| title | description | author | ms.topic | ms.search.keywords | ms.search.form | ms.reviewer | ms.date | ms.author | ms.custom | ms.service |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Introduction to Business Central and Power BI |
Get an overview of using Power BI to get insights and KPIs from your Business Central data. |
jswymer |
overview |
account schedule, analysis, reporting, financial report, business intelligence, KPI |
6316, 6317 |
jswymer |
04/24/2024 |
jswymer |
bap-template |
dynamics-365-business-central |
[!INCLUDEazure-ad-to-microsoft-entra-id]
It's easy to get insights into your [!INCLUDEprod_short] data with Power BI - a data visualization system from Microsoft. Power BI retrieves [!INCLUDEprod_short] data so that you can build dashboards and reports based on that data. Power BI provides a flexible alternative to reports built in [!INCLUDEprod_short], enabling you drill down and customize the visualization, and even merge data from different companies in [!INCLUDEprod_short]. Some Power BI reports can also be embedded in Business Central and viewed without leaving the system. More complex dashboards are better experienced from the Power BI web site.
There are various features for working with [!INCLUDEprod_short] and Power BI. Some things you can do from Power BI, while other things are done from [!INCLUDEprod_short]. Also, some features are only available with [!INCLUDEprod_short] online, not on-premises. The following table gives you an overview.
| Feature | Description | Online | On-premises | Learn more |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| View [!INCLUDEprod_short] data in Power BI | You can view your data from [!INCLUDEprod_short] in reports in Power BI. [!INCLUDEprod_short] online includes some predefined Power BI reports. Or, your organization might have some custom reports. |  |
|
Here... |
| View Power BI reports in the [!INCLUDEprod_short] client. | Power BI reports that display [!INCLUDEprod_short] data can be embedded directly in parts [!INCLUDEprod_short] pages. You can switch the part to display any report that is made available to you. | |
* |
Here.... |
| Create reports and dashboards in Power BI that display [!INCLUDEprod_short] data. | Use Power BI Desktop to create your own reports and dashboards. You can publish the reports to your own Power BI Service or share them with others within your organization. | |
|
Here... |
| [!INCLUDEprod_short] apps in Power BI | [!INCLUDEprod_short] publishes three apps for Power BI on Microsoft AppSource. These apps create detailed reports and dashboards in your Power BI service for viewing [!INCLUDEprod_short] data. Available apps include: | |
Here... | |
| Work with [!INCLUDE prod_short] data in datamarts and dataflows | Starting in July 2022, you can use the [!INCLUDE prod_short] connector in Power Query Online to dataflows that you share across different reports and dashboards. | |
Here... |
* This feature requires a registered application for Business Central in Microsoft Azure. For more information, see Registering Business Central on-premises in Microsoft Entra ID for integrating with other services.
There are a few tasks that must be done before you can start using Power BI with [!INCLUDEprod_short]. The tasks depend on your role in your organization, and what you want to do with Power BI:
- As a business user, you want to view Power BI reports, either in the Power BI Service or in Business Central
- As an administrator, you're responsible for the management of the organization-wide settings that control how Business Central and Power BI work.
- As a report creator, you want to build custom Power BI reports that you can share with other users.
| Task | Business user | Administrator | Report creator | More information |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Get a Power BI account. | |
|
|
Go to https://powerbi.microsoft.com. To sign up for an account, use your work email address and password. Sign-up requires that you have a license, but in most cases you should already have a free license, For more information, see Power BI Licensing. |
| Get Power BI Desktop | |
To download, go to Power BI Desktop. For more information, see Get Power BI Desktop. | ||
| Expose Business Central data to Power BI | |
|
Expose data through API pages or OData web services | |
| Enable Power BI integration (on-premises only) |
|
Set up Business Central on-premises for Power BI integration |
- If you're an admin who needs to set up Power BI in [!INCLUDEprod_short], go to Enabling Power BI Integration.
- If Power BI is already set up, and you want to try the features, go to Work with Power BI Reports in Business Central.
Analytics overview
Track KPIs with Power BI metrics
[Use [!INCLUDEprod_short] as a Power BI Data Source](across-how-use-financials-data-source-powerbi.md)
[Use [!INCLUDEprod_short] as a Power Apps Data Source](across-how-use-financials-data-source-powerapps.md)
[Use [!INCLUDEprod_short] in Power Automate](across-how-use-financials-data-source-flow.md)
Power BI documentation
What is Power BI?
Quickstart: Connect to data in Power BI Desktop
Introduction to datamarts
Introduction to dataflows and self-service data preparation
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