Your financial system contains an ocean of business-critical data that, with the right setup, you can pull into clear and analysis-friendly reports and dashboards.
With a Business Intelligence solution from Vektus, you get access to your data and can make fact-based decisions.
The need for dynamic and ad hoc reporting is increasing as the demand to analyze data from multiple angles increases.
Access to accurate data about the health and overall status of your business is crucial for you to make the right choices and decisions. Without facts, you’re making decisions based on your gut feeling, which can turn out to be completely wrong. At the same time, the statistical processing of data from multiple sources can reveal correlations that you would otherwise not have discovered.
Growth and the speed at which the market is moving are placing increasing demands on companies’ need for management and measurement. Business leaders increasingly need quick – and often very concrete – snapshots of the state of the business in order to act quickly and keep up with the market.
The increased focus on speed puts even more pressure on the finance and controller function to deliver management information. The company is often also dependent on a single person to create the reports, and all other work has to be put aside in order for the reports to be delivered to management. This is an inefficient workflow and a costly process in the finance and controller function.
A dashboard is a dashboard that first and foremost presents relevant data in a graphical environment that the user can understand. They are easy and quick to use, they are always available, the user decides to a certain extent what and when to view them and they provide a valuable overview. However, data is often only collected once a day, so there is a time delay in the data that users are presented with. Dashboards are very powerful for daily/weekly updates of KPI reports.
Users have different dashboards depending on their function in the company and their need for information. The sales director can get statistics on how sales of a particular product are going and how each salesperson is performing. The salesperson can see if they are on budget. The project manager can follow his cases. And top management can get an overview of exactly the conditions they want.
We typically use Power BI to build a dashboard.
Flat reports are reports that are typically run by the finance department, who then validate the data before the reports are sent on.
Flat reports are typically only available to those with data access to the ERP system – and therefore often need to be printed, possibly to PDF. Running the reports can be a time-consuming task.
Flat reports often provide thorough and valid data and are suitable for monthly reporting to management. They provide an overview of exactly the conditions that management wants.
For building flat reports, we typically use Jet Reports.
We recommend that you start by looking at your own business – before you look at systems and tools.
With Microsoft Power BI, you get an overview of the company’s data, enabling you to make better and faster decisions.
Microsoft Power BI collects company data from your financial system (Business Central) and presents it in a clear way in a dashboard that suits the function the employee is employed in.
But to get the full benefit of a Power BI solution, your data basis must be in place.
Jet Reports is a tool that delivers corporate analysis and reporting with fast, flexible financial reports in Microsoft Excel.
Jet Reports contains reports and cubes – for those who need accurate data presented in Excel.
Jet Reports can be used alone or with Power BI.
Combining Power BI with Jet Reports can be beneficial.
Jet Reports contains a number of pre-built data models that, with customizations, fit the vast majority of companies. The strength of Jet Reports lies in being able to retrieve, process and analyze data from e.g. Business Central – but also from other sources.
When you use Jet Reports, you may avoid having to set up data models from scratch. Jet Reports’ pre-built data models make it possible to go straight to customization in many cases.
That is, you use Jet’s data models – and let Microsoft Power BI present the result.
We work with management reporting and Business Intelligence on several different levels because we know that companies are different and therefore have different needs.
Some companies need complex BI solutions, others need simpler solutions or just help setting up reports. However, most companies need an overview of and access to business-critical data and information – in one way or another.
All companies can benefit from Business Intelligence. Both large and small businesses need to make decisions and manage the business on a daily basis. This is best done on an informed basis. In companies, it’s not only top management that can use Business Intelligence, the salesperson and warehouse employee can also benefit from the overview that Business Intelligence offers.
At Vektus, we have knowledge of finance, reporting and IT. With us, you will meet dedicated Business Intelligence consultants who specialize in setting up, designing and making your Business Intelligence solution work.
Business Intelligence consists of three phases: Data collection, data processing and data presentation. It is therefore important to understand the interplay between finance, reporting and IT to create the best Business Intelligence solutions.
Business Intelligence is not a product. Business Intelligence is about using the data that all businesses contain in a more structured way.
That said, there is a wide range of products on the market that support the work with Business Intelligence.
The different Business Intelligence solutions we create all provide easier access to business-critical data – making them an important management tool for business leaders.
When companies start working more seriously with data and reporting, a number of questions naturally arise: Where should we start? Which tools make the most sense? And how can we get more value from the data we already have in Business Central?
Here, we have gathered answers to some of the questions we most frequently encounter in discussions with our clients.
1. How do we know if we are ready for Business Intelligence?
If you often lack an overview, spend time gathering numbers from multiple sources, or make decisions based on gut feelings, you are typically ready to work more systematically with data. Business Intelligence is not about being “digitally finished,” but about using the data you already have—such as in Business Central—to gain a better foundation for decision-making.
2. We already use Excel and reports in Business Central – what additional value does BI provide?
With a BI solution, you can automate much of the manual work and consolidate your key metrics in one place. This means fewer versions of the same numbers, less error-checking, and faster answers to questions like “Where are we making money?” or “Where is cash tied up?”. BI makes it easier to monitor performance continuously—not just at month-end.
3. We have Business Central – what is a realistic first step?
For many companies, a natural first step is to get control of the most frequently used reports and key metrics—e.g., using Business Central’s built-in reporting or Jet Reports. From there, you can expand to more advanced dashboards in Power BI or a full data foundation in Jet Analytics or Microsoft Fabric as your needs grow.
4. Which tool should we choose – Business Central reports, Jet, Power BI, or Fabric?
It depends on how you want to use your data:
5. We have data in multiple systems beyond Business Central – can it be consolidated in one place?
Yes. With the right BI architecture, data from Business Central, CRM, production, warehouse, webshop, and external sources can be consolidated into a single data foundation. This makes it possible to monitor the entire value chain – from orders and production to delivery and finance – without switching between systems and spreadsheets. Power BI and Microsoft Fabric play a central role in achieving this.
6. We are a small or medium-sized business – is BI worthwhile for us?
Yes. Business Intelligence is not just for the largest companies. Many start small, focusing on a few key reports – for example, cash flow, contribution margin, inventory, or production efficiency – and then gradually expand as the benefits become clear. The goal is not to have “as much BI as possible,” but to gain exactly the insights that help you manage your business more effectively on a daily basis.
If you’re getting started with Business Intelligence, ask our experts.
They know how to get you started and what you need to take into account.
How we work
We work to make your investment in Business Central a success both now and in the long run.
