basic noob problem

mgirdwood

Hi

I have a set of data that i calculate using an Alteryx workflow, the outputs are monthly costs for projects with certain identifying criteria, for instance below. I am sure this should be a simple answer, but how would I calculate the change in cost between the months where the first 4 columns are the identifier.  I would need to run this for each previous month during the year as I receive each months new data.

Any pointers would be very welcome

Month   Project   Country   Type   Cost
Jan       1           UK             hours 100
Jan       1           DE              hours 100
Jan       2           UK              hours 100
Jan       3           UK              hours   100
Feb       1          UK              hours   200
Feb       1          DE              hours  150
Feb        2         UK              hours   300
Feb        4         FR             Spend   100
Mar        1        UK              hours    250
Mar        4         FR              Spend   200

BS_THE_ANALYST

@mgirdwood 

Is this what you're after? If not could you explain what else needs to be considered? I sorted the rows to collate the groups of rows. Each group/block are the combo of Project/Country/Type. I then sorted the months numerically and calculated the difference between the current month and the previous month. If the previous month didn't exist, it's evaluated to null. Of course, this can be replaced with 0 etc.

I've attached my current solution. Please note, the way you supplied the data in the question took an extra step to parse out. if you're interested  I've put this in its own box.I've annotated the workflow for guidance:

CommunitySolution.yxmd