Power BI Report Builder: A Guide for Beginners

Data is the lifeblood of a modern business. It can help you extract actionable insights and guide strategic decision-making.

All you need is a robust business intelligence tool like Power BI.

Power BI can help you:

• Create detailed and well-structured data-driven reports
• Gain crucial insights from complex business activities
• Take actions that give a strategic advantage to your business

However, there may be times when you need reports that are ready for instant printing, sharing, or submission within or outside the organization.

That’s when you can use Power BI Report Builder.

The Report Builder tool can empower you to quickly create paginated reports, like multi-page and printable documents, with precise layouts.

In this Power BI Report Builder tutorial, we’ll discuss everything about it, including how it works, why it’s useful, and how to easily build your first report.

• What Are Paginated Reports In Power BI?
• What Is Power BI Report Builder?
• What Are The Key Power BI Report Builder Features?
• What Are The System Requirements For Installing  Power BI Report Builder?
• How To Install Power BI Report Builder?
• How To Create A Report With Power BI Report Builder?
• Common Challenges And Troubleshooting
• Start Creating Your Report Today With Augmented Systems
• Power BI Report Builder: FAQs

A paginated report in Power BI divides the data or visualizations into several pages, just like an MS Word or PDF document.

Sample of a Paginated Report

It allows you to print and share these reports within or outside your organization.

This page-based approach allows you to control the page layout, design reports that perfectly fit complex data across pages, and present them how you want.

Plus, there’s consistency on every page as they have a set structure which includes:

• Headers
• Footers
• Tables
• Charts
• Parameters

You create paginated reports like financial statements, invoices, regulatory submissions, and government reports.

We recommend exploring these Power BI report builder examples to better understand paginated reports. 

Power BI Report Builder is an application designed to create paginated reports, and it is the only Microsoft platform with this capability.

Publishing a paginated report in your personal workspace is free. You can also publish it on another workspace, only if you get a Power BI Pro or Premium license.

Well, just in case you all are confusing it with the Power BI desktop, let me tell you that both serve different purposes.

You can create interactive visual reports and dashboards on Power BI Desktop and make real-time changes.

On the other hand, Power BI Report Builder is designed for paginated reports with fixed layouts, which can be exported as PDFs.

And the best part?

You can easily print your Power BI report for a business meeting or a strategy review.

Power BI report builder provides more than just printing and sharing paginated reports. It provides a whole suite of features, which are as follows:

• Report Definition Language (RDL) support: RDL allows you to create precisely formatted, paginated reports with multiple pages, and you’ll have total control over the page layout
  
  
• Workspace Integration: You can manage access through the Power BI service and publish reports to Power BI workspaces
  
  
• Advanced Dataset Querying: There are vast data sources that you can connect with, write advanced custom queries, and experience better control over your data
  
  
• Table Query with DAX: You can easily reuse existing models by running Data Analysis Expressions (DAX) queries directly on Power BI datasets
  
  
• Beginner-Friendly: Power BI Report Builder's interface is pretty simple, which makes it easy for new users to start immediately

Pro Tip: If you are starting for the first time, here’s how professionals use Microsoft Power BI features in their paginated layouts for invoices, financials, or regulatory reports. 

So, for creating paginated reports, the very first task you need to do is install the Power BI Report Builder. Here’s a checklist of the device specifications required to run the latest version of the platform:

• Operating System: Windows 11, 10, or Windows Server 2016 and later. 
• .NET Framework: Version 4.8 or higher is required. 
• Processor: 1.4 GHz or faster
• RAM: Minimum of 512 MB. For optimal performance,  4 GB or more is recommended. 
• Disk Space: Minimum 80 MB of available space.

If your system meets these requirements, you can install Power BI Report Builder and generate reports. 

You first need to get the latest version of Power BI Report Builder on your device. Follow this quick and simple guide to install it faster:

1. To download the Power BI Report Builder, you need to visit Microsoft’s official download page

2. Next, click on the ‘Download’ button and let the installer wizard run

3. You see a few prompts popping up on the screen, which you need to follow, and the installation will be completed

Microsoft’s official download page

That’s how you install this platform. We’ll also discuss how to create reports on it, so stay tuned.

