Power BI Dashboard vs. Report – What’s the Difference?

Whether to work with a (Power BI) PBI report or dashboard can be a dilemma. You do not want to get your audience absolutely overwhelmed with details and bored. On the other hand, you do not want to gloss over important details.

Both PBI reports and dashboards have similar features and also serve the same purpose. The two are used for data visualization and analysis. Moreover, you can use the same visualizations on the pair.

PBI reports are usually used to present detailed analyses. They showcase in-depth insights for your audience.

PBI dashboards, on the other hand, come in handy when monitoring and tracking key metrics. They exhibit a high-level overview for your audience.

So, which one should you choose? Your audience, main objective, and type of data should be your main guides.

In this article, we look at the Power BI dashboard vs. the report. We also define each of them. Eventually, we’ll learn how to create a report and dashboard in PBI. We conclude by answering some FAQs. Let’s dive right in.

Table of Content:

1. What is a Dashboard in Power BI?
2. What is a Report in Power BI?
3. Power BI Dashboard vs. Report: Key Differences
4. How to Create a Report in Power BI?
5. How to Create a Dashboard in Power BI?
6. Wrap Up

What is a Dashboard in Power BI?

A Power BI dashboard is a visual presentation of key performance indicators (KPIs). It provides a high-level overview of the data at a glance.

Dashboards are useful when you want to monitor and track key metrics. They are used to present data to executives and other decision-makers. They are summaries of important information.

With PBI dashboards, you can consolidate data from various sources. You can also monitor your KPIs in real-time. This helps you quickly identify areas that need attention or improvement.

What is the Purpose of Using Power BI Dashboards?

The purpose of using PBI dashboards is to provide a high-level overview of KPIs and data insights.

You can also use PBI dashboards to show real-time insights into business operations, performance, and trends.

What are the Key Features of a Power BI Dashboard?

The key features of a Power BI dashboard include:

• Tiles

Tiles are the building blocks of a dashboard. They display data visualizations, such as charts, tables, and maps.

• Real-time data

Dashboards display data in real-time. This allows users to monitor performance and KPIs as they change.

• Customizable layouts

You can customize the layout, theme, and style of the dashboard to match your branding.

What is a Report in Power BI?

Compared to a PBI dashboard, a PBI report is more detailed. It provides a more granular view of data. Your audience can focus on specific details and explore the data in greater depth.

Reports help present detailed information and analysis to your audience. They are dynamic and are updated based on underlying data changes.

What is the Purpose of Using Power BI Reports?

Power BI reports are mainly used to garner insights.

Let’s look at an example. A team can use a PBI report to garner insights from disparate data sets.

To do this, they will need to use Power BI to:

• Transform, clean, and connect disparate data sets,
• Create a data model.
• Create data visualizations for the data like charts and graphs.
• Create a PBI report, and add the data visualizations.

What are the Key Features of a Power BI Report?

In this section, we look at the PBI report’s key features.

• Templates

Power BI report templates are pre-designed, customizable layouts. You can use them for your Power BI report design.

You can create your own custom template from scratch if you already have Power BI report ideas.

Templates include:

• • pre-configured visuals.
  • page layouts.
  • themes.

You can also add other elements during report template creation. For example, query definitions, data model definitions, visuals, pages, and other visual components.

• Data Filtering

PBI reports also support data filtering. This enables you to only show what’s important.

• Publishing to the Web

You can directly publish reports on the web. PBI also lets you edit, refresh, and update published visuals on the web.

Power BI Dashboard vs. Report: Key Differences

In this section, we further explore the Power BI dashboard vs. report and the key differences.

• The Number of Pages

In Power BI, a dashboard typically consists of a single page. This helps display the most important and relevant information to your audience.

Too many pages or too much information can overwhelm your viewers and make it harder to focus on the key insights you want to communicate.

A report, contrastingly, can have multiple pages or tabs. The number of pages depends on the complexity and depth of the data being analyzed.

The level of detail required by the users also contributes to report length.

The pages are organized logically and intuitively.

• Information Detail

PBI reports generally provide more detailed information than PBI dashboards. Dashboards showcase a high-level view of data. Reports provide more in-depth analysis of specific data sets.

