Home / Masterclasses / AI and Microsoft / Power BI Foundations: Build Your First Live Report (3-hour online masterclass)
Quick Look Course Summary:Power BI Foundations: Build Your First Live Report (3-hour online masterclass)
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Next Public Course Date:
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Length: 1 day(s)
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Price (at your venue): 1 Person R 8,159 EX VAT 3 Person R 5,295 EX VAT 10 Person R 3,794 EX VAT
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Certification Type:Non-Accredited
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Locations & Venues: Live online on Zoom or Microsoft Teams - for one person or a whole organisation, anywhere in South Africa.
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Power BI Foundations: Build Your First Live Report (3-hour online masterclass)
In three hours, each delegate connects to real data, cleans it, builds a report page with cards, charts and slicers – and leaves with a Power BI file they built themselves.
Most managers in South Africa get their numbers as a spreadsheet emailed around on the first of the month and circulating in three versions by the fifth. Power BI connects to the data once and keeps the report live. This three-hour Power BI masterclass is for people who have heard that and want to see it on their own screen: in one morning, each delegate opens Power BI Desktop, loads an export, tidies it and builds a first report page they can filter.
It is a focused cut of BOTI's three-day Power BI Basics course, kept to the path from raw file to working report. Delegates import a sales export from Excel, fix the usual problems in Power Query – text that should be numbers, a cross-tab that should be a list, blank rows – then build a page with a card, a column chart, a line over time, a matrix and a slicer, and watch the visuals filter each other. One short DAX measure shows where the real depth begins.
The session closes with how a report is published and shared in the Power BI service, what to check before publishing figures that hold personal information, and a personal action list: the one spreadsheet each delegate will turn into a report next week.
Why this course
For your organisation
- One live version of the numbers instead of competing spreadsheets
- A whole management or reporting team introduced to Power BI in one morning
- A quick, low-cost way to decide who should go on the full three-day course
- Reports that refresh from the source instead of being rebuilt every month
- Managers who can open a report and filter it themselves
For your delegates
- Power BI Desktop installed, opened and used – not just watched
- Your first report page, built on your own screen and saved as a file you keep
- The Power Query fixes that solve most messy exports
- A first DAX measure, explained without jargon
- A PDF workbook, the practice data and a one-page summary to keep
What delegates will be able to do
- Explain what Power BI Desktop, the Power BI service and the mobile app each do, and which parts are free
- Import an Excel or CSV export into Power BI Desktop
- Fix common data problems in Power Query: wrong data types, blank rows, duplicates and a cross-tab that needs unpivoting
- Build a report page with a card, a column chart, a line chart over time and a matrix
- Add a slicer and use cross-highlighting so that one click filters every visual on the page
- Write a first DAX measure such as total sales or sales as a percentage of target
- Describe how a report is published, refreshed and shared in the Power BI service
- Check a report for personal information under POPIA before it is shared
Who should attend
Managers, analysts, report developers, and finance, HR, sales and operations staff who prepare or read regular reports and want to see whether Power BI is the answer – and organisations deciding who should go on the full course. Delegates should be comfortable in Excel; pivot table experience helps but is not required, and no previous Power BI experience is expected.
Course outline
Live session – From a raw export to a live report page in one morning
Opening: Power BI and your first look at Desktop
- What Power BI is and where it fits next to Excel
- Desktop, the Power BI service and the mobile app: what each does and which parts are free
- The Report, Table and Model views, and what a PBIX file holds
- The practice data: a sales export and a branch list
Getting the data in and cleaning it
- Importing an Excel workbook and a CSV file
- Power Query: removing, renaming and splitting columns, and setting data types
- Clearing blank rows, errors and duplicate records
- Unpivoting a cross-tab that arrives with the months across the top
- On-screen exercise: a messy sales export loaded and tidied, with every step recorded for next month's file
Building the report page
- Planning a page around the questions a manager asks
- A card for total sales, a column chart by branch, a line chart by month and a matrix by product
- Slicers, filters and cross-highlighting: one click filters the whole page
- A first DAX measure: total sales, then sales as a percentage of target
- Formatting for a clear page: titles, colours and labels that match your organisation
- On-screen exercise: your own report page, saved as a PBIX file
Sharing, safety and your action list
- Publishing to the Power BI service, workspaces and scheduled refresh, in outline
- Who can see what: sharing, licences and the mobile app
- Personal information and POPIA: what to check before a report is shared
- Your personal action list: the one spreadsheet you will turn into a report next week
How it is delivered
Live online on Zoom (or Microsoft Teams), 2.5 to 3 hours – typically 09:00-12:00, or a time that suits the team. From 1 to 500 delegates can join. Handouts are electronic: a PDF workbook, the practice data and templates, and a one-page summary are emailed before the session. Delegates need a Windows laptop with Power BI Desktop installed beforehand – it is a free download from Microsoft, and the workbook includes the installation steps – so that they build the report on their own screen; the publishing and sharing part is shown by the facilitator, since it depends on your organisation's licences. The masterclass runs for a public group on scheduled dates, or privately for one organisation on a date of its choice, where the exercises can use a sample of your own data.
What our clients say
“We were particularly impressed by the quality of facilitation and the practical relevance of the content presented. The programme was delivered with professionalism, clarity, and a strong emphasis on real-world application.”
“They were very professional, and they never failed us at any point during the process. They have met our expectations with both trainings.”
“We have been very impressed with their service and rollout of the training.”
Frequently asked questions
How many people can join?
From 1 to 500 delegates on Zoom. Everyone builds the same report on their own screen while the facilitator shares each step, and questions come through the chat, so a large group gets the same hands-on practice as a small one.
Do we get handouts?
Yes, electronically: a PDF workbook with the installation steps, the practice data and templates, and a one-page summary, emailed before the session.
Can we run it privately for our team?
Yes. We run it for one organisation on a date and time of your choice, and the facilitator can build the exercises on a sample of your own data (with personal information removed).
Do delegates need a Power BI licence?
No. Power BI Desktop is free and is all the session needs for building the report. Publishing and sharing in the Power BI service depend on the licences in your Microsoft 365 tenant, so that part is demonstrated rather than practised.
Does it work on a Mac?
Power BI Desktop runs on Windows only. Delegates on a Mac can follow along with the workbook, but to build the report themselves they need a Windows laptop or a Windows virtual desktop.
Is this enough to roll Power BI out?
It is enough to build a first working report and to decide who should go further. Microsoft Power BI Basics (3 days) covers databases, the data model, relationships, more DAX and full publishing and sharing; Microsoft Power BI Advanced (DAX, Data Modelling, PL-300 aligned) (3 days) goes on from there.