The verdict in three sentences
For a mid-market company consolidating 5 sources (ERP, CRM, payroll, production, bank), the cost of an executive dashboard depends first on the data warehouse, not the visualisation tool. Power BI with EUR 15,000 to 30,000 excl. VAT of modelling covers 80% of a leadership team's needs for a 3-year cost of about EUR 46,000 to 74,000. A custom build at EUR 35,000 to 60,000 excl. VAT pays off when reporting must reach customers, franchisees or hundreds of users, or embed calculation rules a BI tool expresses poorly.
The Monday morning problem
In a 400-employee company, the CEO's weekly report is often an Excel workbook assembled by financial control on Friday and Monday morning: revenue from the ERP, pipeline from the CRM, payroll costs from the payroll system, line output from production software and cash from bank statements. That is 2 days of manual work a month, discrepancies between versions and figures already 3 to 5 days old by the time of the leadership meeting.
| Source | Key data for the CEO | Current extraction | Automated connection |
|---|---|---|---|
| ERP (Sage X3, Cegid, SAP Business One) | Revenue, margin, order book | Manual Excel export | SQL connector or API, hourly refresh |
| CRM (Salesforce, HubSpot) | Weighted pipeline, conversion rate | CSV export | Native API |
| Payroll (Silae, ADP) | Payroll cost, headcount, absenteeism | PDF or monthly export | Scheduled monthly export |
| Production (MES) | OEE, scrap, volumes | Screenshot or export | Read-only SQL database |
| Banks (4 accounts) | Consolidated cash | Online statements | EBICS feed or PSD2 aggregator |
The data warehouse, on Azure SQL, PostgreSQL or Snowflake, centralises these flows, keeps history and applies business rules once. It accounts for 50 to 70% of the effort, whichever presentation option you choose.
Power BI or custom: the 3-year numbers
Assumption: 40 users (leadership team, managers, financial control), hourly refresh, 12 to 15 key indicators and 6 detailed analysis pages.
| Item | Power BI + warehouse | Custom build |
|---|---|---|
| Modelling and data warehouse | EUR 15,000 to 30,000 excl. VAT | included |
| Presentation application development | included (Power BI reports) | EUR 35,000 to 60,000 excl. VAT (total project) |
| Licences | EUR 12.10 per user per month, i.e. EUR 5,808 a year for 40 | EUR 0 |
| Warehouse and application hosting | EUR 150 to 400 a month | EUR 250 to 600 a month |
| Maintenance and enhancements | EUR 2,500 to 4,000 a year | EUR 5,000 to 9,000 a year |
| Time to go live | 6 to 10 weeks | 12 to 16 weeks |
| Total 3-year cost | about EUR 46,000 to 74,000 | about EUR 59,000 to 109,000 |
Power BI wins for internal use up to about 150 users. Beyond that, or for a portal aimed at third parties (customers, distributor network), licence costs and customisation limits tip the balance towards custom, which also gives full control over mobile ergonomics and alerts.
The criteria that really decide
Choose Power BI if your teams already work in Microsoft 365, if financial control wants to build its own analyses and if reporting stays internal. Choose custom if you need simulations (pricing, capacity), action workflows triggered from the dashboard, white-labelling for customers or offline mode. Either way, require a KPI dictionary approved by the leadership team before the first line of code: it stops meetings from debating the definition of margin.
Mini case study
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Philippe, CEO of a 400-employee food manufacturer near Nantes, has his reporting produced by a financial controller who spends 16 hours a month on it at EUR 65 per loaded hour: EUR 1,040 a month, EUR 12,480 a year. With Power BI, a data warehouse and EUR 22,000 excl. VAT of modelling, the report is ready every Monday at 7 am with no manual work. Annual recurring cost: EUR 5,808 in licences, EUR 3,000 hosting and EUR 3,000 maintenance. The time freed almost covers the recurring cost; the real return comes elsewhere. As an estimate, spotting a 2-point margin slip on a product range with EUR 6 million revenue three weeks earlier preserves about EUR 2,300 of margin per week, close to EUR 7,000 per useful alert.
FAQ
Is Power BI Pro enough or do we need Premium capacity?
For 40 internal users, per-user licensing is enough, with 8 scheduled refreshes a day. Dedicated capacity only pays off beyond 250 to 300 users or with volumes of several hundred million rows.
How long does it take to connect the 5 sources?
Between 4 and 8 weeks depending on ERP and production software accessibility. CRM and bank connections are the fastest, 3 to 5 days each.
Can we start with Power BI and move to custom later?
Yes, provided the data warehouse is built independently of the tool. That warehouse, 50 to 70% of the initial investment, is then fully reused.
Will the CEO be able to view the dashboard on mobile?
Yes in both cases. Power BI has a native mobile app; a custom build allows a dedicated interface with push alerts on 3 to 5 critical indicators.
Who maintains the indicators over time?
Plan for an internal owner at 2 or 3 days a month and an external maintenance contract of EUR 2,500 to 9,000 a year depending on the option, to absorb changes in the sources.
Let's scope your project. List your sources, number of users and your 10 priority indicators: we will price both options, Power BI with a warehouse or custom, with a 6 to 16 week plan. 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.