• Data modeling

Both PBI dashboards and reports allow for data modeling. There are, however, differences in the interactivity and complexity of the visualizations.

Data modeling involves creating relationships between data tables, defining calculations, creating hierarchies, and grouping data for analysis.

In a PBI dashboard, the data model is typically simpler, with fewer tables and relationships.

The data model in a PBI report is more complex, with more tables and relationships.

Reports also offer greater flexibility in terms of data modeling and calculations. Users can create complex calculations and measures using Power BI’s DAX language. This option is not available on PBI dashboards.

• User interactivity

PBI dashboards usually have more user interactivity than reports. They often include interactive elements such as slicers and filters.

In contrast, reports are more static. They present a summary of data in a tabular or graphical format.

Reports may include some level of interactivity, such as filtering or sorting options. They are, however, not as interactive as dashboards.

How to Create a Report in Power BI?

The Power BI dashboard vs. report differences will get even clearer with Power BI report examples.

In this section, we use an add-in or Power BI visual from AppSource to create our report. This add-in is the Sankey Diagram by ChartExpo.

We’ll divide the steps into several stages.

Stage 1: Logging in to Power BI

• Login to Power BI Web Service.
• Enter your email address and click the “Submit” button.

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

• You can choose to stay signed in or not.

• You’ll then be redirected to the Power BI home screen.

Stage 2: Adding a data set for your report

• Click on the “Create” button.
• Click on “these options”.

• Click on “Excel”.
• Add an Excel file.

• We’ll use the following two data sets to create our report.

First data set

Earnings Source	Revenue	Expenses	Departments	Categories	Amount
Providing services	Revenue	Expenses	Managerial	Training Sessions	10000
Providing services	Revenue	Expenses	Managerial	Office rental	16000
Providing services	Revenue	Expenses	Managerial	Wages	9400
Providing services	Revenue	Expenses	Commercial	Wages	11300
Sales of products	Revenue	Expenses	Commercial	Travel allowance	10000
Sales of products	Revenue	Expenses	Commercial	Advertising	12000
Sales of products	Revenue	Expenses	Production	Material Payment	25000
Sales of products	Revenue	Expenses	Production	Loan Payment	8500
Sales of products	Revenue	Expenses	Production	Wages	19500
Loans	Revenue	Gross Profit		Taxes	11000
Loans	Revenue	Gross Profit		Net Profit	13000

Second data set

Starting Point	Platforms	View product & details	Add to Cart	Cart Status	Ending Point	Traffic
External Ad	Mobile App	View product & details	Add to Cart	Clear Cart	Exit	20177
External Ad	Mobile App	View product & details	Add to Cart	Checkout	Purchase	26674
External Ad	Mobile App	View product & details	Add to Cart	Click on another product	Purchase	11616
External Ad	Mobile App	View product & details	Exit			21965
External Link	Mobile App	View product & details	Add to Cart	Clear Cart	Exit	24979
External Link	Mobile App	View product & details	Add to Cart	Checkout	Purchase	6684
External Link	Mobile App	View product & details	Add to Cart	Click on another product	Purchase	12829
External Link	Mobile App	View product & details	Exit			27434
Direct Search	Mobile App	View product & details	Add to Cart	Clear Cart	Exit	11281
Direct Search	Mobile App	View product & details	Add to Cart	Checkout	Purchase	8102
Direct Search	Mobile App	View product & details	Add to Cart	Click on another product	Purchase	22124
Direct Search	Mobile App	View product & details	Exit			6305
Organic Search	Mobile App	View product & details	Add to Cart	Clear Cart	Exit	11376
Organic Search	Mobile App	View product & details	Add to Cart	Checkout	Purchase	12751
Organic Search	Mobile App	View product & details	Add to Cart	Click on another product	Purchase	25429
Organic Search	Mobile App	View product & details	Exit			7034
External Ad	Official Website	View product & details	Add to Cart	Clear Cart	Exit	13854
External Ad	Official Website	View product & details	Add to Cart	Checkout	Purchase	6357
External Ad	Official Website	View product & details	Add to Cart	Click on another product	Purchase	20156
External Ad	Official Website	View product & details	Exit			25474
External Link	Official Website	View product & details	Add to Cart	Clear Cart	Exit	17788
External Link	Official Website	View product & details	Add to Cart	Checkout	Purchase	9670
External Link	Official Website	View product & details	Add to Cart	Click on another product	Purchase	13131
External Link	Official Website	View product & details	Exit			11169
Direct Search	Official Website	View product & details	Add to Cart	Clear Cart	Exit	5747
Direct Search	Official Website	View product & details	Add to Cart	Checkout	Purchase	11817
Direct Search	Official Website	View product & details	Add to Cart	Click on another product	Purchase	26562
Direct Search	Official Website	View product & details	Exit			8389
Organic Search	Official Website	View product & details	Add to Cart	Clear Cart	Exit	28670
Organic Search	Official Website	View product & details	Add to Cart	Checkout	Purchase	11015
Organic Search	Official Website	View product & details	Add to Cart	Click on another product	Purchase	18522
Organic Search	Official Website	View product & details	Exit			8023

