Financial DX / Power BI Dashboard Creation Series, Vol. 2
Introduction
In our previous article (Vol. 1), we presented a preview of the completed financial KPI dashboard built using Power BI.
Implementing Power BI will not only streamline the monthly report-generation process but also enable finance professionals to expand their roles from simply “creating reports” to “analyzing data and supporting management decision-making.”
In this series, rather than building a fully finished dashboard all at once, we’ll proceed by gradually building it up from the ground up. As a first step, we’ll install Power BI Desktop and take a look at its basic interface. Since Power BI Desktop is a free tool, let’s start by setting up our environment.
In this series, you’ll learn step by step not only how to use Power BI, but also how to calculate KPIs used in financial and management control and how to visualize them on a dashboard.
Two Things You Should Learn First When Getting Started with Power BI
When you start looking into Power BI, you’ll likely come across a series of similar-sounding terms—such as “Power BI Desktop,” “Power BI Service,” and “Power BI Pro”—which can be confusing for many people.
However, when you’re just getting started with Power BI, there are only two things you need to know right away.
| Name | Role |
|---|---|
| Power BI Desktop | A Free Windows App for Creating Dashboards |
| Power BI Service | A service for sharing and managing dashboards in the cloud |
Power BI Desktop is an application that allows you to perform the entire process—from importing and processing data to creating charts and dashboards.
On the other hand, Power BI Service is a cloud service that allows you to share the dashboards you’ve created within your organization and update the data on a regular basis.
In this series, we will use only Power BI Desktop through Volume 8. We plan to provide a comprehensive explanation of sharing and operations using the Power BI Service in Volume 9.
Power BI Desktop is available for free
Power BI Desktop is available for free. If you’re learning on your own or practicing creating dashboards, the free version is more than enough. In
this series, we’ll be using the following free features.
- Importing Excel and CSV Data
- Data Processing with Power Query
- Calculating KPIs Using DAX
- Creating Charts and Dashboards
Once you reach the stage where you want to share the dashboard you’ve created within your organization or have it updated automatically on a regular basis, you’ll need a license for a paid service such as Power BI Pro.
Start by getting familiar with Power BI using the free version; it’s not too late to consider purchasing a paid license later on.
Install Power BI Desktop
Power BI Desktop is available for free from Microsoft. There are two ways to get it:
- Install from the Microsoft Store
- Download the installer directly from the official Microsoft website
You can get the latest version of Power BI Desktop from either source, but since the Microsoft Store version updates automatically, you won’t have to manually keep up with the feature updates that are released almost every month. Unless you have a specific reason not to, choosing the Microsoft Store version will make management easier down the road (if your company’s security policies prevent you from using the Store, please download it from the official website instead).
[Microsoft Official Website: Download Microsoft Power BI Desktop]
Run the installer and follow the on-screen instructions to complete the process. No special settings are required; you can generally leave the default settings as they are.
Once the installation is complete, let’s launch Power BI Desktop right away.
First launch Screen
When you launch Power BI Desktop for the first time, the following start screen appears.
You may be prompted to sign in to your Microsoft account, but this is not required at this time for the purposes of this series.
You’ll need to sign in when you’re ready to share a dashboard using the Power BI Service, but if you’re just using Power BI Desktop for learning purposes, you can set this up later without any issues.
For now, just making sure it starts up is enough. We’ll start importing data in the next article.
Power BI Desktop Interface Layout
When you launch the app, you might feel a little overwhelmed by the many unfamiliar buttons and menus. However, at this early stage, it’s enough to just get a general sense of the overall layout of the screen.
The names and functions of the various components on the Power BI Desktop main screen are as follows. The screen layout may vary slightly depending on the version, but the basic operations remain the same.
❶ Ribbon:
Ribbon is the menu bar at the top of the screen. It is divided into several tabs, such as “Home,” “Insert,” “Modeling,” and “View,” and you can perform nearly all Power BI operations from here, including retrieving data, adding charts, and performing DAX calculations. It works just like the Ribbon in Excel.
❷ Report View:
This is where you create and design your dashboards. It is the most frequently used screen in this series; when you click it, the charts, KPI cards, and other elements created on the canvas (❺) are displayed.
