Start Creating Dashboards that Drive Decisions

Section I: Introduction to Power BI

• Understanding the full Power BI ecosystem and its role in business intelligence
• Navigating the Power BI Desktop interface confidently
• Connecting to a data source and publishing your first report in under 30 minutes

Section II: Get Data & Transform with Power Query

• Get data from Excel, CSV, Folder, SQL Server, Access, and Website — handling all connection types
• Power Query Editor interface — ribbon, query pane, and applied steps
• Load vs. DirectQuery — when to import data vs. query live from the source
• Append Queries — stacking tables from multiple sources into one
• Merge Queries — combining tables using key columns (equivalent of SQL JOIN)
• Filtering Rows, Split Columns, Merge Columns, and Eliminating Columns
• Fixing metadata issues — correcting data types, column names, and formats
• Creating Custom Columns based on conditions — conditional logic without formulas
• Refresh Queries — keeping data automatically up to date

• Importing and cleaning data from any source using Power Query without coding
• Automating data preparation workflows — merge, append, split, and transform operations
• Connecting to multiple sources and combining them into one clean dataset

Section III: M Query Language & Data Modeling

• Introduction to data modeling — why the model is the backbone of every Power BI report
• Creating relationships between tables — primary keys, foreign keys, and cardinality
• Building a data model — star schema design and best practices
• Hiding columns from Report View — keeping the model clean for end users
• Sorting and formatting columns — display names, data formats, and sort by column
• Creating Hierarchies — Year > Quarter > Month for seamless drill-down
• Create Calculated Columns using M Language — custom transformations in Power Query
• Creating a Date Dimension — building a complete calendar table for time intelligence

• Designing star-schema data models with proper relationships and hierarchies
• Building a date dimension table for time-based analysis
• Applying M language basics to create custom column transformations in Power Query

Section IV: Power BI Visualizations

• Introduction to visuals in Power BI — the visualizations pane and field wells
• Create and customize simple visualizations — titles, colors, fonts, and borders
• Bar Charts, Column Charts, Line Charts, and Funnel Charts
• Pie Charts, Donut Charts, Tree Charts, and Maps — part-to-whole and geographic data
• Combination Charts — dual-axis charts combining bars and lines
• KPI and Card Charts — single-metric highlights for executive dashboards
• Table and Matrix Views — tabular data with conditional formatting and subtotals
• Buttons and Bookmarks — building page navigation and interactive storytelling
• Adding Text Boxes, Shapes, and Images — professional report branding and layout

• Building 10+ chart types, KPI cards, maps, and executive-ready dashboards
• Designing professional, branded report layouts with interactive navigation
• Applying conditional formatting to highlight key data insights visually

Section V: Slicing and Dicing

• Filters — report-level, page-level, and visual-level filters
• Slicers — date range pickers, dropdown slicers, and tile slicers for interactive filtering
• Parameters — dynamic what-if analysis and scenario modeling
• Manage Interaction between objects — controlling how visuals filter each other
• Drill Down and Roll Up — exploring data hierarchies from summary to detail

• Making reports fully interactive with dynamic slicers, filters, and parameters
• Controlling cross-filter interactions between visuals for a precise user experience
• Building drill-through pages for multi-level data exploration

Section VI: Introduction to DAX Language

• Introduction to DAX Functions — what DAX is and why it is essential for Power BI
• DAX Syntax — measures vs. calculated columns, understanding the formula bar
• DAX Data Types — text, number, date, boolean, and table types
• Logical Functions — IF, AND, OR, NOT, SWITCH — conditional logic in measures
• Aggregate Functions — SUM, AVERAGE, COUNT, COUNTROWS, MIN, MAX, DISTINCTCOUNT
• Date and Time Functions — YEAR, MONTH, TODAY, DATEDIFF, DATEADD for time analysis
• Text and Mathematical Functions — CONCATENATE, FORMAT, ROUND, DIVIDE, MOD
• The CALCULATE Function — the most powerful DAX function, explained clearly
• Working with Complex DAX Formulas — combining functions for advanced KPIs

• Writing DAX measures confidently for aggregation, time intelligence, and complex KPIs
• Using CALCULATE, FILTER, and ALL to control filter context in measures
• Building 10 essential business measures — YTD sales, MoM growth, running totals, and top-N rankings

Section VII: Publishing & Sharing Power BI Reports

• Publish from Power BI Desktop — one-click deployment to Power BI Service
• Accessing and editing reports on Web, Mobile, and Tablet
• Export Data from a Visualization — exporting to Excel and CSV
• Create Dashboards based on Multiple Reports — pinning visuals from different reports
• Sharing Dashboards and Reports — sharing by link, email, and workspace
• Refreshing Datasets — manual and scheduled automatic data refresh
• Setup Power BI Gateway — connecting to on-premises local data sources
• Manage Roles — Row-Level Security (RLS) for data access control

• Publishing to Power BI Service and controlling access with Row-Level Security
• Configuring gateways and scheduled refresh for always-current dashboards
• Sharing and collaborating on reports securely with stakeholders across the organization