As data visualization consultants, we are here to help you get started fast. That’s why we have prepared a step-by-step guide to help you create your first report easily and quickly.

You may also consider this as your instant Power BI Report Builder tutorial.

Step 1: Launch The Application

Open your device's Power BI Report Builder, and you'll see options to start a Blank Report or use the Table or Matrix Wizard. 

Step 2: Define The Data Source and the Dataset

Now, click the ‘Data Sources’ option, and select ‘Add Data Source’. Following that, you’ll need to define the dataset, which can be:

• Power BI Dataset: Datasets meant to be published on the Power BI service
• SQL Server: This is for SQL datasets that are on-premises or cloud-based
• Azure SQL Database: This one is a cloud-based SQL database service from Microsoft

Data Tab

You must also provide the necessary connection details, such as server name, database name, and authentication method.

You must also provide the necessary connection details, such as server name, database name, and authentication method. 

Step 3: Design The Report Layout

This is the beginning of the designing phase of the report.

Drag a table from the toolbox section and drop it on the canvas.

Next, you must

• Assign fields to the right columns,  
• Customize the layout by adding headers and footers
• Apply formatting for better readability

Step 4: Preview The Report

Once you have completed the formatting, click the ‘Run’ button and check how your report looks with the data you provided.

If you are unsatisfied with the results, make changes or adjustments to the report as you feel. 

Step 5: Export as PDF, Excel, Word, etc

Now, if the report's appearance is exactly as you wanted and looks ready to be exported, you can export it as a PDF, Excel, Word, or CSV file.

Export Tab

So, now, you’ve learnt how to use Power BI Report Builder and can create reports on it effectively.

While creating a report on Power BI Report Builder, you might face some challenges, but no need to get stressed out in such situations!

We have prepared a small table to show you what you can do if you face the following challenges:

A data visualization consultant can guide you with useful strategies if you want to use Power BI Report Builder more effectively and avoid common issues.

To summarize, Power BI Report Builder is the perfect and only solution for easily creating paginated reports. You just need to follow these simple steps we have shared with you.

If you are a beginner unfamiliar with Power BI Report Builder and creating such paginated reports, then you might need guidance from data visualization consultants.

At Augmented Systems, we offer data visualization services using Power BI  to turn your complex raw data into insightful visuals.

Over the last four years, we have worked with over 40 clients and successfully delivered multiple projects, exceeding their expectations.

So, by partnering with us, creating a dashboard in Power BI will become a lot easier, and you can extract impactful insights from your data.

Reach out to our data visualization consultants today!  

1. How do I start Power BI Report Builder?

You can easily start the Power BI Report Builder by following these steps:

Step 1: Visit the official download page of Microsoft and download Power BI Report Builder from there

Step 2: Next, follow the prompts of the installer wizard and get it installed on your device

Step 3: Open the application

Step 4: It will ask you to sign in with your Microsoft account
Step 5: Finally, you can begin creating reports

2. How do you create a Power BI report for beginners?

For beginners, there are easy steps to create a Power BI report, which are:

• Open Report Builder
• Connect to a data source
• Create a dataset 
• Insert a table or chart
• Preview the report
• Export it as a PDF, Excel, or Word file

3. What is the difference between Power BI Report Builder and Power BI Desktop?

The two platforms differ in one crucial aspect, which is:

• Power BI Report Builder is specifically meant for paginated reports
• Power BI Desktop is focused on real-time interactive dashboards and visual analytics.

4. Is Power BI better than Excel?

Power BI is better than MS Excel due to its unique business intelligence features, such as automatic data visualization and the capability to analyze large datasets.

5. Does Power BI require coding?

No, you won't need coding for the basic use of Power BI. However, you may need to learn DAX (Data Analysis Expressions) and Power Query M language to create advanced measures, filters, and custom calculations in reports.