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

• Once you choose the data set you want to use to create your Sankey Diagram, 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

• To finish creating our Sankey Diagram, we’ll use an add-in or Power BI visual from AppSource.
• Navigate to the Power BI Visualizations panel. It’s on the right side of your Power BI dashboard.
• Click the ellipsis (…) highlighted above to 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” in the visualization panel as shown below.

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 on 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 the “Fields” next to “Visualizations”.
• You’ll select the fields to use in your Sankey Chart here. The ChartExpo visual needs to be selected though.

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

Stage 5: Activating your ChartExpo Trial or Applying a Subscription Key

• While the ChartExpo visual is selected, you should see 3 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:

1. • Enter your email address in the “Email” textbox in the “Trial Mode” section. When you subscribe to the ChartExpo add-in, this is the email address where your ChartExpo License key will be sent.
   • Ensure that your email address is valid.
   • Click “Enable Trial” to activate your 7-day trial.

• You should receive a welcome email from ChartExpo.
• The Sankey Diagram you create under the 7-day trial contains the ChartExpo watermark (see below).

• If you have obtained a license key:

1. • 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.

• For giving colors, expand the “Level Colors” properties and select a color. Do this to change the color of each node.
• Automatically all changes will be saved.

• Your final chart will look like below.

• Click on “+” to add another page in the Power BI report.

• Your final report will look as below.

How to Create a Dashboard in Power BI?

We now learn how to create a dashboard in PBI. We’ll use the PBI report we generated to create our Power BI dashboard design.

• Click on the “Pin” icon at the top of the Sankey chart.

• Select the dashboard in which to pin the Sankey chart.
• Click on the “Pin” button.

• Your final dashboard will look like the one below.

You can add more charts to this dashboard according to your needs.

Insights

• Most of your traffic at the starting point came from external ads (146.27k).
• The mobile app (256.76k) generated more traffic when compared to the website app (236.34k).
• All the traffic landed on the product page. 377.31k users added to the cart. 115.79k users simply exited after viewing the product.
• From 377.31k, 133.87k users cleared their carts and exited.
• 93.07k checked out, & 150.37k clicked on another product.

FAQs

How Do I Convert a Report to a Power BI Dashboard?

Here are the steps that you need to take to convert a report to a PBI dashboard:

1. Open a report and select “More options” or the ellipsis (…)
2. This opens it in the editing view.
3. Hover over a visualization to reveal the available options.
4. Click on the pin icon. This allows you to add a visualization.
5. Choose whether to add the visualization to a new or existing dashboard.

Why Are Dashboards Better Than Reports?

Dashboards provide a quick overview of your KPIs and business performance. You can easily consume information at a glance. They are also more interactive when compared to reports. Lastly, you can view real-time data with PBI dashboards.

Wrap Up

We have explored the Power BI dashboard vs. report in detail. While dashboards and reports are used for data and data visualization, they are not exactly the same.

We have come across major differences. For example, dashboards are single-page views of main KPIs. Reports, on the other hand, are more detailed and have more pages.

You can also view real-time data with dashboards.

We also looked at how to create a PBI report with ChartExpo’s Sankey diagram add-in. We then used this report to generate Power BI dashboard ideas.

Ultimately, we answered a few FAQs.

We hope that you’ll explore the Sankey diagram add-in for your dashboards and reports.