Microsoft Power BI Data Modelling and DAX Training Course

Course overview

Many Power BI reports fail not because visuals are poorly designed, but because the underlying model produces inconsistent totals, slow refreshes, ambiguous relationships, and measures that cannot be trusted. Analysts and BI professionals are often asked to combine sales, finance, operations, and customer data into a single semantic model, then answer questions such as year-on-year performance, budget variance, retention, margin, and rolling forecasts. Doing this reliably requires more than importing tables and writing basic formulas: it requires disciplined dimensional modelling and a working command of DAX evaluation behaviour.

This course teaches participants how to design performant Power BI data models and create robust DAX measures for business reporting. Participants build star schemas, define fact and dimension tables, configure relationship cardinality and filter direction, create a proper date table, and manage role-playing dimensions. They then develop measures using CALCULATE, filter context, row context, iterators, variables, time-intelligence patterns, virtual tables, and relationship functions. The course also addresses model optimisation, measure organisation, validation, and deployment considerations for Power BI semantic models.

Delivery combines instructor-led demonstrations with sustained hands-on modelling work in Power BI Desktop, DAX Studio, and Tabular Editor. Participants work through a connected business case involving transactional sales, targets, product, customer, and calendar data. By the end of the week, each participant leaves with a documented Power BI semantic model, a reusable measure library, performance-checking techniques, and a practical modelling checklist they can apply to an existing reporting solution.

The course is designed for professionals who already use Power BI and need to move from report building to dependable analytical modelling. It is particularly valuable where reports are shared across teams, management decisions depend on reconciled metrics, or datasets have grown beyond simple flat-file analysis.

Course objectives

By the end of this course, participants will be able to:

• Design a star-schema Power BI model with clearly defined fact, dimension, and bridge tables
• Configure relationship cardinality, cross-filter direction, active relationships, and role-playing dimensions
• Create a marked date table and implement calendar and fiscal time-intelligence calculations
• Write DAX measures using CALCULATE, filter modifiers, variables, and iterator functions
• Diagnose row context and filter context to correct inaccurate aggregation and percentage measures
• Build reusable KPI measures for variance, contribution, rolling periods, ranking, and share of total
• Profile and improve semantic-model performance using Power BI Performance Analyzer and DAX Studio
• Produce a documented semantic model and governed measure library for a business reporting case

Benefits of attending

Target competencies

Who should attend

• Power BI Developers — who need to build scalable semantic models and reliable DAX measures
• Data Analysts — who must turn operational data into reconciled management metrics
• Business Intelligence Analysts — who maintain shared datasets used by multiple reports and teams
• Finance Analysts — who need robust actual, budget, variance, and period-comparison calculations
• Data Engineers — who prepare data for Power BI and need to understand downstream model behaviour
• Reporting Managers — who oversee KPI definitions and need stronger governance over analytical datasets

Requirements and prerequisites

Participants should be comfortable using Power BI Desktop to import data, shape tables in Power Query, create basic visuals, and publish or work with reports in the Power BI Service. They should understand simple spreadsheet-style calculations, common business measures such as revenue and margin, and the difference between rows and columns in a table. Some experience creating basic DAX measures, such as SUM or COUNTROWS, is helpful but not essential. SQL, Python, advanced mathematics, data engineering experience, and prior use of DAX Studio or Tabular Editor are not required.

Training methodology

The course uses short instructor-led explanations followed by guided builds in Power BI Desktop. Participants model a realistic sales and planning dataset, test relationship behaviour, and write DAX measures incrementally rather than copying isolated formulas. Practical labs use DAX Studio to inspect query performance and Tabular Editor to organise measures and metadata. Group reviews focus on resolving conflicting KPI definitions and validating totals. On the final day, participants apply the methods to a capstone semantic model and create an action plan for improving a current workplace dataset.

Course outline

Day 1: Dimensional modelling for Power BI

• Power BI semantic model architecture and storage modes
• Fact tables, dimension tables, and grain definition
• Star schema design versus single flat-table reporting
• Surrogate keys, business keys, and data integrity checks
• One-to-many, many-to-many, and bidirectional relationships
• Active and inactive relationships in reporting scenarios
• Date-table design, marking, and fiscal calendar attributes

Workshop: Build a star-schema sales model from transactional, product, customer, target, and calendar tables, then document each table's grain and relationships.

Day 2: DAX foundations and evaluation context

• Measures, calculated columns, calculated tables, and when to use each
• DAX aggregation functions including SUM, DISTINCTCOUNT, and DIVIDE
• Row context, filter context, and context transition
• CALCULATE as the core filter-context modification function
• Filter modifiers including ALL, REMOVEFILTERS, ALLEXCEPT, and KEEPFILTERS
• Variables for readable and maintainable DAX measures
• Iterator functions including SUMX, AVERAGEX, and RANKX

Workshop: Create a core measure pack for revenue, cost, gross margin, margin percentage, transactions, and average order value, validating results against source totals.

Day 3: Business calculations and time intelligence

• Standard calendar calculations with DATEADD, SAMEPERIODLASTYEAR, and TOTALYTD
• Fiscal year, fiscal quarter, and custom period calculations
• Year-to-date, month-to-date, and rolling-period measure patterns
• Actual versus budget and variance percentage calculations
• Market share, contribution, and percent-of-total measures
• Dynamic ranking and Top N analysis using RANKX
• Virtual tables with SUMMARIZE, ADDCOLUMNS, and VALUES

Workshop: Develop a management KPI pack covering actuals, budget, prior-year comparisons, rolling 12-month performance, rankings, and contribution analysis.

Day 4: Advanced relationships and model performance

• USERELATIONSHIP for alternative date and role-playing dimensions
• TREATAS for applying filters across disconnected tables
• Disconnected parameter tables and selector-driven measures
• Many-to-many modelling patterns and bridge-table design
• Calculation groups and measure organisation in Tabular Editor
• Performance Analyzer for identifying slow visual queries
• DAX Studio query plans, server timings, and measure optimisation

Workshop: Repair a deliberately slow and ambiguous model, then compare query timings before and after relationship, DAX, and measure-organisation improvements.

Day 5: Governed semantic models and capstone application

• Measure naming, display folders, descriptions, and format strings
• KPI definition documentation and business-rule traceability
• Reconciliation testing between source data and Power BI measures
• Row-level security model considerations and filter propagation
• Power BI Service datasets, endorsed semantic models, and reuse
• Deployment considerations for development, test, and production workspaces
• Semantic-model review checklist and improvement roadmap

Workshop: Complete and present a capstone Power BI semantic model with documented relationships, a governed measure library, reconciliation tests, and a workplace application plan.

Tools & standards covered

Microsoft Power BI Desktop, Microsoft Power BI Service, DAX Studio, Tabular Editor

A typical training day

Live online deliveries follow the same structure in the East Africa Time zone, with shorter screen blocks and longer breaks.

What the fee includes

How you can take this course

Certification

Participants who complete the full five days receive the Skillset Development Certificate of Completion, stating the course title, course code, dates and delivery format — suitable for professional-development records and employer reimbursement.

Frequently asked questions