Creating reports in Power BI

Once the settings have been configured in Isah Finance and Power BI has been installed and set up, you can start creating reports in Power BI. To create reports, use the Power BI templates supplied with Isah Finance, and then save the templates as custom reports. The Power BI app allows you to view and share the reports, design dashboards, and name favorites. It is not possible to change the reports using the app.

Using Isah Finance Power BI templates

The settings required to use a template as the basis for a financial report only have to be configured once.

  1. Go to C:\ProgramData\Isah\IsahFinance\PowerBITemplates, and in Power BI Desktop, open a Isah Finance Power BI template, for example BalanceSheet_Template_US. A form now opens that has the name of the template as its title.
  2. Enter the appropriate server and database. The Native Database Query form appears.
  3. Click the Run button to perform queries. Any warnings displayed can be discarded if the Isah Finance Power BI reports are run by a database user with the IsahFinancialReporting role (see Installation and Configuration of Isah Finance). The SQL Server database form appears.
  4. Enter the user name and password, and click the Save button.

Configuring templates and saving them as reports

You can configure a template to show the data you need. The steps below apply to the Balance Sheet template.

  1. Select a company/fiscal year.
  2. Expand the nodes in the tree view to display the required detail level.
  3. Provide a name for the report and click the Save button. The Power BI template (.pbit) has now been saved as a Power BI document (.pbix) report.

Publishing reports

  1. Publish the Power BI report. The report is now uploaded to the specified location in the cloud.

Viewing reports using the Power BI app

You can view a published Power BI report, for example Balance Sheet or Profit & Loss, using the Power BI app.

  1. Open the Power BI app in your web browser by going to https://app.powerbi.com.
  2. Log in and select the space where the report was published (usually 'My workspace').

Sharing reports using the Power BI app

You can easily share reports with colleagues or other parties.

  1. In the Power BI app, choose the 'Share' action.

The users you have shared the report with can only view the details. You will remain the owner of the report, and you control who has access to it.

Note: When sharing the report, you can specify whether the people you are sharing the report with can share it with others.

Creating Power BI Dashboards

The Power BI app provides an easy way to create a dashboard containing various Power BI reports. A dashboard allows you to combine data from different sources, such as the Balance Sheet and P&L report.

All visual elements can be pinned in the Power BI app. When you click the pin, the element is shown on the dashboard of the Power BI app in your workspace. You can choose to use a new or an existing dashboard.

Tips:

Pinned elements can be formatted on the dashboard.

You can choose to share only a selection of dashboards.

You can also create a phone layout of each dashboard, to make it suitable for use on a smartphone that has the Power BI app installed.