Onboarding: Roghnu Power BI Analytics for Sage Intacct

The following documentation is an onboarding instruction guide for those subscribed to Roghnu Analytics for Sage Intacct. It explains the process of accessing the .pbix file, setting up a workspace in the Power BI Service, and publishing the reports to the Service.

File Access

The Power BI file (.pbix) will be accessible through a shared folder in Box. Before publishing the file to the Power BI Service, you’ll first need to make sure you have the workspace you want it published to set up.

Power BI Service Set-Up

Go to app.powerbi.com. This is the Power BI Service. You’ll need to create a workspace. A workspace is where .pbix files are published, allowing collaboration among teams. For example, you could have a workspace for HR, a workspace for Operations, and a workspace for Finance. Employees in these respective departments could be given access to the proper workspace, and therefore to the reports published in that workspace. By default, everyone has a “My workspace,” which is unique to each person, and only they can access it. The “My workspace” should not be used for production purposes.

To create a new workspace, go to “Workspaces” and click “New workspace” (Fig. 1).

Figure 1. Create New Workspace

A window will pop up that allows you to set up the details of the workspace (Fig. 2): Name (required), Description (optional), Domain (optional), Workspace Image (optional). A domain in Fabric is a way of logically grouping data in an organization, such as by department. Only Power BI admins can create and edit domains.

Figure 2. New Workspace Details Set-Up

After you’ve chosen a name for your new workspace (e.g., “Sage Intacct”), expand the Advanced dropdown at the bottom of the pop-up window (Fig. 3).

Figure 3. Advanced

By default, the contact list will contain the person creating the workspace. This can be edited. To add people to the contact list, simply start typing their email in the contact list search bar and select their email/name.

By default, the workspace is assigned the Pro license mode. Under each license mode option, there is a brief description. A grayed out license option means the workspace does not have access to that license mode based on what has been enabled by the Power BI Admin.

Note: To see documentation on Power BI Service license options, click here.

After clicking Apply, your workspace will be created.

To give access to the workspace to others in your organization, simply navigate to the workspace, then click “Manage access” at the top-right of the screen.

Figure 4. Manage Access

The following window will pop up. Below “Manage access” is the name of the workspace. The name of this demo workspace is Analytics.

Figure 5. Add people or groups

Click “Add people or groups.” To add an individual, start typing their work email until you see them displayed, then select them. You can continue to add more people to the workspace before clicking “Add.” You can also add Active Directory security groups by typing in the AD security group email. For example, you might have an HR security group, with all HR employees assigned to that group. Instead of manually adding all HR employees to the workspace, you can simply grant access to the security group.

Now that you have a workspace and have assigned people to that workspace, you’ll want to publish those reports so people can start using them.

Two Ways to Publish

There are two ways to publish the pbix file to your workspace in the Service. You can simply navigate to the workspace, click Import at the top, and select “Report, Paginated Report or Workbook.”

Figure 6. Import

This will open File Explorer, allowing you to select the pbix file after it has been downloaded from the shared folder. This approach does not require the installation of Power BI Desktop.

The second approach requires the installation of Power BI Desktop. You’ll likely only take this approach if you plan on working in the Desktop app to make edits to existing reports or to develop new reports. It is best practice to install the Power BI Desktop application from the Microsoft Store. This allows for automatic updates as Microsoft pushes them out. To download and install Power BI Desktop from the Microsoft Store, click here.

Once Power BI Desktop is installed, open the pbix file and click “Publish” in the Home tab.

Figure 7. Publish from Home Tab

A window will pop up with a list of existing workspaces that you have access to in the Power BI Service. Choose the workspace and click “Select.”

Figure 8. Select Workspace

The pbix file will then publish to that workspace. Once completed, navigate back to the workspace in Power BI Service to see that it has been published. You’ll notice two rows exist in the workspace for each pbix file published, with the following icons.

Figure 9. Reports and Semantic Model Icons

The icon on top is the reports icon. To see the reports, click on the name in this row. The icon on the bottom is the semantic model icon. The semantic model houses the metadata and data relationships.

Next Steps

This concludes the onboarding process. To learn more about Power BI Desktop and Power BI Service, check out Microsoft’s “Get Started” documentation.