Power BI Implementation Checklist for Finance Department

1. Data Collection & Integration

·       ☐ Identify all data sources (ERP, Excel, SQL Server, SAP, Oracle, cloud systems)

·       ☐ Ensure access permissions and credentials are secured

·       ☐ Define frequency of data refresh (daily, weekly, real-time)

·       ☐ Map financial data tables (General Ledger, AR/AP, Cash Flow, Budget, Forecast)

2. Data Transformation (Power Query)

·       ☐ Clean raw data: remove nulls, duplicates, blanks

·       ☐ Standardize date formats, currencies, and number formats

·       ☐ Apply necessary joins (e.g., fact and dimension tables)

·       ☐ Create calculated columns (e.g., Profit = Revenue - Cost)

·       ☐ Set up data type conversions (e.g., text to number)

·       ☐ Apply filters for relevant fiscal years or departments

·       ☐ Create financial period calendar (Fiscal vs Calendar Year)

3. Data Modeling

·       ☐ Define star schema (Fact tables + Dimension tables)

·       ☐ Create relationships between tables (one-to-many, many-to-one)

·       ☐ Build time intelligence DAX (YTD, MTD, QoQ, YoY)

·       ☐ Define key financial metrics (EBITDA, NPV, ROI, Cash Ratio)

·       ☐ Use DAX measures instead of calculated columns where possible

4. Visualization & Reporting

·       ☐ Build dynamic dashboards for key financial areas:

·       ☐     - Profit & Loss

·       ☐     - Balance Sheet

·       ☐     - Cash Flow

·       ☐     - Budget vs Actual

·       ☐     - Cost Center Analysis

·       ☐ Apply drill-downs and tooltips for detail analysis

·       ☐ Use bookmarks for scenario-based reporting

·       ☐ Apply conditional formatting for KPIs

·       ☐ Add slicers for department, time period, location, etc.

5. KPI & SLA Tracking

·       ☐ Define KPIs: e.g., Working Capital Ratio, AR Aging, Expense Ratios

·       ☐ Set thresholds (e.g., Red for < 10% margin, Green for > 20%)

·       ☐ Create SLA tracking visuals for financial operations

6. Automation & Refresh

·       ☐ Set up scheduled refresh (via Power BI Service)

·       ☐ Ensure gateway configuration for on-premise sources

·       ☐ Test data refresh reliability

7. Security & Access Control

·       ☐ Apply row-level security (RLS) by department or user role

·       ☐ Define user access levels (read-only, editor, admin)

·       ☐ Ensure compliance with financial data governance policies

8. Publishing & Sharing

·       ☐ Publish reports to correct workspace (Finance Workspace)

·       ☐ Share dashboards with stakeholders (CFO, analysts, controllers)

·       ☐ Set up email alerts for threshold-based changes (e.g., cash drops)

9. Self-Service BI Enablement

·       ☐ Create a Finance Data Dictionary

·       ☐ Provide training for analysts to build ad hoc reports

·       ☐ Maintain a central repository of reusable measures and templates

10. Monitoring & Optimization

·       ☐ Monitor report performance (loading time, query folding)

·       ☐ Optimize DAX queries and reduce heavy visuals

·       ☐ Conduct regular audits for data accuracy

·       ☐ Gather user feedback for report improvements