Power BI Fundamentals Training Course

Duration 5 days 10 modules · 33 contact hours
Level Foundation to Intermediate Certificate on completion
Who attends Business Analyst, Data Analyst and others
Fee from USD 1,100 KSh 95,000 for Kenyan organisations
Where 52 cities + online See dates by city
Next start 16 Nov 2026 Course code SD-BI-135

Before you join: Participants should be comfortable using Microsoft Excel, reading tables of business data and applying basic formulas such as SUM, COUNT and percentage calculations.

Dates & prices

Two start dates a month in every city, and live online on weekdays or weekends. Fees are per participant; classroom fees include tuition, materials, lunch and refreshments, and the certificate.

Suggest a date or city

Showing the next six months. Later dates, other cities and private deliveries for your team are available on request.

Course overview

Many teams hold operational, financial and customer data in spreadsheets, databases and business systems but cannot turn it into timely, trusted management information. Power BI addresses this gap by connecting data sources, preparing records, creating data models and presenting measures through interactive reports. The practical challenge is not simply producing attractive charts: it is building reports with correct calculations, clear definitions, controlled access and refresh arrangements that decision-makers can rely on.

This course teaches participants to build Power BI reports from source data through publication. Participants use Power BI Desktop to import and transform data with Power Query, design star-schema models, create DAX measures and develop effective visual reports. They learn to use filters, slicers, drill-through, tooltips, bookmarks and KPI indicators to answer defined business questions. The course also covers Power BI Service workspaces, dashboards, sharing, row-level security, scheduled refresh, gateways, performance diagnosis and report governance.

Teaching combines concise instructor briefings with guided case work, group analysis, report-building activities and troubleshooting scenarios. Cases reflect common management reporting needs such as sales performance, budget variance, service delivery and workforce metrics. Participants leave with a reusable report specification, data-model design, DAX measure library, publication checklist and an application plan for a workplace report.

The course suits professionals who create, consume or manage business reporting and need a sound working command of Power BI. It is appropriate for analysts, finance staff, operational managers, project teams and IT professionals supporting self-service reporting.

What you will be able to do

  • Connect and transform data from Excel, CSV files, folders and supported database sources
  • Build star-schema Power BI data models with correctly configured relationships
  • Create DAX measures for aggregations, ratios, variances and time-based analysis
  • Design interactive reports using appropriate visuals, filters, slicers and drill-through
  • Publish reports to Power BI Service workspaces and manage sharing permissions
  • Configure refresh arrangements, gateway dependencies and row-level security roles
  • Diagnose model and report performance using Performance Analyzer and modelling techniques
  • Produce a scoped Power BI report specification and workplace application plan

Benefits of attending

For you

  • Build publishable Power BI reports from raw business data
  • Write reusable DAX measures for common management reporting needs
  • Replace manual spreadsheet reporting with refreshable interactive reports
  • Diagnose inaccurate totals, broken relationships and slow report pages
  • Create a documented plan for a workplace Power BI report

For your organisation

  • Reduce manual effort in recurring management-report production
  • Improve consistency of KPI definitions, calculations and report layouts
  • Provide managers with drillable performance information between reporting cycles
  • Apply controlled access through workspaces and row-level security roles
  • Improve report reliability through documented refresh and ownership arrangements

Course modules

10 modules over 5 days

Participants can identify core Power BI components and connect suitable business data sources.

  • Power BI Desktop interface, report canvas, panes and file structure
  • Import Excel workbooks and inspect column types before modelling
  • Connect to CSV files, folders and supported database sources
  • Distinguish Power BI Desktop, Service, mobile applications and gateways
  • Configure regional settings, privacy levels and data-load options
  • Trace report requirements to measures, dimensions, filters and audiences

Participants can clean, reshape and combine source data using Power Query transformations.

  • Profile source columns using quality, distribution and column-profile views
  • Set data types explicitly before applying calculations or relationships
  • Remove errors, duplicates and null records using defined business rules
  • Split, merge and extract text fields with Power Query transformations
  • Append monthly files and merge lookup tables through query joins
  • Document query steps, source assumptions and refresh dependencies clearly

Participants can create a maintainable Power BI model based on dimensional modelling principles.

  • Build star schemas with fact tables, dimensions and surrogate keys
  • Define one-to-many relationships using unique dimension keys and matching data types
  • Set cross-filter direction deliberately and identify ambiguous relationship paths
  • Create a dedicated date table and mark it correctly
  • Hide technical fields and organise report fields into display folders
  • Validate model grain against transaction, budget and target data

Participants can create and validate DAX measures for common business reporting calculations.

  • Create explicit measures using SUM, COUNTROWS, DIVIDE and VAR
  • Explain row context, filter context and context transition accurately
  • Apply CALCULATE with filter modifiers for controlled measure logic
  • Write time-intelligence measures for year-to-date and prior-period comparisons
  • Use iterators such as SUMX when aggregation requires row calculations
  • Test DAX measures against manual reconciliations and expected totals

Participants can build interactive report pages that answer defined business questions.

  • Select visual types according to comparison, composition, trend and relationship questions
  • Build bar, line, matrix, card and table visuals purposefully
  • Apply visual-level, page-level and report-level filters correctly
  • Configure slicers, drill-through pages, tooltips and drill-down hierarchies
  • Design accessible reports using contrast, labels, alt text and tab order
  • Apply alignment, spacing and conditional formatting to support interpretation

Participants can organise report content into clear, usable management reporting experiences.

