Why do you need Etani? Why wouldn't you just use Microsoft Power BI alone?

This is a standard question we get from newcomers to Microsoft Power BI, and so we have decided to pen down some of the reasons to assist you in your understanding;

 

1.     How do you get all your data into Power BI?

 

Are you using Xero? MYOB Account Right? An Inventory Management System, Payroll system? Unfortunately, it’s not possible to simply plug these data sources into Power BI. They need to be connected through an API.

 

If you park your Etani decision, you still have to choose an ETL engine to centralise your data in a database and so you are able to report on the information. You cannot escape this, and you will need to pay some 3rd party intermediary to do it.

 

2.      How are you going to deliver these reports to clients?

Etani offers Microsoft Power BI Embedded through the platform.

Clients can consume reports and dashboards through your own white labelled platform available for download on app stores. We keep clients out of Power BI, avoid Power BI Pro account fees and protect your IP.

Don’t underestimate the power of a branded app with Etani utilising the Microsoft Embedded functionality. It adds value in several different ways;

  • Your clients will not be invited into the Microsoft Power BI platform itself. This removes the $12.70AUD per month per user Power BI Pro account fee which can quickly add up when you picture one single client having several different users who need access to the reports and you scaling this to 30 of your best business clients.

  • Indirectly this also protects your IP by removing clients access to the Power BI platform itself. If you spend hours developing a report to deliver to a client, it’s not commercial to allow them to download this report and take it to your competition down the road.

  • Marketing - it’s a very professional and powerful marketing tool to deliver under your branded banner.

 

3.      How are you going to learn Power BI?

20+ hours of online training - Power BI Bootcamp, ‘How To’ guides and more. Progress at your own pace. Our training is SME and Etani specific to assist from the perspective of accountants in practice.

Our training talks about how you can use Tracking Categories inside Xero to build out powerful reports. We explain to you the complexities of Workflow Max when you are reporting on Job performance, timesheet productivity and manager budgets.

Power BI training in our mind, should be SME specific if in fact that is who you are reporting for. The reason is quite simple, it’s a different market. They are smaller, so you need to consider scale of reports, automation of delivery, and ease of use. We know this space. Let us help you.

 

4.      How are you going to access a community of Power BI Accountant specialists without Etani?

We are a niche product, for the accounting industry. We have a community of accountants who have been and done it. We can assist in joining forces with them for collaboration, as well as pass on all the past lessons we have learnt.

 

5.      How are you going to access pre-built Power BI templates out of the box?

Pre-built budget, forecast, scenario, customer templates and more which will save you many hours. We not only supply the data model for all the integrations on Etani, but a multitude of templates.

Don’t underestimate the power of having a pre-built data model for a multitude of data sources. To connect Xero and out of the box have a Profit and Loss reconciled on a cash basis. Or connect to Kounta (hospitality POS system), and graph sales not just by date but by time. To hit the ground running like this with templates and a pre-built model is such a weight off your shoulders.

Cameron Lynch