Enhance your dashboard insights with custom calculations in Hive.
This guide walks you through creating advanced formulas to tailor data analysis exactly to your needs.
What Are Custom Calculations
Custom calculations are advanced formulas that perform mathematical operations or data transformations based on existing values or predefined logic. They are ideal for developing business-specific KPIs, ratios, and conditional metrics.
Types of Custom Calculations
Argument-Based Formulas
These are straightforward calculations using basic arithmetic between two existing values.
Operations available:
Plus (+)
Minus (-)
Multiply (×)
Divide (÷)
To use argument based formula:
1. Click "Add value" and select "Formula".
2. Provide the title of the column.
3. Choose the operation (+, -, ×, ÷, or Define).
4. Select two existing values or columns as arguments.
5. Set the display format: number, percentage, currency, etc.
Code-Based Formulas
These allow powerful calculations using Excel-like functions such as SUM(), AVERAGE(), IF(), and more.
Using formulas, you can reference multiple columns, set up conditional logic, and more. Make sure to check out our supported fields using this link.
To use the code-based formula:
Add Formula Value: Click "Add value" and select "Value"
Name Your Formula: Enter a descriptive name for your calculation
Start with =: Begin your formula with = to trigger code-based formula mode
Write Your Formula: Use Excel-like syntax with functions like SUM(), AVERAGE(), IF(), etc.
Use Formula Editor: Click to open the modal editor for complex formulas
Set Display Format: Choose your output format using "Display as" options
Get AI Help: Use Buzz to assist with formula building by sharing supported fields and your calculation goals
Ask Buzz to write a formula
If Buzz is enabled for your workspace, you can ask Buzz to write or change a code-based formula from the pivot table formula editor. Buzz only changes your unsaved draft. It never saves the formula for you.
In the pivot table Values, open the Edit formula editor for your formula value.
Below the formula box, next to "Need help building your formula?", click Ask Buzz. Buzz opens on top of the editor, so you can still see your formula.
Tell Buzz what you want to calculate.
Review the result. If you did not edit the formula while Buzz worked, Buzz puts its formula in your draft. If you did edit it, a Review Buzz suggestion box shows the proposed formula. Click Apply suggestion to use it, or Dismiss to keep your draft.
Click Save to save the formula, or Cancel to discard all unsaved changes, including Buzz's.
Percent of grand total or parent group
In a dashboard pivot table code-based formula, TOTAL("Column") returns that value column’s filtered grand total. PARENT_TOTAL("Column") returns the immediate parent group’s total; at the top level, it uses the grand total. These functions are for pivot formulas, not action or project custom-field formulas.
For example, use =IFERROR(ROUND(field("Actions Count") / TOTAL("Actions Count"), 4), 0) for percent of grand total, or replace TOTAL with PARENT_TOTAL for percent of parent. Set Display as to Percentage; do not multiply by 100 in the formula. Keep Show column totals enabled while using either function.
=IF(field("Time Tracking Hours")>field("Estimated time"),"Over","Under")
In the example above, the custom field checks the values of the Time Tracking Hours column and the Estimated Time column. If the Time Tracking Hours value is greater than the Estimated Time value, it shows "Over." Conversely, if the Estimated Time is greater, it shows "Under."