Round numbers, not only visible but also in background

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1

Hi There,

I could use some help rounding numbers.
I use “number format” and then round at 2 decimals, but when in the next step I calculate all positive and negative amounts, the outcome should be zero, but this is not the case because the numbers aren’t rounded in the background. How do I tell Parabola to actually really round the numbers?

Thank you in advance!

2

Hey Sabrina - I just did some testing on my end. If I use the Number Format step to round my numbers, and then use something like the Math step to calculate those rounded columns, it does the calculations on the rounded numbers. Can you post some screenshots of your setup and the issue you’re encountering?

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3

Hi Sachi,

Thank you for helping me.

This is the screenshot of the rounding:

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and this is the result of the calculation (outcome should be 0 or 0.01 after rounding)

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Makes no sense right? If I calculate by hand, the sum of this employee is 0, but somehow in Parabola it is not, the only explanation I have is that the rounding was not really applied in the background.

4

Ah, you’re using the Sum Values step. I just tested this and you’re right, the Sum Values step calculates on the original value instead of the rounded value. I’m checking with the team to make sure this is expected behavior for that step.

In the meantime, would it work to do the Sum Values step first and then the Round step? I tested this, and it should return “0”.

5

Hi Sachi,

In this case the round step is needed before totals per employee can get to 0 or 0.01.
I also tested that earlier to be sure, and it makes sense that it doesn’t, after all if Parabola uses the original data in stead of the rounded data in Sum Values step, the outcome will always be the same with or without the rounding step.

6

Can you try adding a Math step before your existing Sum Values step? In that Math step, please multiply the column by 100 first. This should provide a better workaround for the issue. Let me know how that goes.

7

Ah yes, that works.
I will have to divide later to add the differences to the report, so that the end report is balanced and accepted as a journal entry, but the accounting software accepts the outcome, so that is good enough for me :smile:

Thank you so much again for your help!

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