Business Data Analytics & Advanced Excel · Beginner level

Beginner level · Module 4 of 5 · 11 guided hours

Getting Started with Power BI

Build, publish and share a first Power BI report, and understand how Power BI differs from Excel.

Learning objectives

  • Describe Power BI Desktop and the Power BI service
  • Load data and build a first report
  • Publish and share reports, understanding licensing and refresh

Topics

  • Power BI Desktop vs service
  • loading Excel data
  • Power Query in Power BI
  • visuals and filters
  • publishing and sharing
  • licensing awareness

Lessons

  1. Lesson 1 Power BI and Excel

    Understand what Power BI is, how its parts fit together and when it is better than Excel.

    Power BI DesktopPower BI servicereports and dashboardswhen to choose Power BI

  2. Lesson 2 Building a First Report

    Load the cleaned data, check it in Power Query and build visuals with filters.

    Get DataPower Query Editorvisualsslicers and filters

  3. Lesson 3 Publishing, Sharing and Refresh

    Publish reports to the Power BI service, share them appropriately and plan how data stays up to date.

    publishworkspacesharing and permissionsrefresh

Practical activity

Rebuild the quarterly dashboard as a one-page Power BI report and compare the experience with Excel.

Expected outcomes

  • A working first Power BI report
  • Understanding of when to use Power BI

Assessment

Practical: a Power BI report that answers three provided questions correctly.

Free taster lesson Introduction to Power BI Read a free self-study lesson on this topic in the Free Course Library.

Taught live by an instructor — online or in person. Free course lessons are for self-study and do not lead to a certificate — see registration options.