Business IntelligenceBeginner → IntermediateContent updated Oct 2026

Power BI for Data Analysis & Reporting

Go from scattered Excel files, databases and APIs to a published dashboard that refreshes itself — with the data modelling and DAX that make the numbers right.

Duration: 15 days
Daily session: Confirmed at enrollment
Level: Beginner → Intermediate
Mode: Physical or live online

About this course

A day-by-day course that takes you from installing Power BI Desktop to publishing an automatically refreshing dashboard: connecting to files, folders, web, APIs and databases, transforming data with Power Query, building a data model, writing DAX, designing reports, and running them on the Power BI Service with a data gateway.

Who this is for

Anyone who builds the same Excel report every week or month
MIS, finance, sales and operations staff who report to management
Analysts moving from spreadsheets to a BI tool
Students and graduates aiming for data or BI roles

What you’ll be able to do

Connect Power BI to Excel, CSV, folders, text, JSON, XML, web pages, APIs and databases
Clean, combine, merge, append, pivot and unpivot data with Power Query
Design a data model with correct one-to-one, one-to-many and many-to-many relationships
Write DAX calculated columns, tables and measures, including time intelligence
Control filter context with CALCULATE, FILTER, ALL, ALLEXCEPT and ALLSELECTED
Build branded reports with the right chart for each question
Publish to the Power BI Service, share dashboards and apps, and set up alerts and subscriptions
Keep reports current with a data gateway and scheduled refresh
Use Copilot in Power BI to draft DAX and visuals — and catch what it gets wrong

Tools you’ll use

Power BI Desktop
Power Query (M)
DAX
Power BI Service
On-premises data gateway
Excel & CSV
JSON, XML & web data
REST APIs
Access, MySQL, SQL Server, Oracle
Copilot in Power BI (where your licence includes it)

Curriculum

The complete content, exactly as taught. Download it as a PDF.

Day 01Power BI install and introduction3 topics

Get Power BI Desktop
Getting started with Power BI Desktop
Overview of Power BI

Day 02Connecting Excel and CSV data sources4 topics

Data sources in Power BI Desktop
Import Excel workbooks
Data types in Power BI Desktop
Explore the pivot feature

Day 03Importing data from a folder6 topics

Data import from a folder
Append multiple files
Transforming data: combine files
Joins: left, right, inner, outer
Transforming data: merging queries
Refresh the data

Day 04Text, JSON, XML and web data8 topics

Connect data from multiple sources
Delimited text files
JSON files
XML files
Connect to web data
Data transformation
Transforming data: appending queries
Transforming data: M query basics

Day 05API data sources2 topics

Connect to an API
Worked examples with publicly available APIs

Day 06Advanced transformations3 topics

Pivot in Power BI
Unpivot in Power BI
Advanced data transformation

Day 07The data model5 topics

Introduction to modelling data
Data mapping: relationships between tables
One-to-one
One-to-many
Many-to-many

Day 08Database data sources5 topics

Introduction to database connections from Power BI Desktop
Connect to an Access database
Connect to an Oracle database (if available on your machine)
Connect to a MySQL database (if available on your machine)
Connect to a SQL Server database (if available on your machine)

Day 09DAX basics7 topics

DAX basics
Creating calculated columns
Navigation functions
Conditional and logical functions
Calculated tables
Creating measures: measure basics
Creating measures: time intelligence functions

Day 10Advanced DAX and filter context9 topics

Advanced DAX
Working with variables
What is filter context?
Filter context: CALCULATE
Filter context: overriding filter context
Filter context: FILTER
Filter context: FILTER and ALL
Filter context: ALLEXCEPT
Filter context: totals

Day 11Advanced DAX functions and visualization basics7 topics

Advanced DAX functions: CONTAINS
Advanced DAX functions: FIND
Advanced DAX functions: SEARCH and SUBSTITUTE
Advanced DAX functions: ALLSELECTED
Introduction to visualization in Power BI Desktop
Branding: size, header, spacing, footer
Copilot in Power BI: drafting measures and report pages, then checking the output

Day 12Report building3 topics

Insert image, shape and text box
Creating basic reports with Power BI Desktop
Start data visualization

Day 13Exploring visualizations22 topics

Bar chart
Column chart
Line chart
Area chart
Ribbon chart
Pie chart
Combo chart
Bubble chart
Scatter chart
Donut chart
Gauge chart
Funnel chart
Waterfall chart
Single number (card)
Multi-row card
KPI visual
Table
Matrix
Treemap
Slicer
Map
Filled map

Day 14Power BI Service8 topics

Deploying to the Power BI Service
Creating and sharing dashboards
Setting up app workspaces
Report, dashboard and Power BI app: the concepts
Development and production environments
Subscriptions and alerts
Export and embed options
Where Microsoft Fabric fits: OneLake, workspaces and semantic models

Day 15Refreshing data with the Power BI gateway4 topics

Refreshing data: overview
Installing the data gateway
Scheduling a data refresh
The end-to-end process for a Power BI dashboard

Your project

You build one dashboard end to end: source data in, transformed and modelled, measures written in DAX, report designed, published to the Power BI Service and set to refresh on a schedule.

Where you’ll use this

Management and MIS dashboards that update themselves
Sales, branch and target tracking
Finance, budget-vs-actual and cash reporting
Operations, inventory and service KPIs
Combining data from several systems into one view

Before you start

Comfort using a computer and spreadsheets. No programming or database experience is needed. Power BI Desktop runs on Windows, so bring a Windows laptop (or a Mac with Windows installed).

Who teaches it

The course is designed and taught by data and AI practitioners — people who build data pipelines, dashboards and AI systems for businesses — so every exercise reflects how the tool is used on real work.

Certificate

You receive a GeXOn Training Center certificate when you complete the course and its project.

Every certificate carries an ID that employers can check at trainingcenter.gexonai.com/verify.

Frequently asked questions

Do I need to know Excel or SQL first?

Basic spreadsheet comfort is enough. SQL helps with the database day but isn’t required — if you want it, SQL for Data Analysis pairs well with this course.

Can I use a Mac?

Power BI Desktop only runs on Windows. On a Mac you’ll need Windows installed (for example through Parallels or Boot Camp). Tell us when you register and we’ll help you set up.

Do I need a paid Power BI licence?

No. Power BI Desktop is free. For the Power BI Service day we’ll go through what sharing and publishing require, and what you can do without a paid licence.

Does this prepare me for the PL-300 exam?

It covers much of the same ground — data preparation, modelling, DAX, visuals and the Service — but it’s built around doing the work rather than the exam. If certification is your goal, tell us and we’ll point out what to study further.

Do you cover Copilot and Microsoft Fabric?

Yes, as part of the course: you’ll use Copilot to draft measures and report pages and learn to check its output, and see where Fabric fits around Power BI. Copilot needs a licence that includes it — we’ll show what you can do without one. Building on Fabric in depth is the separate Power BI to Microsoft Fabric course.

What does it cost, and when is the next batch?

We share the fee and schedule when we confirm your batch. Register below and we’ll contact you within one working day — registering doesn’t commit you to anything.

Can my organisation send a group?

Yes. We run this course as a private batch for teams, and can build exercises around your own data. See corporate training.

Pairs well with

Data & Analytics

SQL for Data Analysis

Answer business questions from relational databases with PostgreSQL.

3 weeks · 15 classes
Beginner

View course