Power BI integrates directly with Business Central, letting you embed reports on Role Centers and build custom dashboards from your BC data. The integration supports both embedded reports inside the BC interface and standalone reports built in Power BI Desktop.
This guide covers how to enable the embedded integration, how to connect Power BI Desktop to Business Central data, and how to install the free Microsoft content packs.
Enable Power BI on the Role Center
Before embedded reports appear in Business Central, you need to configure the connection.
- Search for Power BI Setup using
Alt + Q. - Enable the Enable Power BI Integration toggle.
- Sign in with your Microsoft 365 account when prompted.
Once enabled, a Power BI section appears on supported Role Centers. If no reports have been assigned yet, the section shows a prompt to get started.
Manage Embedded Reports
Business Central lets you control which Power BI reports appear per Role Center.
- On your Role Center, locate the Power BI Reports section.
- Select Select Reports to open the Business Central Reports page.
- Toggle the reports you want to display on the Role Center.
Reports listed here are pulled from your Power BI workspace. If a report does not appear, make sure it has been published to a workspace your account can access.
Connect Power BI Desktop via the Business Central Connector
To build custom reports, connect Power BI Desktop directly to your Business Central environment.
- Open Power BI Desktop.
- Select Get Data and search for Dynamics 365 Business Central.
- Select the connector and click Connect.
- Sign in with your Microsoft 365 account.
- Select your environment and company from the navigator.
- Choose the tables or APIs you want to load and click Load or Transform Data.
The connector uses the Business Central APIs and OData feeds. You can also connect manually using the OData feed URL if you need more control over the query. The OData URL format is:
https://api.businesscentral.dynamics.com/v2.0/{tenantId}/{environment}/ODataV4/You can find exposed OData pages in Business Central by searching for Web Services and checking pages or queries published there.
Connect via OData Feed
If the native connector does not cover your use case, you can connect using the OData feed directly.
- In Power BI Desktop, select Get Data and choose OData Feed.
- Paste the OData URL for the page or query you want.
- Authenticate using Organizational Account with your Microsoft 365 credentials.
For this to work, the page or query must be published in Web Services inside Business Central.
Install Microsoft Content Packs from AppSource
Microsoft publishes free Power BI content packs for Business Central through AppSource. These are pre-built report sets for common areas such as finance, sales, and purchasing.
- Go to appsource.microsoft.com and search for Business Central.
- Locate the content packs published by Microsoft, such as Microsoft Dynamics 365 Business Central – Finance or – Sales.
- Select Get it now and follow the prompts to install the content pack to your Power BI workspace.
- Once installed, open the report in Power BI and connect it to your BC environment using your credentials.
Content packs connect to the standard Business Central OData APIs. They work best with default configurations and may need adjustment if your setup uses custom fields or renamed companies.
Embedded vs Standalone Reports
There are two ways to work with Power BI and Business Central:
| Mode | Where it lives | Who sees it |
|---|---|---|
| Embedded report | Inside Business Central Role Center | BC users with Power BI license |
| Standalone report | Power BI service or Desktop | Anyone with Power BI workspace access |
Embedded reports are convenient for users who spend most of their time in Business Central. Standalone reports in the Power BI service are better suited for dashboards shared across teams that do not all use BC.
Both modes read from the same data sources. A report built in Power BI Desktop can be published to a workspace and then surfaced as an embedded report on a Role Center, they are not separate report types.
License Requirements
Users need both a Business Central license and a Power BI license (Pro or Premium Per User) to view embedded Power BI reports inside BC. Users with only a BC license will see a prompt to sign up for Power BI.
Read-only access to Power BI reports shared in a Premium workspace does not require a Pro license for the viewer, but the person who publishes the report still needs one.
To control which users can access and manage Power BI content in Business Central, see How to Configure Security Groups in Business Central.