Duration 3 days – 21 hrs

 

Overview

 

This training course is designed to equip participants with the knowledge and practical skills to create, format, publish, and manage paginated reports using Power BI Report Builder, with a reporting approach aligned to Microsoft Dynamics 365 Business Central and the broader Microsoft 365 / Power BI ecosystem. Participants will learn how Report Builder fits into the Business Central reporting landscape, how to work with Business Central-connected Power BI datasets or semantic models, and how to produce operational reports such as invoices, statements, summaries, listings, and printable management reports. The course also explains how Power BI content is surfaced in Business Central and how report deployment, permissions, and workspace access affect end users.

 

Objectives

 

• Understand the role of Power BI Report Builder in the Microsoft reporting stack and how it differs from interactive Power BI reports.
• Explain how Business Central integrates with Power BI and where paginated reporting fits in the reporting architecture.
• Connect Report Builder to appropriate Power BI semantic models, datasets, or supported data sources for Business Central reporting scenarios.
• Design professional paginated reports with tables, matrices, grouped sections, headers, footers, and printable layouts.
• Use parameters, filters, sorting, expressions, totals, and conditional formatting in Report Builder.
• Build common Business Central-style reports such as sales summaries, customer statements, inventory listings, posted document extracts, and finance-ready print reports.
• Publish and manage reports in the Power BI service with correct workspace, permission, and access considerations.
• Understand how Power BI content is presented within Business Central pages and how reporting solutions are shared with users.
• Apply report design good practices for operational reporting, audit support, and business-friendly output.

 

Target Audience

 

• Business Central functional users
• Finance and accounting report users
• Business analysts
• Reporting analysts
• Power BI developers who need printable or pixel-perfect reports
• ERP support staff
• IT application specialists
• Business Central administrators and super users
• Solution consultants supporting Microsoft Dynamics 365 Business Central

 

Prerequisites 

• Basic knowledge of Microsoft Dynamics 365 Business Central

• Basic understanding of business reports and reporting requirements

• Familiarity with tables, filters, and business data concepts

• Basic exposure to Power BI Service or Power BI reporting concepts

• Working knowledge of Excel is helpful

• No advanced coding is required, though basic logic and formula familiarity is an advantage

Course Outline 

 

Foundations, Architecture, and Report Design

 

Module 1: Introduction to Business Central Reporting and Power BI

• Overview of reporting options in Business Central 
• Interactive reports vs paginated reports 
• What Power BI Report Builder is 
• Business use cases for paginated reports 
• Typical Business Central reporting scenarios 
• Understanding report consumers and operational reporting needs 

 

Module 2: Business Central and Power BI Integration

• Overview of Business Central integration with Power BI 
• How Business Central data is exposed for reporting 
• Power BI workspaces, datasets, and semantic models 
• Overview of embedded Power BI content in Business Central 
• Report access, sharing, and permission considerations 
• Understanding where Report Builder fits in the architecture 

 

Module 3: Getting Started with Power BI Report Builder

• Installing and launching Power BI Report Builder 
• Navigating the interface 
• Creating a new paginated report 
• Report parts, datasets, parameters, and layout sections 
• Report properties and page settings 
• Saving and organizing report files 

 

Module 4: Connecting to Data for Business Central Reporting

• Supported data source concepts for paginated reporting 
• Connecting to Power BI semantic models 
• Using existing Power BI datasets for paginated reports 
• Data structure review for Business Central-style reports 
• Handling fields, filters, and dataset scope 
• Best practices for dataset planning 

 

Module 5: Building Core Report Layouts

• Creating tablix reports 
• Adding columns, rows, and grouped sections 
• Designing clean printable layouts 
• Headers, footers, logos, titles, and page numbers 
• Sorting and grouping records 
• Subtotals and grand totals 

 

Module 6: Parameters, Filters, and User Inputs

• Creating report parameters 
• Date, document, customer, vendor, and item filters 
• Cascading filter concepts 
• Parameter-driven datasets 
• Improving usability for end users 
• Testing report logic with different filter combinations 

 

Advanced Formatting, Publishing, and Business Central Alignment

 

Module 7: Expressions and Business Logic in Reports

• Introduction to expressions in Report Builder 
• Conditional visibility and formatting 
• Calculated fields and totals 
• Handling nulls and empty values 
• Dynamic labels and captions 
• Formatting amounts, dates, and document references 

 

Module 8: Business Central Reporting Scenarios

• Sales transaction and posted document extracts 
• Customer statement and aging-style layouts 
• Inventory listing and stock movement reports 
• Vendor and purchasing summaries 
• Financial summary and management-style output 
• Report variants for operations, finance, and audit support 

 

Module 9: Print-Ready and Export-Ready Report Design

• Page size and orientation setup 
• Export considerations for PDF, Excel, and Word 
• Page breaks and grouping for print output 
• Pixel-perfect layout practices 
• Readability and business presentation standards 
• Validation and review checklist 

 

Module 10: Publishing to the Power BI Service

• Publishing paginated reports 
• Workspace and role requirements 
• My Workspace vs shared workspaces 
• Organizing reports for business users 
• Refresh, maintenance, and update considerations 
• Version control and deployment good practices 

 

Module 11: Aligning Reports with Business Central User Experience

• Understanding how users consume Power BI content in Business Central 
• Aligning report naming and structure with Business Central processes 
• Report governance, access, and user enablement 
• When to use embedded Power BI content vs standalone paginated reports 
• Administration and support considerations 
• Common limitations and troubleshooting checkpoints 

 

Module 12: Hands-On Workshop / Capstone

• Build a sample Business Central-aligned paginated report 
• Add parameters and business filters 
• Apply expressions and formatting 
• Publish the report to Power BI service 
• Test user access and output behavior 
• Peer review and trainer feedback