Service
Power BI Dashboards
Power BI dashboards are only as good as the model underneath them. Finalert builds that model first: the tables, the relationships, the date logic and the measures. The visuals come after, because a chart drawn on a shaky model will be argued about for months and then quietly abandoned by the people it was built for.
Who it is for
Who this is for.
- 8 things this engagement covers, listed below with what each one includes.
- A 9-step process, the same one on every engagement.
- 6 questions answered on this page.
Overview
Plenty of finance teams already own Power BI licences and already have a folder of reports somebody built. The problem is rarely the tool. It is that each report has its own copy of the data, its own definition of margin, and a refresh that someone runs by hand when they remember. Two reports disagree and nobody can say which one is wrong.
We build in Power BI and nothing else on this service. That means the data model, the DAX, the gateway, the refresh schedule, the workspace setup, the sharing rules and the security. At the end we hand it over with documentation, so your analyst can add a measure next quarter without calling us.
This service fixes that at the layer where it actually breaks. One model, one set of relationships, measures written once and reused everywhere, refresh that runs on a schedule through a gateway, and access controlled so a regional manager sees their region without a separate file being built for them. The dashboards on top are the visible part of a much less visible job.
Finalert designs and builds Power BI dashboards for finance and operations teams in the United States. We work inside Power BI itself: Power BI Desktop for the model and report authoring, the service for workspaces, refresh and distribution, and the on-premises data gateway where a source sits behind your firewall. We build in the tool. We are not a reseller, we hold no vendor status, and your licences stay your own commercial arrangement.
Almost every problem people bring us is a modelling problem wearing a visual disguise. Totals that change when a filter is applied, a measure that works on one page and not another, a report that takes four minutes to open. Those come from tables joined the wrong way, from calculated columns doing work a measure should do, or from a model that imported ten million rows it never needed. We start at the model because that is where the fix lives.
Model, measures and refresh
The model is built as a star schema wherever the data allows: fact tables for transactions, dimension tables for accounts, entities, customers, products and dates, joined on single relationships in one direction. A proper date table carries the fiscal calendar your business actually uses, including your period end dates, so year to date and prior year comparisons behave correctly without a workaround written into every page.
DAX measures are written once and reused. Revenue, gross margin, headcount and the ratios built on them live in the model, not in a visual, so every page reports the same figure and a definition change lands everywhere at once. We keep calculated columns to the few places they belong and push the rest into measures or into the query layer, which is usually what turns a slow report quick. Refresh runs on a schedule through the gateway, with failures alerting a named owner rather than being discovered when someone opens a stale page.
Workspaces, security and handover
Publishing is treated as a deployment, not a file save. Development, test and production workspaces are separated, changes move between them through a deployment pipeline, and the dataset parameters point at the right source in each stage. Your team knows which version is live and can roll back to the one before it. Sharing carries licence consequences and we walk you through them before we build, so nobody discovers at go-live that a hundred viewers need a paid seat.
Row-level security is defined in the model and tested with the actual roles, so a branch manager opens the same report as the CFO and sees only their branch. Handover is part of the engagement: documentation of the model, the measures and the refresh, plus working sessions with your analyst. The limits are plain. We build and run the reporting. Your finance leadership owns the definitions we implement and the decisions taken from the numbers. We do not sign tax filings, issue audit or attest opinions, give legal advice, or act as your accountant of record.
What you get
What the engagement covers.
8 items
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Data model and relationships
A star schema with fact and dimension tables, single-direction relationships and a fiscal date table, built so totals hold under filtering and reports open quickly.
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Reusable DAX measure library
Core measures written once in the model and reused across every page, so one definition of margin or headcount applies everywhere and a change lands in one place.
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Source connections and query layer
Connections to your ledger, CRM, payroll and operational systems, with transformation pushed into the query layer rather than left for the report to do at open time.
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Gateway and scheduled refresh
Gateway installed and registered, credentials stored against the datasets, refresh scheduled at the frequency each dataset needs, with failure alerts going to a named owner.
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Report pages and drill paths
Pages designed around the questions your readers actually ask, with drill-through from a summary figure to the transactions behind it rather than a wall of visuals.
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Workspaces and deployment pipeline
Separate development, test and production workspaces with a deployment pipeline between them, so changes are promoted deliberately and the live version can be rolled back.
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Row-level security by viewer
Security roles defined in the model and tested with real accounts, so each viewer sees only their entity, region or cost centre from the same report.
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Documentation and team handover
Written documentation of the model, the measures and the refresh, plus working sessions with your analyst so your team can extend the reports without us.
How it runs
How the work runs.
We work in short cycles with your team looking at real output early, because the wrong metric definition is cheap to fix in week two and expensive in week eight. This is the sequence.
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01
Question and audience workshop
We sit with the people who will use the reports and write down the decisions each one supports, who views it, and how often the numbers need to move.
