Power BI Integration with Business Central
Unlock real-time financial and operational insight by connecting Microsoft Power BI to Dynamics 365 Business Central.
Why Integrating Power BI with Business Central Matters
Business Central holds critical financial, sales and operational data — but raw transactional data alone does not drive strategic decisions.
Many organisations rely on:
Exported spreadsheets
Manually compiled reports
Disconnected BI tools
Static financial summaries
Over time, this creates multiple versions of the truth and limited executive visibility.
A structured Power BI integration transforms Business Central data into governed, real-time insight.
What a Power BI–Business Central Integration Enables
A well-designed integration can support:
Real-time financial dashboards
Sales and margin reporting
Inventory performance analysis
Cash flow visibility
Budget vs actual reporting
Multi-company consolidation
Departmental KPI tracking
The goal is controlled insight built on a single source of truth.
How Power BI Connects to Business Central
Power BI can integrate with Business Central through:
Direct API connectivity
OData feeds
Azure-based data replication
Scheduled dataset refresh
Event-driven data models
Integration architecture determines:
Refresh frequency
Dataset performance
Security controls
Reporting scalability
Important Considerations for Power BI Integrations
Data Modelling & Transformation
Ensuring Business Central data is structured correctly for analytical reporting.
Refresh Strategy
Determining whether near-real-time or scheduled refresh aligns with operational needs.
Security & Row-Level Access
Restricting financial data visibility by role or department.
Multi-Company Reporting
Consolidating data across multiple legal entities.
Performance & Scalability
Avoiding heavy reporting loads directly on production environments.
Power BI should enhance Business Central insight — not compromise performance.
People Also Ask
Can Power BI report in real time from Business Central?
Yes — depending on architecture and refresh configuration.
Will reporting impact Business Central performance?
Not when designed with appropriate data access methods and modelling.
Can multiple companies be consolidated in one report?
Yes — multi-entity consolidation is a common design consideration.
Is Power BI better than standard Business Central reports?
Power BI provides more flexible, interactive and cross-functional analysis.
Can access to dashboards be restricted?
Yes — row-level security and role-based permissions can be configured.
Ready to Improve Reporting from Business Central?
Whether you require executive dashboards or detailed operational analytics, we can design a Power BI integration aligned with your Business Central environment.
