Power BI Reporting Assessment and Roadmap

Our client is a leading childcare services provider operating hundreds of centers across North America. As their operations scaled, they encountered growing complexity in financial and operational reporting, relying heavily on spreadsheets and manual data collection from multiple systems.

Problem

The client faced major challenges with their internal reporting processes:

Siloed Data Sources: Critical metrics like staffing, enrollment, and financial performance were spread across Daycare Works, ADP, NetSuite, and HubSpot with no centralized reporting.
Manual Workflows: Excel-based exports and inconsistent spreadsheet practices led to time-consuming consolidation and frequent data inconsistencies.
Limited Visibility Across Roles: Executives, area managers, and center directors each needed different levels of access and visibility—none of which could be reliably delivered through the current process.
Underutilized Microsoft 365 Investment: Despite having SharePoint and Power BI available, these tools were not fully leveraged for self-serve or automated reporting.
Lack of Standardized KPIs: Teams had no consistent reporting framework for comparing performance across locations, departments, or time periods.

Solution

West X Business Solutions conducted a comprehensive Power BI Assessment to evaluate the client’s current environment, identify reporting gaps, and propose a scalable solution architecture. The assessment included:

Discovery and Analysis:
- Reviewed reporting needs across Finance, HR, and Operations.
- Assessed licensing, data source compatibility, and current reporting workflows.
- Evaluated technical readiness for automation using Microsoft 365 tools.
Recommendations:
- Introduced a centralized Power BI semantic model as the future architecture, with SharePoint used to manage structured data exports.
- Outlined a path to automate connections with ADP, NetSuite, Daycare Works, and HubSpot.
- Defined secure role-based report access for executives, area managers, and center directors.
- Proposed cost-effective licensing and sharing options, including use of PDF automation and shared access scenarios where appropriate.
Proof-of-Concept (POC):
- Developed live Power BI demo reports using client-supplied data to showcase key capabilities.
- Dashboards included interactive visualizations for performance metrics (FTE, hours worked), combined P&L and business reviews, and drilldowns by center, region, and age group.
- Demonstrated advanced filtering, multi-page navigation, and customizable KPIs based on user roles.
Next Steps Roadmap:
- Transition from manual exports to automated API integrations.
- Automate report delivery via email using Power Automate.
- Develop a lightweight Power App for managing manual data inputs like budgets, occupancy, and salaries.

Technology Used:

Microsoft Power BI

SharePoint Online

The Results

The assessment provided the client with a detailed roadmap for transitioning to a fully automated, centralized reporting model:

Identified clear steps for reducing manual overhead and improving reporting accuracy.
Delivered a live demonstration using their own data to visualize what a modern reporting environment could look like.
Created alignment across departments around reporting needs, KPIs, and a Microsoft-first tool strategy.
Positioned the client to better leverage their existing Microsoft 365 investment and scale reporting as the organization grows.

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