Power BI is one of the most effective new systems for developing management dashboards and summaries. It allows finance professionals to create real-time updated data in a pre-defined management dashboard or executive summary. These can often work as effective CFO dashboards. This is an exciting addition to Microsoft Office programs because real-time updated summary dashboards are a very popular area for modern businesses.
Business Intelligence
The major ERP systems promote Business Intelligence (BI) with real-time dashboards. ERP systems are the main systems used by finance teams and anyone working for a CFO. Major brands like NetSuite, Oracle, and SAP aim to offer CFO dashboards and BI reports. Often, these subscriptions will set you back thousands, if not even millions of dollars, depending on the size of your contract. Power BI allows finance teams to obtain these BI reports and management summaries without such a large commitment.
What Finance areas should use Power BI?
The main finance areas that should be considered for Power BI are FP&A, management accounting, and any roles involved in creating management information. However, the system can also be useful for Treasury, Financial Control, and anyone working with strategic modelling.
You can see our Power BI training details here on our Power BI Courses page. However, it is recommended that you have advanced Excel skills in order to use Power BI. Our Microsoft Office Diploma for Finance will offer you the ability to gain a full array of skills for a financial career, including our Power BI Course.
Why is Power BI so useful for Finance?
Businesses increasingly seek AI (artificial intelligence) and BI (business intelligence). Both areas represent a trend of increasingly using systems to help with analytical and decision-making processes. AI and BI are very important moving forward for any business professional, including finance professionals. The reality is that BI reporting will not give you all of the answers at this moment in time and will fully replace the valuable analysis done by finance professionals. However, you can start to appreciate a change in the analysis, decision-making, and strategic modelling trend.