INTHEBLACK December 2023/January 2024 Special Edition - Flipbook - Page 45
ACCESSIBLE INSIGHTS
Power BI can make insights accessible to other
stakeholders, not just the person who did the analysis.
Reports, dashboards and tiles can be embedded
into online portals, intranets and other applications,
including Teams chats.
Power BI also supports self-service for providing
real-time, easy-to-understand analytics. This lowers
the barrier to entry when it comes to engaging
with business and financial data, allowing
accountants to evolve from the role of gatekeeper
to facilitator.
Much of this can be automated, so accountants
spend less time collating data for their colleagues
and more time on higher value tasks.
NATURAL LANGUAGE QUERIES
Similar to generative artificial intelligence tools,
Power BI provides support for natural language
queries. Accountants can interrogate the data
by simply typing what they wish to know, rather
than relying on the complex syntax of a structured
programming language. This makes it easier
to examine and understand the relationships
between datasets in search of deeper meaning,
says Fahim Khondaker, partner and leader of
data analytics and insights at Australian
accountancy firm BDO.
Rather than simply reporting that sales
were down last month, accountants can use
Power BI to ask “so what?” questions, such
as why something has happened, what it means
and what can be done about it, says Khondaker.
“This is where Power BI really shines, letting you
deliver more value by teasing out those kinds of
insights and conveying them to others in a more
engaging and meaningful way.
“Beyond a presentation tool, it’s also
a powerful collaboration tool for helping
make decisions in conjunction with
business leaders – that’s perhaps where
its real value lies.
“Of course, it doesn’t do your job
UPSKILL NOW
– it doesn’t answer those questions.
Power BI
fundamentals
It’s just a powerful tool that helps you
exercise your professional judgement
and understanding of the business to
uncover and deliver actionable insight,”
Khondaker explains.
STRENGTH IN SIMPLICITY
While Power BI can help accountants
take their insight and stakeholder
engagement to the next level, it has
fewer storytelling and artistic capabilities
compared to rivals such as Tableau.
“For me, Power BI’s simplicity is its
strength, but you could argue that it is
not quite as pretty as some options,”
Khondaker says.
“Thankfully, it can tap into external
libraries if you want to polish the look.” ●
UPSKILL NOW
Power BI workshops
and virtual
classrooms
READ
an INTHEBLACK
article on how to
use data
visualisations to
tell a story
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