Unleashing the Power of Business Intelligence Reporting

You’re the daring captain of a mighty spaceship. You’re navigating through a sea of data searching for hidden gems of knowledge and insight.

Accompanying you on this voyage are graphs, charts, and interactive visualizations as your crew. Together, you’re determined to solve the mysteries of your business and uncover valuable information.

As you navigate through the swirling galaxy of information, you face a pivotal challenge: how to unleash the true power of business intelligence reporting?

Fear not, for we are here to be your trusty co-pilots on this epic adventure.

You can transform your raw data into a captivating story with business intelligence reporting. It empowers you to decipher trends, identify patterns, and make decisions that propel your business to new heights.

But that’s not all.

With BI Reporting, non-technical users can become data wizards, creating compelling reports and discovering hidden trends.

Forget about dull spreadsheets and mind-numbing figures. Let’s get on an adventure and guide you through the twists and turns of your business landscape.

But first”¦

Table of Content:

1. Overview
2. Types of Business Intelligence Reports
3. BI Reporting Examples
4. The Goal of BI Reporting
5. Business Intelligence Reporting Best Practices
6. Examine the Business Intelligence Report
7. Wrap Up

Overview

Business intelligence reporting involves gathering, analyzing, and representing data to derive actionable insights. It empowers non-technical users to create reports, facilitating comprehension of business metrics.

These reports aggregate data from various departments to give your business a holistic view. Consequently, facilitates informed decision-making and a comprehensive understanding of the business landscape.

Types of Business Intelligence Reports

Below are the various types of business intelligence reports that cater to different needs and objectives.

• Operational Reports

Operational reports provide day-to-day insights into operational activities like sales, production, or customer service. They focus on key performance indicators (KPIs) and metrics relevant to ongoing operations, facilitating real-time monitoring and analysis.

• Financial Reports

Financial reports focus on financial performance, including revenue, expenses, profit margins, and cash flow. They provide an overview of financial health, aid in budgeting and forecasting, and support financial decision-making.

• Executive Dashboards

Executive dashboards present high-level summaries of business performance and KPIs. These reports are designed to provide an at-a-glance view for executives and managers. Consequently, enabling them to assess performance and identify areas requiring attention quickly.

• Ad-Hoc Reports

Ad-hoc reports are generated on demand to address specific queries or scenarios. These reports are flexible and customizable, providing insights into specific areas of interest.

• Predictive Reports

Predictive reports analyze historical data to forecast future trends and outcomes. They help to anticipate market changes, identify potential risks, and make proactive decisions. Consequently, you can stay ahead of the curve and confidently seize opportunities.

• Comparative Reports

Comparative reports compare data across different periods, regions, or segments. They facilitate performance trend analysis, pattern identification, and informed comparisons. As a result, they help understand variations and improvement areas with ease.

• Drill-down Reports

Drill-down reports allow digging deeper into the data by hierarchically exploring details. You can navigate from summarized data to granular levels. Consequently, get a more comprehensive understanding of the underlying factors influencing performance.

Business Intelligence Reporting Best Practices

Unlocking the hidden treasures within data requires more than just a fancy hat and a magnifying glass. Follow these business intelligence reporting best practices and discover the secrets to data-driven success.

• Define clear objectives: Clearly define the purpose of your BI reporting. Identify the key metrics and KPIs that align with your goals and ensure they are measurable and relevant.
• Understand your audience: Different stakeholders may require different levels of detail or data visualizations. Understand their roles, responsibilities, and the information they need to make informed decisions. Then tailor your BI reports to their specific needs and preferences.
• Keep it simple and concise: Avoid overwhelming your audience with excessive information. Focus on the most critical data and insights that directly impact decision-making. Most importantly, use clear and concise language, and avoid technical jargon whenever possible.
• Provide context and interpretation: While data is essential, providing context and interpretation around the numbers is equally important. Explain the trends, patterns, and outliers observed, and offer insights into what they mean for the business. Moreover, provide actionable recommendations whenever possible.
• Maintain data security and privacy: Protect sensitive data and adhere to data privacy regulations. Implement security measures to safeguard the data during collection, storage, and reporting processes. You can limit access to authorized users and use encryption when necessary.