❸ Table View:
A view that allows you to view loaded data in a tabular format. It is similar to an Excel worksheet and is used to check the contents and types of data (such as numbers, dates, and text).
❹ Model View:
This view is used to configure and verify relationships between multiple tables, for example, this is where you specify which columns to use to link the “Sales Table” and the “Product Master” table. We’ll cover this in detail in Vol. 4 of this series.
❺ Report Canvas:
This is the main workspace for building your dashboard. You’ll place visuals such as charts, KPI cards, and slicers here. Once the data is loaded, the actual charts will appear in this area.
❻ Filters:
This panel allows you to narrow down the data displayed. You can set filters to apply to “This Page Only” or “Entire Report.” While this feature is similar to slicers, it is intended for report editors. Slicers are typically used for filtering data for dashboard viewers.
❼ Visualizations:
This panel lets you choose the type of graph or table you want to use. It features a wide variety of visual types, including bar charts, line charts, KPI cards, and donut charts. Click the visual you want to use to add it to the canvas, then drag data into the “Values” section at the bottom to configure it.
❽ Data:
This panel displays a list of the tables and columns that have been loaded. You can create a chart simply by dragging and dropping the columns displayed here into the “Value” field of the visualization panel. This is equivalent to the “Field List” in Excel.
The Dashboard We’ll Create in This Series
We won’t be creating a dashboard in this session, but in future sessions, we’ll use this screen to build, one by one, the financial KPI dashboards introduced in Vol. 1.
Specifically,
- Preparing Data with Power Query
- Calculate Financial and Operational KPIs
- Create charts and KPI cards
- Add a Slicer
- Design the Entire Dashboard
We’ll work through these steps one by one. By following these steps, you’ll be able to build your own dashboard with confidence.
Starting with Vol. 5 (DAX Basics), we’ll proceed by calculating metrics actually used in financial and management accounting, such as operating profit margin and inventory turnover. A key feature of this series is that it goes beyond just “basic Power BI operations” to explore “how finance professionals interpret these metrics.”
Summary
In this article, we covered how to install Power BI Desktop and its basic interface layout as preparation for creating a Power BI dashboard.
Power BI Desktop is available for free, and it includes everything you need to build dashboards for finance and management reporting.
The goal of this series is not just to learn how to use Power BI. It is to help finance professionals develop the skills they need to analyze data and support management decision-making.
Next time, we’ll use Power Query to import sample data and prepare the data that will serve as the foundation for creating a dashboard.
Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ)
1. Is Power BI Desktop available on Mac?
Power BI Desktop is an application for Windows. If you are using a Mac, you will need to set up a Windows environment or use a virtual machine or similar solution.
2. Do I need a Microsoft account?
It is not required if you are only using Power BI Desktop for learning or creating dashboards.
However, you will need to sign in to share dashboards via the Power BI Service, so if you plan to share reports in the future, we recommend creating a Microsoft account.
3. Which version do you recommend: the Microsoft Store version or the download version?
If you're learning on your own,
there isn't much difference in how the two versions work. The Microsoft Store version offers automatic updates, so you don't have to manually reinstall the setup program every time a feature update is released, making it easier to manage.
On the other hand, the download version (installer version) is better suited for environments where the Microsoft Store cannot be used due to organizational security policies, or for situations where you want to continue using a specific version. Unless you
have a specific reason not to, it’s safest to choose the Microsoft Store version.
4. Can I change the display language in Power BI Desktop?
Yes. You can change the display language in Power BI Desktop. If you’d like to switch from Japanese to English, please follow the steps below to change the language.
1. Click “File” at the top of Power BI Desktop.
2. Select “Options and settings” → “Options.”
3. Under “Regional Settings,” change “Application language” to “English.”
4. Restart Power BI Desktop.
5. When will the explanations using financial metrics begin?
In Vol. 4 (Calendar Tables and Relationship Settings), we laid the groundwork for creating a dashboard. Starting with Vol. 5 (DAX Basics), we’ll explain how to calculate financial and management metrics—such as year-over-year comparisons—while actually performing the calculations. Vol. 2 and 3 cover the basic operations of Power BI and data preparation, which form the foundation for these topics.