How to use Power BI Dashboards for Finance and Accounting

Power BI is a business intelligence (BI) & analytics service used by a lot of renowned companies around the world. It offers a whole set of data-rich and interactive dashboards that enable business owners to make informed decisions using business intelligence strategies. Additionally, the analytical tools in Power BI provide actionable business insights across several organizational functions, including accounting and finance.

Power BI offers built-in functionality to integrate data with the Microsoft Dynamics 360 suite of applications to help you effectively perform finance and accounting operations. Moreover, this also allows you to directly access Power BI reports and personalize your workspace. As a small business owner, you can set up a dashboard to efficiently complete financial processes and visualize data related to cost management and financial accounting. Let’s explore various components of the financial operations dashboard in Power BI and its benefits.

Power BI dashboard for finance and operations

The Power BI dashboard used for finance and operations helps you to keep a track of various finance-related metrics and key performance indicators (KPIs). Such a dashboard also enables you to better implement cost & cash management strategies, giving you a quick overview of the cash flow and liquidity status for your business. It also allows you to track critical business information, including expenses, sales revenue, accounts payable, and accounts receivable. This, in turn, enables you to clear all outstanding payments and owed payments on time, helping you to take control of your business finances.

Power BI dashboard for cost accounting

When used for cost management, Power BI dashboard helps businesses to manage inventories by setting the cost variances of inventory stocks and monitor cash flows daily. This also helps you to make informed financial decisions by gaining valuable insights, such as stock levels, turnover ratio, manufactured items, and the cost of inventory. You can even gain deeper insights into the financial standings of your business and come up with better financial strategies for the future.

Benefits of using Power BI dashboard for Finance & Operations

Power BI helps you present financial data in a graphical format, making it easier for you and other staff to perform analysis and interpret trends. The following are some of the benefits of setting up a financial dashboard in Power BI.

Data Visualization

You can visualize data to analyze and gain beneficial insights from finance-related KPIs and metrics. The personnel handling financial processes can process and view the visual representation of complex data to make better decisions. This helps you come up with more reliable strategies than going over multiple spreadsheets.

Enhance clarity and productivity

Most finance departments spend a lot of time and money analyzing data collected from multiple sources. The financial dashboard in Power BI integrates data from various sources to help finance experts gain better clarity and insights, increasing their productivity and saving valuable time.

Identify shortcomings and develop effective solutions

The financial dashboards help you decode trends in vital business areas, such as profit & loss statements and sales across various verticals. Thereafter, you can use the data representation to identify problems and devise solutions that effectively target the root cause. You also get access to your business information in real-time.

You can set finance and operations dashboards in Power BI by using important financial metrics and KPIs. Power BI dashboards enable you to enjoy the benefits of the latest data visualization techniques, helping you stay ahead of your competition.