The verdict in three sentences
Power BI is the best choice for a mid-size company that wants rich analysis explored by a finance team already comfortable with Excel. A custom web dashboard wins when KPIs must be read by non-analyst managers, on mobile, with alerts and data entry. In both cases, 60 to 70% of the budget goes into data modelling, not charts.
Why reporting takes 6 days
In a 300-employee company, monthly reporting often relies on manual exports from 4 sources: ERP (sales, purchasing, stock), CRM (sales pipeline), payroll (headcount, salary costs) and bank statements (cash). Each export is reworked in Excel, then consolidated by hand.
| Reporting step (300-employee company, 2026 order of magnitude) | Today | After automation |
|---|---|---|
| Extracting the 4 sources | 1 day | automatic, nightly |
| Adjustments and reconciliations | 2 days | coded rules, 1 to 2 h of checks |
| Multi-entity consolidation | 1.5 days | automatic |
| Formatting and commentary | 1 day | 3 to 4 h of commentary |
| Management sign-off | 0.5 day | 0.5 day |
| Total | 6 days | 1 day |
| KPI frequency | monthly | daily |
Power BI or custom: the real costs
| Item | Power BI | Custom web dashboard |
|---|---|---|
| Licence | EUR 13.10 per user per month (Pro), Premium Per User EUR 22.50 | none |
| Licence cost for 25 users | EUR 3,930 a year (Pro) | EUR 0 |
| Data modelling and connectors | EUR 10,000 to 30,000 | included |
| Interface development | included in Power BI | EUR 25,000 to 50,000 in total |
| Hosting | included (Microsoft 365) | EUR 80 to 250 a month |
| Annual maintenance | EUR 3,000 to 6,000 | EUR 4,000 to 8,000 |
| 3-year total cost (25 users) | EUR 30,800 to 59,800 | EUR 39,900 to 83,000 |
| Time to go live | 6 to 10 weeks | 10 to 16 weeks |
Power BI wins on cost while user numbers stay moderate. Beyond 80 to 100 readers (branch managers, site leads), licences weigh EUR 12,500 to 15,700 a year and the gap narrows sharply. UK and North American CFOs will find comparable licence pricing in GBP and USD.
Choose by use case, not by tool
| Leadership need | Power BI | Custom |
|---|---|---|
| Free exploration by financial controllers | excellent | limited to built views |
| Mobile access for 50 field managers | fine, licence per reader | excellent, no licence |
| Entering forecasts or comments | complex (Power Apps on top) | native |
| Automatic email or SMS alerts | possible, advanced setup | native, any business rule |
| Embedding in an internal or client portal | Power BI Embedded, costly | native |
| Finance team autonomy | high once trained (2 to 3 days) | depends on the contractor |
A common pattern: a shared data warehouse, Power BI for finance and controlling, and a light web app for site managers.
Mini case study
Isabelle, CFO of a 300-employee distribution company in Lille, ties up 2 people for 6 days every month on reporting: 12 person-days at EUR 450 fully loaded, EUR 5,400 a month or EUR 64,800 a year. She chooses Power BI for 25 users with EUR 22,000 of modelling, EUR 3,930 of licences and EUR 4,000 of annual maintenance. Reporting drops to 1 day for 2 people: 2 person-days, or EUR 10,800 a year. Annual saving: EUR 54,000. First-year cost: EUR 29,930. Payback in under 7 months, before counting the value of daily stock and cash indicators.
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FAQ
Is Power BI enough for a 300-employee company?
Yes in most cases, with the Pro licence at EUR 13.10 per user per month. Premium Per User (EUR 22.50) becomes useful for frequent refreshes or tens of millions of rows.
Do we need a data warehouse?
From 3 sources upward, yes: an intermediate database (Azure SQL, PostgreSQL) at EUR 50 to 200 a month makes reconciliations reliable and removes dependence on exports.
How long to train the finance team?
Allow 2 to 3 days of training for advanced Excel users, then half a day per quarter to evolve reports.
Can we connect a legacy ERP?
Yes, through a scheduled database or file extraction, for EUR 3,000 to 8,000 depending on how well the ERP is documented.
Where is the data stored?
Power BI lets you choose a data region (Europe, UK, US); a custom dashboard can be hosted in your region for EUR 80 to 250 a month.
Let's scope your project. List your data sources, number of users and key KPIs, and we will price both the Power BI and the custom option, with an indicative budget and go-live timeline. 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.