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02
Source and data quality review
Each source is examined for what it holds, how it is keyed and how reliably it can be read on a schedule. Data quality problems are raised now, not later.
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03
Metric definitions signed off
Every measure is defined in writing, including the edge cases, and approved by your finance leadership before it is coded. Definitions are yours, not ours.
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04
Build the model
Tables, relationships, the fiscal date table and the query transformations are built and tested in Power BI Desktop against known figures from a closed period.
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05
Write and test the measures
DAX measures are written against the model and checked against answers you already trust, filter by filter and period by period, before any report page is designed around them or shown to a reader.
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06
Design report pages
Pages are laid out around the agreed questions, with drill paths to detail, and reviewed with the actual audience on real data rather than a sample.
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07
Gateway, refresh and security setup
The gateway is installed and registered, source credentials are stored against the datasets, refresh is scheduled at the agreed frequency, and row-level security is configured and tested by signing in as each role.
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08
Deploy to production
Content is promoted through the deployment pipeline into the production workspace, shared with the agreed audience at the agreed access level, and the rollback path is confirmed before the reports are announced.
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09
Handover and support period
Documentation and training sessions for your analyst, then an agreed period where we stay available for refresh failures and change requests as the reports settle.
Our approach
How we approach it.
Power BI rewards a small number of decisions taken early and punishes them for years when they are taken carelessly. These are the positions we hold on every build, including when a faster shortcut is available.
These are the positions we hold on every build, including when a faster shortcut is available.
- Model before visuals
We build and test the model and the measures before anyone chooses a chart type. A visual drawn on a weak model looks finished and behaves badly under filtering.
- One definition, reused
Each metric is written once as a measure in the model. Nothing important is recalculated inside a visual, so two pages cannot report different numbers for the same thing.
- Import only what is needed
Columns and history that nobody reports on stay out of the model. Smaller models refresh faster, open faster and are far easier for your team to reason about.
- Security tested, not assumed
Row-level security is verified by signing in as the actual roles before release. We never rely on a rule looking correct in the model editor.
- Licensing discussed before build
Who needs to view, who needs to author and what that means commercially is settled before we build, so the distribution plan does not come apart at go-live.
- Built for handover
Naming, folder structure and documentation are written for the analyst who inherits this. We build in the tool as practitioners and hold no vendor status or partnership.
Proof
What clients say, and what the work has done.
- 110+ U.S. businesses served
- 100% client satisfaction
- 111 services we run
Finalert is an outstanding accounting, financial advisory and analytics company that delivers a wide range of services and solutions with the highest level of professionalism. Their expert team, with whom I have personally worked, possesses exceptional skills that enable customers to meet their financial and accounting needs seamlessly. Their dedication to excellence and customer satisfaction sets them apart, making them a trusted partner in the industry.
Wajdi Al MowafakDirector, Financial Business · NonprofitQuestions
Common questions.
The questions finance teams ask most often before they commit a reporting stack to Power BI, covering existing reports, refresh frequency, licences, row-level security and who maintains the work afterwards.
Can you fix the Power BI reports we already have?
Often, yes. We review the existing model, measures and refresh, and tell you honestly whether it is worth repairing or faster to rebuild. Reports built directly on flat extracts with logic buried in visuals usually need rebuilding. A sound model with messy pages on top is a smaller job and we will say so.
How often will the dashboards refresh?
As often as the data and your setup allow, chosen per dataset. Finance figures tied to the ledger are usually daily. Operational feeds can be more frequent. We set the schedule against what the source can support and what the decision actually needs, rather than refreshing everything constantly for its own sake.
Do we need extra Power BI licences?
That depends on how many people view and author, and how you choose to distribute. We map the audience to the licensing implications before the build so there are no surprises at go-live. Licences are purchased directly by you. We hold no reseller or partner status and do not resell anything.
Can different people see different data?
Yes. Row-level security is defined in the model so one report serves everyone while each viewer sees only their entity, region or cost centre. We test it by signing in as real accounts before release rather than trusting that the rule looks right in the editor.
Will our team be able to maintain it?
That is the point of the handover. We document the model, the measures and the refresh, use naming your team can follow, and run working sessions with whoever will own it. Most clients are adding their own measures within a quarter, and we stay available for the larger changes.
What is not included?
We build and run the reporting. Your finance leadership owns the metric definitions we implement and the decisions taken from them. We do not sign tax filings, issue audit or attest opinions, give legal advice, or act as your accountant of record, and we do not sell or administer your software licences.
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About Power BI Dashboards
Ready for numbers you can build on?
Talk to a Finalert consultant about your books, your reporting, or the decision you are trying to make.
110+ U.S. businesses served
What happens next
- A twenty-minute call An accountant on the line, not a salesperson.
- A scope and a price, in writing What the work covers, and what it costs.
- Onboarding on your schedule We start when you are ready, not before.