The verdict in three sentences
A managing director who receives sales figures 10 days late is steering a Dublin distribution group by the rear-view mirror: stock-outs, excessive discounts and margin drift are spotted too late. Power BI is the right choice if your data is already clean and centralised, with a licence of about 14 USD per user per month and a setup cost of roughly 2,300 to 6,100 EUR. A custom dashboard wins when you must combine a legacy ERP, mixed point-of-sale systems and payment provider data, with fast mobile access for area managers on the road.
Where the 10-day delay comes from
In many mid-sized distribution groups, consolidated figures go through a manual chain: point-of-sale exports from each branch, sent by email, consolidated in Excel by the financial controller, checked, then presented. Each link adds one to three days.
| Step | Typical 2026 situation | With automatic updates |
|---|---|---|
| Point-of-sale data | Weekly manual export per store | Nightly sync |
| Wholesale and B2B sales | ERP entry 3 to 5 days late | Direct ERP read |
| Card and wallet payments | Provider statements downloaded by hand | Automatic daily import |
| Consolidation | 2 to 3 days of controller time per month | Automatic calculation |
| Variance checks | Occasional, at month end | Daily alerts |
| Time from sale to decision | 8 to 12 days | Under 24 hours |
Power BI or custom: 2026 costed comparison
Amounts are 2026 orders of magnitude for a group with 8 to 20 outlets and 15 dashboard users.
| Criterion | Power BI | Kolonell custom dashboard |
|---|---|---|
| Licence | About 14 USD per user per month, roughly 2,300 EUR per year for 15 users | No per-user licence |
| Setup | 2,300 to 6,100 EUR (1.5 M to 4 M FCFA) depending on data sources | 3,810 to 6,100 EUR (2.5 M to 4 M FCFA, simple application) |
| Timeline | 3 to 8 weeks | 4 to 8 weeks |
| ERP and POS connection | Easy with an accessible SQL database, hard otherwise | Connectors built for your tools, even legacy ones |
| Payment provider data | File imports to organise | API integration or automatic import |
| Mobile use | Decent app, heavy reports | Lightweight screens designed for mobile |
| Maintenance | Power BI consultant on demand | 50 to 180 EUR per month (35,000 to 120,000 FCFA) |
| Scalability | Excellent for free-form analysis | Excellent for fixed KPIs and alerts |
Power BI shines at exploratory analysis: a controller freely crossing product families, regions and periods. Custom shines at steering: ten key indicators, always up to date, readable on a phone, with email or messaging alerts when a margin drops below a threshold. Many groups combine both: a shared data warehouse fed automatically, Power BI for analysts, and a custom interface for the board and area managers.
The indicators a distribution MD actually checks
| Indicator | Frequency | Indicative alert threshold |
|---|---|---|
| Revenue per outlet per day | Daily | Gap above 15% versus same period |
| Gross margin by product family | Daily | Drop of more than 2 points |
| Stock-out rate on the top 100 SKUs | Daily | Above 5% |
| Discounts granted per salesperson | Weekly | Beyond commercial policy |
| Wholesale receivables over 30 days | Weekly | Increase above 10% |
| Share of card and wallet payments | Monthly | Trend tracking |
Mini case study
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Conor, managing director of a food distribution group in Dublin (illustrative persona), runs 12 stores and a wholesale depot. His finance team spends 3 days a month on consolidation, about 700 EUR of loaded time. More costly: an undetected stock-out on 20 best-selling SKUs for 6 days costs him about 1% of monthly revenue of 610,000 EUR, or 6,100 EUR. With a custom dashboard at 5,340 EUR and maintenance at 110 EUR per month, first-year cost reaches 6,660 EUR. Avoiding one major stock-out per quarter comfortably pays back the investment.
FAQ
Our tills are old, can we still automate?
In most cases yes: POS software stores sales in a local database or exports a daily file. A small agent installed on the machine uploads the data every night, which takes 1 to 2 weeks of work per POS type.
Is Power BI cheaper in the long run?
For 5 users, the licence stays modest, around 770 EUR per year. From 20 to 30 users it exceeds 3,000 EUR per year, and custom becomes competitive from year two.
Does the data stay confidential?
Yes, with controlled hosting, role-based access and access logging. GDPR applies as soon as identifiable customer data is processed, so EU hosting and a processing record are recommended.
How long until the first version?
A first version with 5 or 6 indicators can be delivered in 4 weeks. The full scope, with alerts and all sources connected, takes 6 to 8 weeks.
Let's scope your project. List your data sources (ERP, POS, payment providers) and your ten priority indicators: we will propose an architecture, a budget and a precise schedule. 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.