Examine the Business Intelligence Report in Power BI

We’ll break down the process into five stages, ensuring a delectable journey to data-driven success.

Stage 1: Logging in to Power BI

• Log in to Power BI.
• Enter your email. Click the “Submit” button.

• You are redirected to your Microsoft account.
• Enter your password and click “Sign in”.

• Choose whether to stay signed in.

• Once done, the Power BI home screen will open.

Stage 2: Creating a Data Set and Selecting the Data Set to Use in Your Sankey Chart

• Click on the “Create” option on the left-side menu.
• Select ”Paste or manually enter data“.

• We’ll use the following cash flow data for this example.

Earnings Source	Revenue	Expenses & Profit	Departments	Categories	Amount
Providing services	Revenue	Expenses	Managerial	Training Sessions	10,000
Providing services	Revenue	Expenses	Managerial	Office rental	16,000
Providing services	Revenue	Expenses	Managerial	Wages	9,400
Providing services	Revenue	Expenses	Commercial	Wages	11,300
Sales of products	Revenue	Expenses	Commercial	Travel allowance	10,000
Sales of products	Revenue	Expenses	Commercial	Advertising	12,000
Sales of products	Revenue	Expenses	Production	Material Payment	25,000
Sales of products	Revenue	Expenses	Production	Loan Payment	8,500
Sales of products	Revenue	Expenses	Production	Wages	19,500
Loans	Revenue	Gross Profit		Taxes	11,000
Loans	Revenue	Gross Profit		Net Profit	13,000

• Paste the above data table into the “Power Query” window.
• Select the “Create a dataset only” option.

• Click on the “Data Hub” option on the left-side menu.
• Power BI populates the data set list. (If you have not created a data set, refer to the Error! Reference source not found section.)

• Choose the data set you want to use to create your Sankey Diagram in Power BI.
• Power BI populates the screen as shown below:

• The data set and its fields are shown on the right side. The middle area shows report and data set options.
• Click on the “Create a report” dropdown.
• Select “Start from scratch“.

• You should see the Report Canvas screen as shown below:

Stage 3: Adding the Power BI Sankey Diagram Extension by ChartExpo

• Creating the Sankey Diagram requires us to use an add-in or Power BI visual from AppSource.
• Navigate to the right side of the Power BI dashboard.
• Open the Power BI Visualizations panel.
• Click the ellipsis symbol (…) as highlighted in the diagram below. This will import the Power BI Sankey Diagram extension by ChartExpo.

• The following menu opens:
• Select the “Get more visuals” option.

• The following window opens:
• Enter “Sankey Diagram for Power BI by ChartExpo” in the highlighted search box.
• You should see the “Sankey Diagram for Power BI by ChartExpo” as shown in the image below.

• Click the highlighted “Add” button.

• Power BI will add the “Sankey Diagram for Power BI by ChartExpo” icon in the visualization panel.

Stage 4: Drawing a Sankey Diagram with ChartExpo’s Power BI extension

• Select the “Sankey Diagram for Power BI by ChartExpo” icon in the visualization panel.
• The following window opens in the report section of your dashboard:

• You can resize the visual as needed.
• Navigate to the right side of your Power BI dashboard.
• You should see “Fields” next to “Visualizations.”

• You’ll select the fields to use in your Sankey chart here.
• The ChartExpo visual needs to be selected, though. Select the fields in the following sequence:
  • Earnings Source
  • Revenue
  • Expenses & Profit
  • Departments
  • Categories
  • Revenue

• You’ll be asked for a ChartExpo license key or email address.

Stage 5: Activate your ChartExpo Trial or Apply a Subscription Key

• Select the ChartExpo visual.
• Select the ChartExpo visual. You should see three icons below “Build Visual” in the Visualizations panel.

