PL-300 Practice Test 26 — 15 Questions

Question 1

You need to create a measure that calculates the year-over-year growth of sales. Which DAX function should you use?

Accepted Answer

SAMEPERIODLASTYEAR. SAMEPERIODLASTYEAR (option B) is correct because it returns a table of dates shifted exactly one year back from the dates in the current filter context, which is precisely what you need to compare this year's sales against the same period last year for a year-over-year growth measure. It is a time-intelligence function designed for this purpose and works on a marked date table, letting you write something like CALCULATE([Sales], SAMEPERIODLASTYEAR(Dates[Date])). DATEADD is more flexible (it shifts by any interval, e.g., -1 YEAR) but is not the dedicated same-period comparison function, and it can behave differently at partial periods. PARALLELPERIOD shifts to a full parallel period (e.g., the entire previous year or quarter) rather than the same portion of the period, so it would not align day-for-day. PREVIOUSYEAR returns the whole previous calendar year regardless of the current period's partial span, which also breaks the same-period alignment needed for accurate YoY growth.

Answer

DATEADD

Answer

PARALLELPERIOD

Answer

PREVIOUSYEAR

Question 2

You are designing a Power BI semantic model that uses a large fact table from Azure SQL Database. The table includes a date column. You need to ensure that the model supports time intelligence functions like TOTALYTD and SAMEPERIODLASTYEAR. What is the recommended approach?

Accepted Answer

Create a separate date table and mark it as a date table in the model.. Time intelligence functions like TOTALYTD and SAMEPERIODLASTYEAR require a separate date table with a contiguous date range marked as the date table in the model. This ensures that DAX can correctly calculate time-based aggregations across all dates, even if the fact table has gaps or missing dates. Without a marked date table, these functions may return incorrect or blank results.

Answer

Use the 'Add Calendar' function in Power Query and rely on auto-date/time.

Answer

Use DirectQuery mode and rely on the SQL Server date functions.

Answer

Use the built-in date hierarchy from the fact table's date column.

Question 3

You are modeling data from multiple sales regions. Each region has a unique ID, but region names might be spelled inconsistently (e.g., 'North America' vs. 'N. America'). You need to create a single dimension table for regions. What is the best practice to handle this?

Accepted Answer

Use Power Query to clean and standardize region names before loading. Option B is correct because Power Query is the proper ETL layer in Power BI for cleaning and standardizing inconsistent text values such as 'North America' vs. 'N. America' before the data reaches the model, ensuring a single conformed region name per region ID in the dimension table. This keeps the dimension table clean, avoids ambiguous relationships, and lets visuals aggregate correctly by region. Option A is wrong because keeping duplicate spellings and a many-to-many relationship introduces ambiguity and incorrect totals rather than resolving the inconsistency. Option C is wrong because hiding the region column and using only region ID does not create a usable region name dimension and leaves the underlying inconsistency unresolved. Option D is wrong because a bridge table is used to resolve many-to-many relationships between dimensions and facts, not to fix spelling variants that should be standardized upstream.

Answer

Keep both spellings in the dimension and use a many-to-many relationship

Answer

Hide the region column and use only region ID in visuals

Answer

Use a bridge table to map both spellings to a single region ID

Question 4

Your organization uses Power BI with a shared capacity. You have a dataset that is refreshed daily from an on-premises SQL Server database using an on-premises data gateway. The dataset contains sensitive financial data. The security team requires that all access to the dataset be logged and that any access from outside the corporate network be flagged. You need to implement a monitoring solution. What should you do?

Accepted Answer

Enable Power BI activity logging and stream to Azure Log Analytics, then create alerts on access events from external IPs.. Power BI activity logging captures dataset access events (including who accessed the dataset and from which client IP), and streaming those logs to Azure Log Analytics lets you query and alert on access originating from outside the corporate network, satisfying both the logging and external-access-flagging requirements. The other options do not fit: Azure SQL Auditing (A) only logs activity at the SQL Server level, not Power BI dataset access, and the source is on-premises SQL Server rather than Azure SQL. Microsoft Defender for Cloud Apps (B) enforces conditional access but does not provide the required access logging and external-IP flagging for the dataset. Gateway logging (C) records gateway connectivity and query traffic, not end-user dataset access events or their source IPs.

