Formulas in a Salesforce Grid: Calculate Without a New Field

In Excel, a new calculation is a new column. You type a formula and it's there. In Salesforce, the same thing usually starts with a request to an admin for a formula field, and a wait.

A Valorx Wave grid gives you the spreadsheet way back. You add a formula column to the grid itself. It calculates from the fields already on the row, and it stays with that grid.

Add a formula column

1. Open the Field Selector on your grid and choose Formula Field.
2. Give it a Column Name, such as Account Health.
3. Pick what it returns: String, Number, Boolean or Currency.
4. Write the formula. The Fields and Functions lists in the editor insert names for you, so you don't have to remember them.
5. Click Check Syntax, then Apply, then Update Fields.

The column appears in the grid beside your Salesforce fields, with a small formula mark on its header.

Formulas you can copy

These are the patterns people ask for most. Swap in your own field names.

• Price after discount: Amount - (Amount * Discount__c / 100)
• Full name from two fields: CONCAT(FirstName, " ", LastName)
• Weeks a deal has been open: FLOOR(DaysOpen__c / 7)
• Flag a deal at risk: if(and(Amount > 50000, DaysOpen__c > 90), "At Risk", "On Track")
• A date 30 days after the start: dateAdd(StartDate__c, 30, "days")

What you can use

The functions will look familiar: if, and, or, isBlank, isNull, round, floor, ceil, abs, min, max, sum, concat, left, substring, upper, lower, trim, replace, contains, beginsWith, endsWith, dateAdd, dateDiff, year, month, day and now.

Two things to know

• A formula column is for reading. It doesn't write a value back to Salesforce. If the number has to live on the record, that's still a Salesforce field.
• To test whether two values are equal, type two equals signs. Stage == "Closed Won" compares. A single equals sign doesn't.

Once the column is there, treat it like any other. Filter on it, sort by it, or point a colour rule at it so the rows that need attention stand out.

Want to see it on your own objects? Book a demo and we'll build the first grid with you on the call.