Context A global agency (an ex-coaching client) goes through a yearly budgeting process, where it evaluates the costs incurred by various departments and uses that information to forecast expenses. Objectives Likes to improve its budgeting and forecasts based on the actual costs incurred. Strategies 1. Load & combine data from multiple Excel & .csv files into Power BI, removing any unnecessary columns 2. Establish relationships between tables to connect data from the ‘Dimension’ Table to the ‘Forecast’ and ‘Budget’ Tables 3. Create a ‘Calendar’ Table using DAX, add it to the data model, & establish relationships with other tables 4. Visualise the budget by region using a chart Create a line graph to compare monthly budget & forecast 5. Analyse budget distribution by business area using a pie chart 6. Create linked stacked column charts to visualise budget breakdown by cost element group and IT area Author: Anthony Mok Date: 18 Nov 2023 Email: xxiaohao@yahoo.com

1. Create Data
Model & Conduct
Visualisation in
Power BI Desktop
TO IMPROVE ITS BUDGETING AND FORECASTS
BASED ON THE ACTUAL COSTS INCURRED
AU T H O R : A N T H O N Y M O K
DAT E : 18 N OV 2 0 2 3
E M A I L : X X I AO H AO @ YA H O O . C O M

2. What are…?
DATA MODEL
An abstract model that organises elements of data
and standardises how they relate to one another and
to the properties of real-world entities
It provides a framework for understanding, storing,
and managing data in a database or other data
repository
POWER BI DESKTOP
Power BI Desktop is a free data visualization and
business intelligence tool developed by Microsoft. It
allows users to connect to a wide variety of data
sources, transform and clean data, create interactive
dashboards and reports, and share insights with
others

3. Project’s Context, Objective & Strategies
CONTEXT STRATEGIES
• Load & combine data from multiple Excel & .csv files into
Power BI, removing any unnecessary columns
• Establish relationships between tables to connect data
from the ‘Dimension’ Table to the ‘Forecast’ and ‘Budget’
Tables
• Create a ‘Calendar’ Table using DAX, add it to the data
model, & establish relationships with other tables
• Visualise the budget by region using a chart
• Create a line graph to compare monthly budget &
forecast
• Analyse budget distribution by business area using a pie
chart
• Create linked stacked column charts to visualise budget
breakdown by cost element group and IT area
OBJECTIVE
Likes to improve its budgeting and forecasts based on
the actual costs incurred
A global agency (an ex-coaching client) goes through
a yearly budgeting process, where it evaluates the
costs incurred by various departments and uses that
information to forecast expenses

4. Combine Multiple Files For Power BI
• Data for several countries across various departments in the ‘Dimension Tables.xlsx’,
‘Forecast_1.xlsx’ & ‘Budget_1.csv’ files were loaded into Power BI
• As the monthly actuals sales are in separate the files, these were combined while loading this
data into Power BI Desktop

5. Establish Relationships Between Tables
Relationship 1
The data in the ‘Dimension’ and ‘Forecast’ Tables
were linked by connecting the ‘IT Dep.’ field in the
‘Forecast’ Table to the ‘IT Department’ field of the
‘Dimension’ Table
Relationship 2
The data in the ‘Dimension’ and ‘Budget’ Tables
were linked by connecting the ‘IT Dep.’ field in the
‘Budget’ table to the ‘IT Department’ field of the
‘Dimension’ Table

6. Create a ‘Calendar’ Table Using DAX
• The new ‘Calendar’ Table was created using the
DAX function with starting and ending dates
between 1st January 2020 and 31st December
2020
• DAX expression: “Calendar =
CALENDAR(DATE(2020,01,02),DATE(2020,12,31
))”, was scripted to create the ‘Calendar’ table
• A hierarchy for the date was created in the
‘Calendar’ Table
• The current model was updated by linking ‘Date’
key in the ‘Calendar’ Table to the ‘Date’ keys in
the ‘forecast’, ‘actuals’ & ‘budget’ Tables

7. Visualise Budget By Region (By Bar Chart)*
After shifting the ‘Budget’ and ‘Region’ fields into the ‘X-axis’ and ‘Y-axis’, respectively, the
Cluster Bar Chart was created. The bars in the chart were sorted in ascending order.
The labels of the visual were formatted, with the ‘Zoom Slider’ and Average Line added
* This is one of many
visuals created for this
project, which is part of the
Dashboard. The
Dashboard can be found in
the report, which the ex-
coaching client has
requested not to be
released

8. Visualise Monthly Budget & Forecast (By Line Graph)*
After shifting the ‘Month’ field into the ‘X-axis’ and ‘Budget’ and ‘Region’ fields into ‘Y-axis’,
the Line Graph was created. The labels were formatted, with ‘Zoom Slider’ added
* This is one of many
visuals created for this
project, which is part of the
Dashboard. The
Dashboard can be found in
the report, which the ex-
coaching client has
requested not to be
released

9. Analyse Budget Distribution by Business Area*
A Matrix Table was created after fitting the
‘Business Area’ and Sum of Budget’ fields,
respectively, into the ‘Row’ and ‘Values’ boxes in
the ‘Visualisation’ Panel. The table was further
formatted to improve its visual presentation and
labelling for ease of reference
A Pie Chart was created after fitting the
‘Business Area’ and ‘Sum of Budget’ fields,
respectively, into the ‘Legend’ and ‘Values’ boxes
in the ‘Visualisations’ Panel. The table was
further formatted to improve its visual
presentation and labelling for ease of reference
* This is one of many
visuals created for this
project, which is part of the
Dashboard. The
Dashboard can be found in
the report, which the ex-
coaching client has
requested not to be
released

10. Visualise Budget Breakdown*
(By Linked Stacked Column Charts)
• Two Stacked Column Charts, showing the
budget by the ‘Cost Element Group’ field &
‘Budget By the IT Area’ field
• Using the ‘Highlighting’ function, both of
these charts were linked
Client’s Special Request**
When the ‘Budget in the Labor Department’
was clicked, only the ‘Labor Budget Across IT
Areas’ (like, BU support, IT infra, functional,
etc.) are shown
* This is one of many
visuals created for this
project, which is part of the
Dashboard. The
Dashboard can be found in
the report, which the ex-
coaching client has
requested not to be
released
** There were several of
such special request from
the client, this is one of
them

11. Create Data
Model & Conduct
Visualisation in
Power BI Desktop
TO IMPROVE ITS BUDGETING AND FORECASTS
BASED ON THE ACTUAL COSTS INCURRED
AU T H O R : A N T H O N Y M O K
DAT E : 18 N OV 2 0 2 3
E M A I L : X X I AO H AO @ YA H O O . C O M