Data-driven work is becoming increasingly important for accounting firms. By managing by facts and figures instead of feelings, you make better decisions and discover new opportunities. Trends in data also provide insights that can lead to innovation. But to make data-driven work truly effective, you need the right tools. One of the most powerful solutions is Microsoft Power BI.
In this blog, Larissa Borghuis, Product Manager of Business Intelligence at Fortes Milestones, explains what Power BI is, how you can deploy it within your office, and why it makes the move to data-driven work easy.
What is Power BI?
Many people know Power BI primarily as a visualization tool, but its capabilities go far beyond charts and dashboards. Under the hood, Power BI is a complete platform that lets you:
- Collect and structure large amounts of data
- Transform and control data
- Create analyses that are immediately useful
- Be able to visualize insights in interactive dashboards
As Eddy Plasier, managing director at Fortes Milestones, said earlier, “Microsoft Power BI helps organizations get a grip on data and turn it into insights that add immediate value.”
Power BI as a self-service solution
The average accountant is not a BI specialist. This is why Fortes Milestones offers standard reports in Power BI that are immediately available. This self-service setup makes data-driven work accessible to everyone – even without technical knowledge.
With a few clicks, you can create your own tables or charts. Think of an overview of the top 10 customers for whom work in progress is still outstanding. So you no longer have to rely on gut feelings or time-consuming Excel sheets, but always have up-to-date and reliable insights.
Many offices start with the standard reports and then expand step by step. You can easily add corporate identity, build in business logic or link additional data sources. In this way, Power BI grows with the maturity of your organization.
Developments: AI and Power BI
The world of data analytics is changing at lightning speed. Microsoft recently introduced Copilot, an AI assistant that will be integrated into all Microsoft 365 apps, including Power BI.
What does this mean for accountants?
- Writing DAX (Data Analysis Expressions) formulas becomes easier
- Analyses can be made faster and without in-depth technical knowledge
- Finance professionals get more autonomy in building reports
In short: Power BI is becoming even more accessible and smarter, and the barrier to data-driven work is falling further.
Getting started right away with Fortes Milestones
The beauty of Power BI in combination with Fortes Milestones is that you don’t have to set up a full BI environment. Thanks to the standard models and reports, you can start right away. We take care of the connection, after which you have immediate insight into your office’s capacity, productivity and financial performance.
The prerequisite is that the data is of good quality. Because even in BI the rule is: garbage in, garbage out. But once you have that in order, you have insights at the push of a button that help you make informed decisions.
Conclusion: Power BI makes data-driven work accessible
With Power BI you make the step to data-driven work without a high entry threshold. Thanks to the integration with Fortes Milestones, you get a direct grip on your figures, make better use of your capacity and create more value for your customers.
Inspired?
Want to discover how your accounting firm can benefit from Power BI and the standard reports in Fortes Milestones? Contact us and take the first step toward a data-driven future today.
Curious about making reports?