Answer

Audit the SQL Server database using Azure SQL Auditing.

Answer

Use Microsoft Defender for Cloud Apps to enforce conditional access policies.

Answer

Enable logging on the on-premises data gateway and monitor the logs.

Question 5

Which TWO of the following are valid DAX functions for creating a calculated table?

Accepted Answer

FILTER. FILTER (C) is correct because it is a DAX table function that returns a table filtered by a Boolean condition, making it valid for use in a calculated table definition such as CALCULATETABLE or a New Table expression. CALENDAR (D) is correct because it is a DAX table function that returns a single-column table of contiguous dates, which is a classic use case for building a date table via a calculated table. SUM (A) is a scalar aggregation function that returns a single numeric value, not a table, so it cannot define a calculated table. COUNT (B) is likewise a scalar aggregation function returning a count value, not a table. SELECTEDVALUE (E) is a scalar function that returns a single value when a column is filtered to one distinct value, so it also cannot produce a calculated table.

Answer

SUM

Answer

COUNT

Answer

SELECTEDVALUE

Question 6

You are modeling a fact table with granularity at the order line level. The table includes columns: OrderID, ProductID, Quantity, UnitPrice, Discount. You need to create a measure for total revenue considering discounts (Quantity * UnitPrice * (1 - Discount)). Some orders have no discount (null). What is the correct DAX for this measure?

Accepted Answer

SUMX('Orders', Orders[Quantity] * Orders[UnitPrice] * (1 - COALESCE(Orders[Discount], 0))). Option D is correct because it uses SUMX to iterate the order-line rows and computes Quantity * UnitPrice * (1 - Discount) per row, while COALESCE(Orders[Discount], 0) replaces null discounts with 0 so lines without a discount are not excluded or turned into blanks. This matches the required revenue formula and handles the stated null-discount scenario. Option A is wrong because it multiplies column totals rather than row-level values and ignores Discount entirely. Option B is wrong because a null Discount makes the whole row expression blank, dropping those order lines from the total. Option C is wrong because it divides by (1 + Discount) instead of multiplying by (1 - Discount), producing an incorrect revenue calculation.

Answer

SUM('Orders'[Quantity] * 'Orders'[UnitPrice])

Answer

SUMX('Orders', Orders[Quantity] * Orders[UnitPrice] * (1 - Orders[Discount]))

Answer

SUMX('Orders', DIVIDE(Orders[Quantity] * Orders[UnitPrice], 1 + Orders[Discount]))

Question 7

You are designing a report for executives. They need to see both high-level KPIs and the ability to drill down into details. Which approach should you recommend?

Accepted Answer

Use drillthrough pages to navigate from summary visuals to detail pages.. Option B is correct because drillthrough pages are purpose-built for this scenario: a user right-clicks a data point on a summary visual (such as a KPI card or chart) and navigates to a separate detail page filtered to that context, preserving the summary-to-detail flow executives need. This keeps the executive page clean with high-level KPIs while providing a dedicated, context-filtered detail page on demand. Option A is wrong because cramming all data into one table with drill-down does not deliver a true high-level KPI view and becomes unwieldy. Option C is wrong because bookmarks merely toggle saved view states and do not pass the selected data context to a detail view. Option D is wrong because report page tooltips only show supplementary information on hover and are not a navigation mechanism for drilling into detail.

Answer

Place all data in a single table visual with drill-down capability.

Answer

Use bookmarks to switch between summary and detail views.

Answer

Use report page tooltips to show details on hover.