  • Structure report pages around decisions, audiences and recurring management questions
  • Use visual hierarchy, whitespace and consistent formatting for readable dashboards
  • Define KPI cards with targets, variance indicators and supporting context
  • Control interactions between visuals to prevent misleading cross-filtering
  • Create bookmarks and buttons for guided report narratives
  • Assess report usability against task completion, clarity and visual noise

Participants can publish, share and secure Power BI content through appropriate Service features.

  • Publish Desktop reports to appropriate Power BI Service workspaces
  • Distinguish reports, dashboards, semantic models, apps and dataflows
  • Create dashboard tiles and configure alerts for threshold breaches
  • Share content through workspace roles, app audiences and direct access
  • Apply row-level security roles using DAX filter expressions
  • Explain Pro, Premium Per User and capacity licensing considerations

Participants can plan reliable data refresh, ownership and access-control arrangements.

  • Configure scheduled refresh requirements for cloud and on-premises sources
  • Explain gateway installation, credentials and data-source mapping responsibilities
  • Set incremental refresh policies for large fact tables
  • Monitor refresh history and diagnose common credential or schema failures
  • Apply sensitivity labels, endorsement and lineage information appropriately
  • Plan workspace ownership, access reviews and report lifecycle controls

Participants can identify common performance and data-quality issues before report release.

  • Use Performance Analyzer to identify slow visuals and DAX queries
  • Reduce model size through column removal, cardinality control and aggregation
  • Choose import, DirectQuery or composite models against data requirements
  • Apply query folding principles when transforming supported database sources
  • Identify inefficient measures caused by excessive iterators or filters
  • Validate totals, relationships and refresh results before report release

Participants can scope and plan a controlled Power BI report for workplace implementation.

  • Translate stakeholder questions into a scoped Power BI report specification
  • Map source fields to dimensions, measures, calculations and report pages
  • Sequence build tasks from data preparation through publication and handover
  • Define acceptance criteria for accuracy, usability, security and refresh reliability
  • Record assumptions, known limitations and ownership in report documentation
  • Produce a personal application plan for the next workplace report

Exercises and examples are adapted to each cohort's sectors and roles.

What you take back to work

  1. Power BI report specification template
  2. Star-schema data-model blueprint
  3. DAX measure library
  4. Report design and accessibility checklist
  5. Power BI Service publication checklist
  6. Workplace report application plan

Who should attend

  • Business Analyst — needs repeatable methods for converting operational data into decision-ready reports
  • Data Analyst — needs Power BI modelling, DAX and visual reporting skills
  • Finance Analyst — needs controlled variance, budget and performance reporting
  • Operations Manager — needs self-service visibility of service, workload and KPI performance
  • Project Manager — needs interactive reporting for milestones, risks, resources and delivery status
  • IT or Data Professional — needs to support governed Power BI workspaces and refresh processes

Skills and tools covered

Power Query transformationDimensional data modellingDAX measure developmentInteractive report designPower BI publishingRefresh governance

Tools and standards

Power BI Desktop, Power BI Service, Power Query, DAX

How the course runs

Training methodology

The course uses short instructor briefings followed by guided Power BI build work, case analysis, group discussion and troubleshooting simulations. Participants work through representative reporting requirements, including sales, budget variance, operational service and workforce reporting. The instructor demonstrates each method in Power BI Desktop and Power BI Service, then supports participants as they apply it to structured datasets. Review points focus on data accuracy, model design, DAX logic, visual clarity, security and publication decisions. The course closes with application planning for a workplace reporting requirement.

Requirements and prerequisites

Participants should be comfortable using Microsoft Excel, reading tables of business data and applying basic formulas such as SUM, COUNT and percentage calculations. Familiarity with common business measures, such as revenue, cost, volume or service levels, is useful. Participants should be able to work with files and folders and understand the purpose of databases or business systems. Prior Power BI, DAX, SQL, programming or data-modelling experience is not required. No advanced mathematics is needed; calculations are introduced through reporting scenarios.

A typical training day

08:30 – 10:30First session
10:30 – 10:45Refreshment break
10:45 – 12:30Second session
12:30 – 13:30Lunch and networking
13:30 – 15:00Third session
15:00 – 15:15Refreshment break
15:15 – 16:30Workshop and daily review

Live online deliveries follow the same structure in East Africa Time, with shorter screen blocks and longer breaks.

What the fee includes

  • Instruction by a practitioner facilitator
  • Full course workbook and materials
  • Exercise files, templates and case studies
  • Refreshments and lunch on classroom deliveries
  • Certificate of completion
  • Post-course application plan

Frequently asked questions

You should be comfortable working with Excel tables and basic business calculations. No prior Power BI, DAX, SQL, programming or formal data-modelling experience is required.

Bring a laptop if your delivery arrangements require one, with access to Power BI Desktop where permitted by your organisation. You may also bring a non-sensitive reporting requirement or sample data description for use during application planning.

It suits analysts, finance and operations staff, managers, project professionals and IT staff involved in business reporting. It is designed for people building reports as well as those responsible for approving, sharing or maintaining them.

This course focuses on building governed interactive reports in Power BI, from data preparation through publication. It does not teach advanced SQL development, data engineering or specialist DAX optimisation beyond the techniques needed for reliable professional reporting.

You can apply the methods to recurring reporting such as sales, budget, project, service or workforce dashboards. The report specification, model blueprint and publication checklist provide a starting structure for workplace delivery.

Training runs from 08:30 to 16:30 each day, providing approximately 6.5 contact hours daily. Time is allocated across data preparation, modelling, DAX, visual design, Power BI Service, refresh arrangements, quality checks and workplace planning.

Questions about this course?

Ask about dates, fees, group bookings or running it for your team. Our training team replies by email.

Ask on WhatsApp info@skillsetdevelopment.com

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