The verdict in three sentences
If your need is consolidated financial reporting read by 10 to 50 people, Power BI on top of a clean data warehouse covers 80% of cases for 15,000 to 37,000 CAD of integration. A custom build, at 30,000 to 65,000 CAD, is justified when the dashboard must be shared with clients, franchisees or hundreds of users, or when it must trigger actions (approvals, alerts, budget input). In both cases the real work is the same: automating the collection of 6 sources, which moves close from day 10 to day 4.
The problem is not the visualisation tool
In a 250-employee company in Toronto, FP&A exports the ERP, CRM, payroll and three bank statements every month, then stitches everything into a 40-tab Excel workbook. Four days go into copying, fixing cost-centre codes and checking that CRM revenue ties to ERP revenue. Switching display tools without automating that collection is like repainting a building whose plumbing leaks.
The core component is therefore a data warehouse (BigQuery, Snowflake, Azure SQL or PostgreSQL) loaded nightly by connectors, with a shared reference layer: chart of accounts, cost centres, legal entities. Running costs sit between 150 and 700 CAD a month for a mid-sized company, depending on volumes and refresh frequency.
Power BI or custom: the numbers
| Criterion | Power BI + warehouse | Custom dashboard |
|---|---|---|
| Setup, 2026 order of magnitude | 15,000 to 37,000 CAD | 30,000 to 65,000 CAD |
| Licences | Power BI Pro about 19 CAD per user per month | No per-user licence |
| Data warehouse | 150 to 700 CAD a month | 150 to 700 CAD a month |
| Timeline | 6 to 10 weeks | 10 to 16 weeks |
| FP&A self-service | High, analysts build their own reports | Low, changes go through a developer |
| Sharing with external users (subsidiaries, franchisees, clients) | Costly and complex | Native, with fine-grained rights |
| Actions inside the tool (budget input, approvals) | Limited | Full |
Over 5 years, for 30 users, Power BI Pro licences come to 30 times 19 times 60, i.e. 34,200 CAD. At 300 users, that line exceeds 340,000 CAD, which flips the equation in favour of custom. At Kolonell, a custom dashboard falls under our web applications: medium from 4,000,000 to 7,000,000 FCFA (6,100 to 10,670 EUR) or complex from 7,000,000 to 15,000,000+ FCFA (10,670 to 22,870+ EUR), depending on the number of sources and user profiles.
The metrics that change month-end
| Metric | Before (Excel) | After automation | Effect |
|---|---|---|---|
| Month-end close | Day 10 | Day 4 | Decisions made 6 days earlier |
| Consolidation time | 4 days | 0.5 day | 3.5 days a month freed |
| Unexplained CRM vs ERP variances | 15 to 25 a month | 2 to 5, flagged automatically | Reliable revenue figures |
| Cash visibility | Weekly | Daily | Working capital control |
| Competing versions of the report | 3 to 4 | 1 | No more arguing over numbers in committee |
These results assume upfront work on master data: if customer codes differ between CRM and ERP, no tool will join them without a maintained mapping table.
Mini case study
Daniel, CFO of a 250-employee food distribution company in Toronto, consolidates 6 sources every month in 4 days with one FP&A analyst. A loaded FP&A day costs about 650 CAD.
- Time saved: 3.5 days a month, i.e. 42 days a year, worth 27,300 CAD.
- Chosen option: Power BI for 25 users, 27,000 CAD of integration, 5,700 CAD of licences and 5,400 CAD of warehouse per year.
- Net annual gain: 27,300 minus 11,100, i.e. 16,200 CAD.
- Payback: 27,000 divided by 16,200, i.e. about 20 months, before counting the value of a day-4 close in lender conversations.
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If the company wanted to open the dashboard to its 180 sales reps, the custom option at 55,000 CAD would become cheaper from year two.
FAQ
Is Power BI Pro enough, or do we need Premium?
Power BI Pro, at about 19 CAD per user per month, works up to roughly 100 viewers. Beyond that, a dedicated Fabric capacity becomes worth considering, but it often exceeds 5,500 CAD a month.
Can FP&A keep Excel?
Yes. The warehouse can feed connected Excel pivot tables, which keeps habits intact while removing 90% of copy and paste.
How many sources can we connect?
A mid-sized company typically connects 4 to 10 sources. Each standard source (mainstream ERP, CRM, banks through an aggregator) takes 3 to 5 days; an in-house system without an API can take 2 weeks.
Who maintains the dashboard after delivery?
With Power BI, finance owns the reports and the provider owns the warehouse. With custom, plan a maintenance contract; at Kolonell, maintenance runs at 35,000, 75,000 or 120,000 FCFA a month (53, 114 or 183 EUR) depending on the level.
Is a day-4 close realistic?
Yes for companies that have also automated bank reconciliation and supplier invoices. Without those two projects, day 6 is a safer first-year target.
Let's scope your project. We map your sources and users to decide between Power BI and custom, with a 6 to 16 week rollout depending on the option. Detailed quote within 48 h. WhatsApp +221 77 596 93 33.
Mohamed Bah
Fondateur, Kolonell
Passionate about digital and entrepreneurship in Africa, Mohamed has been helping Sénégalese businesses with their digital transformation since 2020. Founder of Kolonell, he believes every SME deserves a professional and accessible online présence.