Question 8

You are designing a data model for a financial analysis report. The source data includes a 'Budget' table with columns: Department, Account, Month, and BudgetAmount. The 'Actuals' table has the same structure. You need to create a combined measure that shows the variance (Actual - Budget) for each Department and Account. What is the best approach?

Accepted Answer

Create separate dimension tables for Department and Account, and create fact tables for Budget and Actuals with relationships. Option A is correct because a star schema with shared Department and Account dimensions and separate Budget and Actuals fact tables lets each fact table relate to the same dimensions, so a DAX measure such as [Actual] - [Budget] can compute variance correctly at every Department/Account granularity and slice consistently. Keeping Budget and Actuals as distinct fact tables also preserves their different business meanings and avoids double-counting or ambiguous filter propagation. Option B is wrong because merging the two tables into one row-level table destroys the separate fact semantics and can misalign or duplicate rows when granularity differs. Option C is wrong because a calculated SUMMARIZE table materializes data and is not the recommended way to model two fact sources for flexible variance analysis. Option D is wrong because appending Budget and Actuals with a Type column creates a single fact table whose measures must filter by Type, which is less clean and can produce incorrect aggregation across the combined rows.

Answer

Create a single table by merging Budget and Actuals on Department, Account, and Month

Answer

Create a calculated table using SUMMARIZE and then use DAX measures

Answer

Use Power Query to append Budget and Actuals with a 'Type' column

Question 9

You are a Power BI administrator. A Power BI dataset owner reports that the dataset is not refreshing automatically, but manual refreshes work fine. The dataset uses a cloud data source (Azure SQL Database) with OAuth2 credentials. What is the most likely cause?

Accepted Answer

The OAuth2 token used for the data source credentials has expired.. The OAuth2 token used for the data source credentials has expired. In Power BI, scheduled refreshes run unattended using the stored credentials; if the OAuth2 access/refresh token for the Azure SQL Database source is no longer valid, the scheduled refresh fails while an interactive manual refresh can still succeed because the user re-authenticates on the spot. Options A, B, and C do not fit: RLS misconfiguration would typically cause permission or data-visibility errors rather than a refresh failure, an on-premises data gateway is irrelevant for a cloud data source like Azure SQL Database, and exceeding the capacity refresh limit would affect both scheduled and manual refreshes, not just automatic ones.

Answer

Row-level security (RLS) is misconfigured.

Answer

The on-premises data gateway is offline.

Answer

The dataset exceeds the refresh limit for the assigned capacity.

Question 10

You need to create a Power BI report that allows users to select a single measure from a list to display on a card visual. Which feature should you use?

Accepted Answer

Field parameters. Field parameters are the correct choice because they let report authors define a dynamic list of fields or measures that users can switch between via a slicer, directly changing what a card visual displays. In this scenario, a field parameter containing the candidate measures bound to the card's value field enables single-measure selection at runtime. Bookmarks (A) capture and replay saved filter/visibility states rather than swapping the measure bound to a visual. Tooltips (B) only show supplementary detail on hover and cannot replace the card's displayed measure. Drill-through (D) navigates to a filtered detail page and does not provide measure selection.

Answer

Bookmarks

Answer

Tooltips

Answer

Drill-through

Question 11

You are building a star schema in Power BI. Which table design best supports filtering a sales fact table by product category?

Accepted Answer

Create a separate Product dimension table with category, related to Sales by ProductID.. Option C is correct because a star schema requires a dedicated Product dimension table containing descriptive attributes such as category, joined to the Sales fact table via the ProductID key in a one-to-many relationship; this lets slicers and filters on category propagate to the fact table efficiently. Option A is wrong because a single flat table is a denormalized design, not a star schema, and it increases redundancy and reduces filter performance. Option B is wrong because appending rows merges tables vertically (union), which does not create the dimension-to-fact relationship needed for filtering. Option D is wrong because storing category directly in the fact table duplicates descriptive data and prevents clean dimension-based filtering.