• Select the middle icon, “Format visual.”
• The visual properties will be populated as shown below.

• If you are a new user,
  • Type in your email under the section titled “Trial Mode”.
  • This should be the email address that you used to subscribe to the ChartExpo add-in. It is where your ChartExpo license key will be sent.
  • Ensure that your email address is valid.
  • Click “Enable Trial“. You’ll get a 7-day trial.

• You should receive a welcome email from ChartExpo.
• If you do not find the email in your inbox, kindly check your spam folder.
• The Sankey Diagram you create under the 7-day trial contains the ChartExpo watermark (see below).

• If you have obtained a license key:
  • Enter your license key in the “ChartExpo License Key” textbox in the “License Settings” section (see below).
  • Slide the toggle switch next to “Enable License” to “On“.

• Your Sankey diagram should now be ready (see below). Note that it does not have a watermark.

• Let’s add a Prefix (such as a $ sign) with the numeric values in the chart.
• Expand the “Stats” properties and include the Prefix value.

• Let’s add colors to each node. Expand the “Level Colors” properties and select the colors.

• Automatically all changes will be saved.

Insights

• The company’s primary revenue source is product sales, accounting for 51.48% of the total.
• At the second level, the company’s total revenue is $146K.
• Out of the $146K revenue, $122K is spent on expenses, representing 83.5%. This leaves a gross profit of $24K, equivalent to 16.5%.
• At the fourth level, there are three types of expenses: managerial, commercial, and production. Managerial expenses amount to $35.4K, commercial expenses to $33.3K, and production expenses to $53K.
• The gross profit is divided into taxes and net profit, with $11K going towards taxes and $13K as net profit.
• The managerial section is divided into three subsections: training sessions, wages, and office rental, which cost $10K, $9.4K, and $16K, respectively.
• The commercial section is divided into travel allowance, advertising, and wages, with travel allowance having the highest amount.

FAQs

What is business intelligence reporting?

Business intelligence (BI) reporting involves leveraging analytical (BI) tools to analyze data. It plays a vital role in tracking trends, identifying patterns, and facilitating data-driven decision-making. Thus ensuring decision-making is grounded in factual insights.

Is Business Intelligence the same as reporting?

Business intelligence and reporting are related but different. Business intelligence encompasses the entire process of collecting, analyzing, and interpreting data to generate insights. Conversely, reporting focuses explicitly on presenting data in a structured format through reports and visualizations.

What are the different types of business intelligence reports?

1. Operational reports for day-to-day operations.
2. Ad-hoc reports for specific inquiries.
3. Executive reports for high-level decision-makers.
4. Predictive reports, forecasting future trends.
5. Comparative reports highlighting comparisons between data sets.
6. Drill-down reports, enabling users to explore detailed data at a granular level.

Wrap Up

Business intelligence reporting continues to be an indispensable tool for staying competitive and adapting to changing market dynamics. It enables businesses to unleash the power of data and transform it into actionable insights.

There are various business intelligence reports, including ad hoc, operational, financial, executive, predictive, comparative, and drill-down reports. They cater to different needs, ensuring the correct information reaches the right people at the right time.

Operational reports offer real-time insights for day-to-day operations, facilitating informed decision-making at operational levels. Ad hoc reports enable on-demand analysis, providing flexibility and agility in exploring data.

Financial reports provide a comprehensive view of financial performance, while executive reports cater to top-level decision-makers.

Predictive reports empower future trends anticipation to help you stay ahead of the curve. Moreover, comparative reports enable valuable benchmarking and performance analysis.

Lastly, drill-down reports offer a deeper dive into specific data subsets.

Harnessing the power of business intelligence reporting opens new horizons, propelling you toward growth, efficiency, and innovation.

Do not hesitate.

Embrace business intelligence reporting with Power BI and ChartExpo today to unlock the full potential of data.