Power BI for the Excel Analyst

✍ Scribed by Wyn Hopkins

• Publisher: Holy Macro! Books
• Year: 2022
• Tongue: English
• Leaves: 202
• Category: Library

✦ Synopsis

Your Essential Guide to Power BI

There are amazing books on DAX, Power Query, Visualisations and more. This book is the one you should read before reading those. I wanted this book to cover the whole Power BI experience. Starting with Power Query, moving to data modelling, DAX, publishing and sharing, report design and other additional important features. Mastering Power BI is a multi-year journey but learning the best practice principles from this book will give you a jump start and a solid foundation on which to build.

I approached this book from the viewpoint of an Excel user starting to use Power BI. There are millions of people in this space, plus this was my journey so I teach from personal experience. I have a chapter dedicated to explaining how the core Power BI functionality can also be applied to your Excel reports. You don’t have to choose between Excel or Power BI, both are amazing, and both continue to evolve at a dizzying pace.

Each chapter has step-by-step instructions covering the key topics and features. There are data sources and example files for you to download if you want to practice hands on. Alternatively, just read along, I wanted this book to be printed in colour and be rich with screenshots so that you don’t have to do the exercises to understand what is happening if that’s your preference.

✦ Table of Contents

Foreword
Power Pivot and Power Query – the Parents of Power BI
Why I Wrote this Book
Acknowledgements
Chapter 1 - Getting Started with Power BI
Getting Set Up
Using this Book and Downloading Sample Files
Download the Exercises and view the List of URLs
The PBI.guide Website
Chapter 2 - First Look – an Introduction to Power BI Desktop
Interacting with a Power BI Report
Introducing Power Query
Importing and Cleaning Data using Power Query
Summary of Your Introduction to Power Query
Chapter 3 - Publishing Your Report
Signing in to PowerBI.com for the First Time
The PowerBI.com Experience (aka “the Service”)
Creating a Workspace
Power BI Licence Options: A Brief Overview
Chapter 4 - Files Stored in SharePoint/OneDrive for Business
Step 1: Finding the Connection Path
Step 2: Using the Power BI Desktop Web Connection
Step 3: Pulling the Data into Power BI
Step 4: Build a Simple Visual
Step 5: Publish to Your New Workspace
Step 6: Set up a Scheduled Refresh
Chapter 5 - Creating a Power BI Model
Using a Template File with a Pre-built Calendar Table
Creating Relationships Between Tables
Managing Sort Order
Adding Additional “Lookup/Dimension” Tables
Adjusting Power BI Visuals
Filtering via Slicers and the Filter Panel
Exploring More Visuals
Chapter 6 - Getting Your Data into the “Right Shape”
Power Query’s Two Best Features in One Chapter!
Comparing Data from Two Fact Tables
Chapter 7 - DAX (Data Analysis eXpressions)
Writing Your First DAX Measure
Storing Measures in their Own Dedicated Table
Year to Date Measure
Prior Year Comparison and the CALCULATE Function
Removing Filters
Formatting Your DAX
Ratios and Percentages Using DIVIDE
Virtual Calculated Columns using the X Functions
Dealing with Multiple Date Fields in Your Fact Table
Organising Measures into Folders
DAX – Next Steps in Your Learning
Chapter 8 - The Calendar Table
Turning Off Auto Date/Time for New Files
Power Query Advanced Editor
Copying Queries Between files
Changing the Display Order of Fields
Marking as Date Table
Chapter 9 - Creating a Template File
Setting Your Default Theme Fonts and Colours
Adding a Measures Table
Using Your Template
Editing/Updating Templates
Chapter 10 - Intermission for Excel Fans
A Little History of Power BI
A Demonstration of Excel’s “Power” Features
Create an Interactive Pivot Chart
Chapter 11 - Enrich Your Power BI Report
Conditional Formatting
Tooltips
Drill-through Page
Report Design Tips
Making Analysis Easier
Natural Language Queries and AI-Driven Insights
Chapter 12 - Sharing Your Reports via Apps
Publish Your Report to the Workspace
Create an App from Your Workspace
Sharing the App
Updating a Report and an App
Scheduling a Refresh where a Gateway is Required
Chapter 13 - Additional Important Features
Row-Level Security
Dataflows
Connecting to a Dataset via Power BI Desktop
Chapter 14 - Where Do We Go from Here?
Some Topics We Didn’t Cover…
Next Steps in Your Power BI Journey
Index