Accessing and Analyzing Power BI Semantic Models in Excel

With a centralized and potentially certified Power BI semantic model hosted in the Power BI service, Excel users with Free, Pro, and Premium Per User (PPU) licenses can take full advantage of Excel’s familiar interface as well as advanced features and use cases, such as cube formulas and custom DAX queries.

Although Excel reports, like paginated reports, are only a complementary option to Power BI reports and dashboards, there are real-world use cases, particularly in accounting and finance, that require the cell-level control that Excel offers. Additionally, while Power BI Desktop is often a completely new application to users if it’s even installed on their device, Excel reporting and analysis enables users to quickly leverage years of experience.

In this scenario, an experienced Excel user with deep business knowledge can leverage the performance, scale, and automatic refresh of the published Power...