Configuring Business Central for Excel and Power BI Reporting

Managing business data is only useful if you can easily analyze and report on it. Connecting your Business Central environment to Excel and Power BI unlocks powerful, automated reporting and intelligent data visualization. In this text-only course, you will learn how to bridge the gap between your enterprise resource planning (ERP) system and your favorite analytical tools. You will start by understanding the foundational architecture of data sharing, setting up secure web service connections, and configuring OData feeds. By the end of this course, you will be able to seamlessly pull real-time data into Excel for quick analysis and build interactive, automated dashboards in Power BI to drive business decisions. What you'll learn: - Understand Business Central data structures, web services, and API configurations; - Configure secure OData feeds to share data with external reporting tools safely; - Export and analyze Business Central records dynamically within Excel spreadsheets; - Connect Power BI Desktop to Business Central to extract and model live business data; - Build clean, interactive dashboards and reports using modern data visualization practices; - Apply best practices for data security, user permissions, and scheduled data refreshes. The course begins with essential terminology and the basics of ERP data connections. You will then progress through step-by-step written explanations to configure, secure, and optimize your data flows between systems. This course is designed for beginners, business analysts, and financial professionals who want to improve their reporting workflows. No prior programming or advanced database experience is required. Start reading today to transform your business data into actionable visual insights.