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Install Power BI apps for Business Central

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APPLIES TO: Generally available in Business Central 2024 release wave 2 (version 25.1).

This article describes how to install Power BI apps for Business Central. The apps are specific to each functional area of Business Central. The apps include:

  • APIs for reading data.
  • Power BI semantic models and reports.
  • Pages that embed the Power BI reports in Business Central.
  • Navigation links on Role Centers and in the Role Explorer.

Prerequisites

To install Power BI apps for Business Central, you must have:

  • An environment in Business Central online (it comes ready to integrate with Power BI.)

  • A Power BI PRO license for the following users:

    • The user who installs the Power BI template app.
    • The user who refreshes the data.
    • Each user who accesses the reports.

To learn more, go to Get started with Power BI reports in Business Central.

Installing a Power BI app

Power BI apps are available for the following functional areas in Business Central:

  • Finance
  • Sales
  • Purchasing
  • Inventory
  • Inventory Valuation
  • Warehouse
  • Projects

Each app consists of two parts:

  • A connector (AL) app that contains APIs, setup pages, and embed pages. Connectors are preinstalled with Business Central.
  • A Power BI template app that contains a Power BI semantic model and Power BI reports.

You must install and configure both apps for the Power BI reports to work.

Installing the connector (AL) app

The connector apps are preinstalled with Business Central.

Installing a Power BI template app

Template apps are available to install from Microsoft AppSource. To install or update one or more of the template apps, go to one of the install links in the following table and select Get it now.

To get the template app for... Use this install link
Finance https://aka.ms/bc-pbi-finance-app
Sales https://aka.ms/bc-pbi-sales-app
Purchasing https://aka.ms/bc-pbi-purchase-app|
Inventory https://aka.ms/bc-pbi-inventory-app
Inventory Valuation https://aka.ms/bc-pbi-inventory-valuation-app|
Manufacturing https://aka.ms/bc-pbi-manufacturing-valuation-app
Projects https://aka.ms/bc-pbi-projects-valuation-app

Sign in to Microsoft AppSource using your Power BI account credentials. Follow the instructions to install the app in Power BI.

After you install it, the Business Central Power BI app appears under Apps in Power BI, and there's a workspace with the same name that you can use to configure the app.

When you install the Power BI template app in your Power BI subscription, you must choose a workspace for the Power BI semantic model and reports. We recommend that you use one workspace for each app because it's easier to set up functional boundaries with access controls for users and user groups.

The Power BI apps currently work per company in Business Central. If you have multiple companies in your Business Central environment, you must install and set up a Power BI template app for each company.

Important

To install a Power BI template app, you need a Power BI PRO license.

Run the Connect to Power BI assisted setup guide.

After you install your Power BI apps, you can configure them to suit your business:

  • Get help with the set-up process by using the Connect to Power BI assisted setup guide.
  • Set up things yourself on the Power BI Connector Setup page.

The assisted setup guide helps you configure the following components:

  1. Calendar Type
  2. UTC Offset
  3. Date Table Range
  4. Work Days
  5. Report Mapping

Configure the calendar type

Choose the type of calendar the year boundaries apply to.

  • Fiscal: A 12-month calendar that begins in any month and ends 12 months after.
  • Standard: A 12-month calendar that begins on January 1 and ends on December 31.
  • Weekly: A calendar that supports 445, 454, or 544 week groupings. The first and last day of the year might not correspond to a first and last day of a month, respectively.

Important

By default, all Power BI reports are configured to use Fiscal Calendar date fields and Fiscal Time Intelligence measures.

Specify the UTC offset

The UTC offset defines the UTC time zone in the Power BI date table.

The UTC offset allows your Power BI semantic model to accurately calculate what the current day is in respect to your geographical location. This setting is necessary because your Power BI apps might be hosted in a data center located in a different region.

UTC offsets are based on Business Central time zones.

Set up a date table range

The Starting Date and Ending Date fields are set automatically based on your accounting periods in Business Central. Based on these dates, Power BI generates a series of continuous dates for your date table.

Note

If your budgets extend past the last date in your Account Period table, you must manually set the ending date to accommodate the extended range.

Specify work days

You can define the days of the week you consider as work days. The default setting is Monday to Friday.

Map embedded reports

To enable the embedded report pages in Business Central, you must set up links to the Power BI apps in the Power BI service.

  1. For each functional area in Business Central, select the ellipsis to open the Select Power BI Workspace page.
  2. Select the workspace where you store the corresponding Power BI app.
  3. Select the Power BI report (app) you want to map.

Connect the Power BI semantic models to Business Central

Do this part of the configuration in the semantic models in your Power BI service.

Each semantic model requires two parameters:

  • ENVIRONMENT
  • COMPANY

You can find these values in the connection details of the assisted setup guide or on the Power BI Connector Setup page.

Get the latest data

Each Power BI app is based on a semantic model (also known as a dataset) that gets data from Business Central APIs. Make sure that the data in your Power BI reports is up to date with the data in Business Central. This concept is referred to as refreshing the model. Depending on your Power BI setup, refreshing might not happen automatically. You can refresh data manually, or by scheduling a refresh. You can do a manual refresh at any time. A scheduled refresh lets you refresh data automatically at defined time intervals.

To learn more, go to Refresh Power BI semantic models.

See also

Power BI apps by functional area
Introduction to Business Central and Power BI
Work with Power BI reports