July 26, 2024

Creating a Power BI Dashboard to Summarize the Status of Projects in Business Central

The combination of Microsoft Dynamics 365 Business Central and Power BI is a powerful tool for businesses to gain insights into their operations. In this blog, we will walk through the steps of gathering the information needed to create a dashboard that reflects project costs versus budget. This will enable project managers and stakeholders to monitor project performance, costs, and other key metrics in an easily digestible format.

Step 1: Setting Up Data Sources in Business Central

First, ensure you have the necessary permissions to access the Projects module in Business Central. You'll need to set up an OData web service to enable Power BI to pull data from Business Central.

  1. Enable Web Services:
    • Navigate to the Web Services page in Business Central.
    • You can either create a new OData V4 web service for the Projects module and select the relevant page or query for your project data, or you can search from the pre-populated options and find relevant pages to use in Power BI.

Step 2: Connecting Power BI to Business Central

Power BI offers two ways to connect to Business Central. You can either get data through the OData function and copy and paste the SOAP URL into Power BI, or you can connect Business Central to Power BI via Online Services.

  1. To Connect Power BI via Online Services:
    • Go to "Get Data" in Power BI, and select "More" from the drop-down menu.
    • A new box will pop up. Click on "Online Services" and search for "Business Central" in the right-hand column.
    • Once you have selected the Business Central icon, click the "Connect" button. A list of accessible environments will appear on the left-hand side of the pop-up box. Search for the correct environment from which you will be pulling data.
    • For this demonstration, we chose Web Services, the legacy link, and selected the coordinating APIs for Projects, Project Tasks, Accounts Receivable, and Sales Invoices.

Step 3: Transforming Data in Power BI

Before creating visualizations, you may need to transform and clean the data. Taking the time to remove unnecessary columns and rename columns will help you clearly decipher and determine what information ends up on the dashboard and any potential filters you may need.

Step 4: Creating Visualizations

Now, let's create visualizations to summarize your projects. For example, in our scenario, our customer needed to see costs versus budget. Ultimately, we modeled our canvas to be interactive based on the Project Number, but you could choose to use drop-down functions or even basic charts to convey this information.

Step 5: Creating the Dashboard

Arrange your visualizations on the report canvas to be both accessible and appealing for the user. Add titles, labels, and other design elements to enhance readability, but also ensure the dashboard provides a comprehensive overview of the information you're trying to convey. Add slicers to make your dashboard interactive as well as informative.

 

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Step 6: Publishing and Sharing

Once you are finished with the cosmetic appearance of your dashboard, publish it to your workspace. Now that it is in your workspace, open the Business Central home page, scroll to the bottom, and access the Power BI report drop-down menu to select "Add Report." This will pop open a box that will link your workspace to Business Central. You can now select the dashboard you have created in Power BI to appear on your Business Central home page.

Conclusion

By following these steps, you can create a powerful Power BI dashboard that provides a comprehensive summary of the Projects module in Business Central. This dashboard will help you monitor project performance, control costs, and make informed decisions. Embrace the power of data visualization to drive your project management to new heights!

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