Power BI dashboard showcasing Excel data analysis

2.Why put Power BI and Excel Together?
At first glance, you might think that you would not need both tools, after all, Excel already is an excellent tool, right? However, while Excel has great analytical functionality its ability to visualize complex data sets and handle large data volumes is limited and ideally it does not allow sharing interactive reports with others. This is the cue where Power BI enters.
Below are some reasons why the combination of Excel with Power BI can take delivery to a new dimension:
• Advanced Visualization: While Excel has very basic options for charting or graphing, Power BI opens the doors to so much more and is far more sophisticated for interactive visualizations. You can easily create bar charts, line graphs, pie charts, heat maps and even more complex visuals that make your data come alive.
• Large Data Sets Under Control: Power BI can contend with far larger datasets than those possible with Excel.
Suppose your Excel file is getting too large or slowed down because it has to import and deal with very big data sets. Power BI simply imports that data and works with that seamlessly.
• Interactive Reports and Dashboards: Excel is good enough for static reports. But with Power BI, you can create interactive reports. You can filter, drill down and explore the data all in real-time with just a click or two.
• Simple Sharing and Collaboration: Power BI makes it as easy as sending links to share reports and dashboards with audiences. You need not bother about sending huge Excel files or even worry about compatibility as Power BI comes with cloud-based sharing and collaboration.
• Real-Time Data Updates: Power BI does integrate with a variety of data sources and there is also a way to set up an auto-refresh system. hence, you can always have the latest information feeding into your reports. In contrast, Excel requires manual updates.

3. Maximize the Power BI Features with Excel Compatibility
Here are some of the most effective power BI functionalities for maximum integration with excel:

Power Query
Power Query facilitates cleansing, transforming and shaping of data in Power BI.
Power Query can import data from Excel, cleanse it and afterwards load it into Power BI to be used for
-Analysis.
-Duplication removal
-Filtering through unneeded data
-Combining records from multiple sources
-Wrapping the data in right format

Power Pivot
This is another standard that develops the excel experience so that the user creates data models in excel working smoothly with Power BI to create relationships between the different tables present in excel imported into power BI for further analysis.

DAX or Data Analysis Expressions
The DAX formula language in power BI is utilized to build customized calculations or measures.
DAX aggregation can accomplish the following:
derive trends and computes KPIs. For those already familiar with using formulas in Excel, DAX would feel quite familiar but with some added kick.

4.Practical Use Cases of Power BI and Excel
Having learned just Excel and a few key features, it's time for a few of the best use cases from the real world where using the two tools together will have a far reaching effect.
Use Case 1: Financial Reporting
Traditionally, Excel is used by the companies for managing their financial data and budgeting processes. Once the data is imported to Power BI, an interactive dashboard can be built so that the stakeholders can analyze how key metrics, trends and forecasts evolve with time. Power BI further enables to drillin on or even view historical contexts and this greatly assists a financial analyst when he will have to make critical decisions.
Use Case 2: Sales Analysis
Sales performance, customer data and inventory are tracked by sales teams using Excel. This information can then be taken to Power BI to develop dynamic dashboards that document sales trends, better selling products and performance by region. Deep dive analysis into sales information, particularly when large datasets are involved is right in Power BI.
Use Case 3: Human Resource
The HR department uses Excel to keep employee data, evaluate and keep track of hiring trends. With Power BI integrated with Excel, HR can visualize employee data in new ways such as churn rates, performance metrics and comparative salaries.

Conclusion
Power BI and Excel are two of the most powerful tools for data analysis and visualization. When both are combined, they are dynamic enough for the next level of data analysis. Power BI provides advanced visualizations realtime data interaction and larger datasets capability, whereas Excel brings in versatility and ease of use. Integrating Power BI with Excel will help anyone from finance to sales, human resources or any other departments to discover powerful insights, thus making better decisions based on data. Insight into the features and capabilities of these two programs will empower you to leverage the full power of data for simple reports and dashboards that can easily be digested by everyone across the board.
If you are eager to get started with Power BI and Excel, just follow along with this article and start making your interactive reports. Enjoy the analysis!