power bi and data visualizations
Power BI has become the standard for financial reporting and analysis in organizations of all sizes, but many finance professionals struggle to move beyond basic Excel reporting. This hands-on course teaches you how to build interactive dashboards, connect to multiple data sources, and create compelling visualizations that communicate insights effectively to stakeholders.
Designed specifically for finance and accounting professionals, this CPE-qualified course covers everything from data connections and modeling to creating reports that update automatically. You’ll learn how to transform raw data into actionable insights, build dashboards that answer key business questions, and share your work with confidence. No programming or database experience required.
This course includes hands-on practical labs where you’ll build actual reports and dashboards using real finance scenarios.
Who should attend: Finance professionals, accountants, analysts, and managers who need to create reports and dashboards for decision-making. No prior Power BI experience needed.
Recommended CPE Credits: 4
What you’ll learn with this course
- How to connect Power BI to Excel, databases, and cloud data sources
- Techniques for cleaning and transforming data before building reports
- Methods to create data models that support complex financial analysis
- Best practices for choosing visualizations that communicate clearly
- Strategies for building interactive reports that answer business questions
- How to write basic DAX formulas for common financial calculations
- Ways to automate report refresh and distribution
- Approaches for designing dashboards that stakeholders actually use
By the end of this course, you’ll be able to:
- Build end-to-end Power BI reports from raw data to finished dashboard
- Connect to and combine data from multiple sources
- Transform and clean data using Power Query
- Create data models with proper relationships
- Choose appropriate visualizations for different data types
- Write basic DAX measures for financial calculations
- Design interactive reports with filters and drill-through functionality
- Publish and share reports with your organization
Course Outline
1. Introduction to Power BI
- Understanding the Power BI ecosystem (Desktop, Service, Mobile)
- Navigating the Power BI Desktop interface
- Core concepts: reports, dashboards, and datasets
- When to use Power BI vs. Excel
2. Connecting to Data Sources
- Importing Excel and CSV files
- Connecting to databases and cloud sources
- Combining multiple data sources
- Understanding refresh and data storage options
3. Data Transformation with Power Query
- Cleaning and shaping data
- Removing duplicates and handling errors
- Creating calculated columns
- Merging and appending queries
4. Data Modeling Fundamentals
- Understanding tables and relationships
- Building a simple data model
- Star schema basics for finance reporting
- Introduction to calculated columns vs. measures
5. Creating Visualizations
- Choosing the right chart types for financial data
- Building tables, matrices, and cards
- Creating bar charts, line charts, and combo visuals
- Formatting for clarity and impact
6. Building Interactive Reports
- Adding slicers and filters
- Creating drill-through and drill-down functionality
- Using bookmarks for report navigation
- Best practices for dashboard design
7. Introduction to DAX
- Understanding DAX basics
- Creating simple measures for common calculations
- SUM, AVERAGE, COUNT, and basic aggregations
- Time intelligence functions for period comparisons
8. Sharing and Collaboration
- Publishing to Power BI Service
- Creating and sharing dashboards
- Setting up scheduled refresh
- Best practices for report distribution