Power BI vs custom dashboard for a CFO in London (2026)

The verdict in three sentences

For a London distribution group consolidating 5 subsidiaries in Excel over 6 days every month, Power BI costs about 11 GBP per user per month plus a 15,000 to 35,000 GBP implementation, and remains the best choice when data comes cleanly out of Sage Intacct, Xero or NetSuite. A custom dashboard at 30,000 to 60,000 GBP takes the lead when subsidiary data must first be collected, mapped and approved before it is displayed. The choice depends on your data sources, not on how pretty the charts look.

The real cost of Excel consolidation

In a group with 5 subsidiaries across the UK and Europe, each entity closes in its own system: Sage, Xero, a local ERP, or a spreadsheet kept by an outsourced bookkeeper. The financial controller pulls trial balances, eliminates intercompany flows, fixes charts of accounts and rebuilds the management pack. Six days later, the board gets numbers that are already three weeks old.

The time is visible. The hidden cost is stock, pricing and credit decisions taken three weeks late in a sector where margins sit around 8 to 15%.

Power BI or custom: compare by data sources

Power BI excels when data is clean, accessible and structured the same way in every subsidiary. It becomes expensive in modelling time when each entity has its own chart of accounts, when part of the data stays in Excel, and when the CFO wants an approval step before publication.

In London, where consulting rates are high, Power BI with a good partner is the rational default for most groups. Custom makes sense when every subsidiary runs a different tool and the controller spends days fixing data, because the investment must first go into collection and reliability. A nearshore build with a French-speaking agency brings the custom range down by 30 to 45%.

Connecting Sage, Xero and NetSuite: what to plan

Connectors and mapping often represent 40 to 60% of the total budget, whether you choose Power BI or custom. That is where the project is won or lost.

Mini case study

Illustrative scenario: James, CFO of a consumer goods distribution group in London, consolidates 5 subsidiaries: two on Sage, two on Xero and one on Excel. His two controllers spend 6 days a month on consolidation at a loaded cost of about 450 GBP per day, or 64,800 GBP a year. A Power BI build at 28,000 GBP, with a mapping layer for the Excel entity, cuts consolidation to 2 days, 21,600 GBP a year. The gain is 43,200 GBP a year minus 2,000 GBP of licences and 6,000 GBP of consultant days: 35,200 GBP net, a payback of about 10 months. A custom build would only beat this if James also needed subsidiary input forms and approval workflows.

FAQ

Is Power BI Pro enough or do we need Premium?

Pro at about 11 GBP per user per month covers most groups under 50 report users. Premium per user, about 19 GBP, becomes relevant for larger datasets or more frequent refreshes.

Do we need to harmonise charts of accounts first?

Not necessarily: a mapping table per subsidiary works in 80% of cases. Full harmonisation is desirable but can take 6 to 12 months.

How long until the dashboard is live?

Plan 8 to 12 weeks for 5 subsidiaries with 2 or 3 different sources. The first two closes run in parallel with Excel to validate the figures.

Can we combine both approaches?

Yes: a custom layer collects, checks and consolidates the data, then Power BI displays it for analysts. It costs about 10 to 20% more but keeps Power BI's analytical flexibility.

Where is the financial data hosted?

In a UK or EU cloud region of your choice. UK GDPR applies mainly to customer and employee data, which should be excluded or aggregated in the management pack.

Let's scope your project. Tell us your number of subsidiaries, accounting systems and key indicators, and we will price the scope, an indicative budget and an 8 to 12 week go-live. Detailed quote within 48 h. WhatsApp +221 77 596 93 33.