Answer

Use a single table containing all sales and product attributes.

Answer

Merge Sales and Product tables into one by appending rows.

Answer

Store product category in the Sales fact table.

Question 12

You need to grant a user the ability to manage permissions, add members, and edit content in a Power BI workspace, but not delete the workspace. Which role should you assign?

Accepted Answer

Member. The Member role is correct because in a Power BI workspace it grants the ability to add members, manage permissions, and edit and publish content, while it does not allow deleting or renaming the workspace, which matches the stated requirement. Admin would be too permissive since it can delete the workspace and manage all aspects of it. Contributor allows editing and publishing content but cannot add members or manage permissions. Viewer only provides read access to content and cannot edit or manage anything.

Answer

Admin

Answer

Contributor

Answer

Viewer

Question 13

You have a Power BI dataset that includes a table 'Orders' with columns: OrderDate, ShipDate, CustomerID, and SalesAmount. You need to create a calculated column that shows the number of days between OrderDate and ShipDate. Which DAX expression should you use?

Accepted Answer

DATEDIFF(Orders[OrderDate], Orders[ShipDate], DAY). The correct option is B, DATEDIFF(Orders[OrderDate], Orders[ShipDate], DAY), because the DATEDIFF function in DAX returns the count of interval boundaries crossed between two dates, and specifying DAY gives exactly the number of days between OrderDate and ShipDate for each row. This matches the requirement of a calculated column computing the shipping duration per order. Option A, YEAR(Orders[OrderDate]), only extracts the year from OrderDate and does not compare the two dates. Option C, ENDOFMONTH(Orders[OrderDate]), returns the last date of the month for OrderDate, which is unrelated to the interval between OrderDate and ShipDate. Option D, DATEADD(Orders[OrderDate], 1, DAY), shifts OrderDate forward by one day rather than calculating the difference between the two columns.

Answer

YEAR(Orders[OrderDate])

Answer

ENDOFMONTH(Orders[OrderDate])

Answer

DATEADD(Orders[OrderDate], 1, DAY)

Question 14

Refer to the exhibit. The Power BI admin settings are shown. A user reports that they cannot share a dashboard with an external partner. What is the most likely reason?

Accepted Answer

The 'externalSharingEnabled' setting is disabled.. The correct option is D, the 'externalSharingEnabled' setting is disabled. Sharing a dashboard with an external partner requires the tenant-level external sharing setting to be enabled, so if it is disabled, the user cannot share with recipients outside the organization. The other options do not fit: exportDataEnabled controls exporting data, publishToWebEnabled controls public web publishing, and workspaceCreationEnabled controls creating workspaces, none of which directly govern sharing a dashboard with an external partner.

Answer

The 'exportDataEnabled' setting is disabled.

Answer

The 'publishToWebEnabled' setting is disabled.

Answer

The 'workspaceCreationEnabled' setting is disabled.

Question 15

Which TWO of the following are best practices when designing a Power BI data model?

Accepted Answer

Use a star schema design. Option B is correct because a star schema — a central fact table surrounded by dimension tables — is the recommended Power BI model design: it produces simpler DAX, better compression, and faster query performance than snowflaked or flat models. Option E is correct because foreign key columns in dimension tables are implementation details used only for relationship joins; hiding them from report view keeps the field list clean and prevents report authors from accidentally grouping or filtering by meaningless surrogate keys. Option A is wrong because measures (evaluated at query time, not stored) are generally preferred over calculated columns, which consume memory and are computed during refresh. Option C is wrong because collapsing everything into one flat table causes massive redundancy, poor compression, and slow aggregations. Option D is wrong because bidirectional relationships can introduce ambiguity and unexpected filter propagation; they should be used sparingly and only when a specific cross-filtering requirement demands it, not as the default.

Answer

Use calculated columns instead of measures

Answer

Denormalize all tables into a single flat table

Answer

Use bidirectional relationships as default