2/2023	9/1/2023
Electronics	Laptops	P003	Lenovo ThinkPad X1	275	1350	5/18/2023	6/15/2023	8/25/2023
Electronics	Smartphones	P004	Apple iPhone 14	400	999	4/20/2023	5/22/2023	6/30/2023
Electronics	Smartphones	P005	Samsung Galaxy S22	375	799	1/15/2023	2/12/2023	3/25/2023
Electronics	Smartphones	P006	Google Pixel 6	350	699	3/10/2023	4/14/2023	5/1/2023
Electronics	Tablets	P007	Apple iPad Pro	450	999	9/5/2023	9/20/2023	10/14/2023
Electronics	Tablets	P008	Samsung Galaxy Tab S8	420	849	5/15/2023	6/22/2023	7/18/2023
Electronics	Tablets	P009	Microsoft Surface Pro 8	430	899	8/1/2023	8/20/2023	9/12/2023
Home Appliances	Refrigerators	P010	LG Smart Refrigerator	500	1999	1/10/2023	2/14/2023	3/18/2023
Home Appliances	Refrigerators	P011	Samsung French Door	480	1799	5/5/2023	6/15/2023	8/22/2023
Home Appliances	Refrigerators	P012	Whirlpool Top Freezer	480	1299	7/1/2023	7/18/2023	9/9/2023
Home Appliances	Washing Machines	P013	Bosch Series 4	400	999	3/12/2023	4/4/2023	5/27/2023
Home Appliances	Washing Machines	P014	LG Front Load	450	899	5/9/2023	6/2/2023	7/29/2023
Home Appliances	Washing Machines	P015	Samsung Top Load	420	799	6/30/2023	7/15/2023	8/16/2023
Home Appliances	Microwaves	P016	Panasonic Countertop	200	199	1/12/2023	3/24/2023	4/7/2023
Home Appliances	Microwaves	P017	Breville Smart Oven	220	299	5/21/2023	6/18/2023	8/5/2023
Home Appliances	Microwaves	P018	Emerson Microwave Oven	180	129	1/25/2023	2/19/2023	3/15/2023

alexnajm

Can you upload as a .yxzp as @GMG0241 recommended? We are still getting the virus scanning in progress

Kristinbell

Hi both - see attached. I also changed the input to a text input so the Excel file isn't needed. Thanks.

Running Total Issue.yxzp

alexnajm

Based on how you've configured your workflow, Alteryx is behaving correctly - search tablets and you'll see all the rows that aggregate together in your Summarize. If you are only going off of Category and Subcategory, these add up properly

Running Total Issue when Summarizing.png

I am not sure of your ultimate goal but alteryx is correct based on the data provided

Kristinbell

It's working for that output exactly how I want. However, if you look at the output summarized by category and subcategory, the numbers aren't summarizing how I would expect. In your screenshot, the Tablets product three running total UTS are -549, -1,098, and -1,647. We would expect that when we summarize in Alteryx/Tableau/Excel pivots that we would see a total Running UTS for all three dates to summarize under Tablets as -3294. However, when adding a summarize tool, it comes up at -8,682.

alexnajm

Yes, because you aren't summarizing by product ID which is what your -3294 would be... you need to include Product Id as a group by in your summarize if that's the case

GMG0241

I think further to @alexnajm's answer, I would just mention that Alteryx isn't built to try and guess what you want to do after a transformation (unlike Excel or something) and after getting an output from a tool, Alteryx would assume that it is like any other table so regardless if you've pivoted or not, Alteryx wants you to tell it EXACTLY what you want to do, which in this case means grouping by ProductID and then summing the running total value as Alteryx views the running total column as just a bunch of numbers with no relation between each row, and so you need to tell it that actually the relationship is based on ProductID

Kristinbell

So my problem is that this is an example of a much larger data set. So in my real life problem, I've got dozens of different ProductIDs that roll under a sub category then a category. The running total works perfectly at the ProductID level, but the users would like to be able to look at a Sub Category and see the summary of the UTS of all ProductIDs under that Sub Category. There are 8 different levels in our hierarchy and this logic isn't working to roll up and down the product hierarchy. Do we need to calculate the running UTS at each level in the hierarchy to make this work? I'm confused why the summary tool won't just take those running UTS numbers and summarize them. I don't know how it even gets to the -8,682 total.

alexnajm

-8,682 is the addition of all 9 of the rows in my screenshot above

If you want -3294, simply add the product Id to your Summarize as a grouping as suggested previously

alexnajm

Running Total Issue when Summarizing 2.png

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