Let us not confuse power bi reports with power bi dashboards, reports are more of a detailed version of a dashboard, it has an extensive representation of data which we can see from the samples inbuilt or integrated into power bi itself for new users.
Examples of Power BI Reports
If you are new to Power BI and wondering how we can create reports in Power BI, then this article is the perfect fit for you. In this article, we will show you how to create examples of reports in Power BI with a simple technique to start off the learning in Power BI. You can download the workbook used in this example to practice along with us.
How to Create Reports in Power BI with Examples
Here we will show you how to create examples of reports in Power BI with a simple technique to start off the learning in Power BI.
#1 – Reports in Power BI
If you are already reporting generator and advanced formula user in Excel then creating reports in Power BI seems less difficult. So we assume that you are already an advanced excel user and starting this article.
Below is the data we are going to use to create a report in Power BI.
Please download the workbook to create a report along with us.
Follow the below steps to upload the data to Power BI from excel workbook.
Step 1: Open Power BI software.
Step 2: Go to the “Home” tab and find the “Get Data” option.
Step 3: When you click on this “Get Data” drop-down list we can see many data source options. Let’s not get into this as of now, since our data source is in the form of “Excel” workbook, let’s choose “Excel” only.
Step 4: Next it will ask us to choose the file from the saved location, so choose the file from the folder where you have saved.
Step 5: Next click on “Open” and it will take you to navigator pane.
Step 6: From this navigator pane we need to choose the table that we need to upload to the Power BI. So I will choose “TV_Sales” table and click on “Load”.
Step 7: Now you can see your screen will flicker for some seconds and finally it will upload to Power BI. By clicking on the “Data” tab you can see the uploaded data.
Ok, we are done with data upload steps, now we need to create some additional columns.
#2 – Create Calculated Columns
If you see the table we don’t have full data like “Sale Value, Gross Profit, and Gross Profit %” etc.… We need to create these columns by using DAX formulas.
- Now come to the “Report” tab.
- On the right-hand side, we can see all the fields of the table.
- Right-click on the table name “TV_Sales” and choose “New Column”.
- This will ask you to name the column name in the formula tab, so give the name as “Sale Value”.
- By entering what formula we need to arrive at the “Sale Value”????
- To arrive the “Sale Value” from the existing columns of the table we need to multiply “Units Sold” into “Sale Price”.
- Type the characters as “Units” and you will see all the related results, choose “Units Sold” column from “TV_Sales” table.
- Now enter “Multiply” sign (*) and choose “Sale Price” column.
- Hit enter key and in the table new “Calculated Column” is created.
- Now once again right click and choose “New Column” to create “Gross Profit” value. This time we need to enter the formula as “Sales Value – COGS – Discount”.
Ok, now we are done with calculations, to start off things in Power BI this is more than enough.
#3 – Create Reports in Power BI (By Using Fields)
- Ok, by using these fields we will create reports.
- On the right-hand side, we have several visualizations, from this list click on “Table” visual to insert the blank table visually.
- This table works more or less like “Pivot Table” in our excel worksheet. Now drag and drop “Month Name” from the table to “Values” field of Table visual.
- Now drag and drop “Sale Value”, “COGS”, “Discount”, and “Gross Profit” columns to the field area of Table visual.
- Ok, we have a month-wise summary table of Sales, COGS, Discount, and Gross Profit.
- For the same fields, we will insert the “Combo” chart to see the “Sales vs Gross Profit”. Click on “Combo Chart” from visuals list.
- For the fields of this “Combo Chart” drag and drop columns as shown below.
- This will create a chart like the below one.3
- This chart will explain “Gross Profit” positons against the “Sale Value”. Similarly, we will create a combo chart of “Gross Profit vs Combo Chart”.
- Now we will create the “Funnel” chart to create a City-wise “Sale Value”. Click on “Funnel Chart” to create a blank “Funnel Chart”.
- Drag and drop “City” column to “Group” field and “Sale Value” to “Values” field and we will have a “Funnel Chart” like the below one.
- In the end, we will create “Card” visuals to show total sales, COGS, Discount, and Profit values. Click on “Card” visual to insert “Blank Card Visual”.
- Drag and drop “Sale Value” column to “Fields” and we will have simple card shows the overall sales value.
- Now copy and paste this “Card” visual three more times.
- Now for the second card change the field from Sale Value to “COGS”, for third one change it to “Discount” and for the fourth one change it to “Gross Profit”.
- Ok, overall we have a simple power bi dashboard like the below one.
Note: Power BI dashboard file can also be downloaded from the link below and the final output can be viewed.
Things to Remember
- If the required column is not there in the data then we need to create the one by using DAX formulas.
- The kind of visual we use for the particular set of data makes a lot of difference in the dashboard.
Recommended Articles
Guide to Power BI Reports Examples. Here we show you how to create reports in Power BI along with examples and step by step explanations. You may learn more about Power BI from the following articles
