Queries - 'exists' formula to check if a result has been found or not

In the table view of a query we quite often want to calculate a column value which depends on the existence of a query item - example: has a control been found for a risk, has an application been found that supports a function, ...
Current workarounds: save the table as a spreadsheet and build the formula there OR build the calculation in a data feed when the query is input for a dashboard OR export to Excel and do the calculation there