Generally in many daily life calculations we use running total, that means if you want to calculate the cumulative sum then there this calculation should be used. for example if you want to know the cumulative sales according to every month of the year. so for that below are the steps from which you can find all the desired output.
Step 1: Use the default data set of tableau then drag and drop the Month(order date) in columns shelf and SUM(Sales) in rows shelf then convert this in to bar chart as shown below:
Step 2: Now right click on the sales and select quick table calculation and then click on Running Total. Then you will see the cumulative sum of sales of all the months as shown below:
If you want to learn more about Tableau calculations then you can check tableau training