Power BI for Finance: CFO Dashboards That Reconcile to the Trial Balance

A finance team builds Power BI dashboards for the CFO. The first review goes badly. The P&L waterfall shows a different net income than the GL trial balance. Investigation reveals that the dashboard is pulling from a data extract that doesn't include the final adjusting entries from the close, the intercompany eliminations were applied differently than in the consolidation, and the cost center hierarchy in the dashboard doesn't match the hierarchy the controller uses. Each difference is small. Together they produce a dashboard the CFO doesn't trust. By the next month, the CFO is back to reviewing the Excel workbook the FP&A team builds manually.

Finance Power BI done right starts with trial balance reconciliation as the foundation. The tabular semantic model is sourced from a data layer that includes final adjusting entries, intercompany eliminations, and the account and cost center hierarchies that match the controller's structure. Every dashboard number can be traced back to the trial balance. The P&L, balance sheet, and cash flow statement in Power BI match the financial statements exactly. With this foundation, the CFO trusts the dashboards and the FP&A team uses them daily. Without it, Power BI becomes another system that doesn't match the 'real' numbers.