SQLite to Power BI Financial Dashboard

Connect a SQLite database to Power BI and build an interactive financial dashboard.

Introduction

30 Second Summary

Every company generates thousands of financial transactions. But raw numbers sitting in a database do not tell you whether the business is healthy, overspending, or growing.

In this project, you will connect a SQLite database to Power BI Desktop through an ODBC driver and build an interactive financial dashboard that visualizes revenue trends, expense breakdowns, and budget performance.

What You'll Build

You open your finished dashboard, click on a department name, and instantly see its revenue trend, biggest expenses, and whether it is over or under budget for the year.

By the end of this project, you'll have:

  • A live ODBC connection from Power BI to your SQLite database, proving you can bridge any SQL database to a BI tool without exporting CSV files.
  • KPI cards and trend charts that show total revenue, expenses, net income, and profit margin at a glance, with interactive slicers that filter every visual by department or year.
  • Hands-on experience writing DAX measures and building a data model with relationships so Power BI calculates financial metrics correctly across departments and time periods.
  • Secret Mission: A drill-through page that lets stakeholders click on any department and see its detailed transaction history.

Are there any prerequisites?

This project assumes you already have DB Browser for SQLite installed with the financial_data.db dataset loaded. You also need basic SQL knowledge (SELECT statements and table relationships).

Before We Start

Before we dive in, let's lock in what you're about to build and why it matters. Committing to the goal now makes every step that follows intentional rather than mechanical.

Install Power BI Desktop and the SQLite ODBC Driver

Power BI Desktop has no native connector for SQLite databases. To read data from your financial_data.db file, Power BI needs to speak through an ODBC driver that translates between the two.

In this step, you will install Power BI Desktop and the SQLite ODBC Driver so that Windows recognizes how to bridge the two tools together.

In this step, get ready to:
  • Install Power BI Desktop (64-bit).
  • Install the SQLite ODBC Driver (64-bit).
  • Verify the driver is registered in Windows ODBC.
Download and install Power BI Desktop

Power BI Desktop is a free Windows application for building interactive data reports. You will download the 64-bit installer from Microsoft's Download Center.

  • Open your browser and navigate to the Power BI Desktop download page:
  • https://www.microsoft.com/download/details.aspx?id=58494
  • Click Download on the page.
  • Select the 64-bit version (the file ending in _x64.exe) and click Next to begin the download.
  • Once the download finishes, run the installer file.
  • Follow the setup wizard by clicking Next through each screen and accepting the defaults.
  • Click Finish when the setup wizard completes.

Why 64-bit only?

Microsoft no longer supports a 32-bit version of Power BI Desktop. Only the 64-bit installer receives updates and security patches.

  • Press the Windows key to open your search bar.
  • Type Power BI Desktop and press Enter to launch it.

✔️ I see the welcome screen

Power BI Desktop is installed and ready to go. You can close the welcome dialog for now.

ⓧ It won't open or I see an error

  • Make sure you downloaded the 64-bit version (not 32-bit).
  • Confirm you are running Windows 10 or later. Power BI Desktop does not support older Windows versions.
  • If you see a prompt about Internet Explorer or WebView2, allow the installer to install the WebView2 component and try launching again.
  • help me troubleshoot Power BI Desktop not opening on my machine
Download and install the SQLite ODBC Driver

The ODBC driver acts as a translator between Power BI and your SQLite database file. Without it, Power BI has no way to read .db files.

  • Open your browser and navigate to the SQLite ODBC Driver download page:
  • http://www.ch-werner.de/sqliteodbc/
  • Find and click the link for sqliteodbc_w64.exe under the "Current version" section.
  • Run the downloaded sqliteodbc_w64.exe installer.
  • Click through the installer using the default settings and click Close when it finishes.

What does this installer do?

The installer registers a driver called SQLite3 ODBC Driver with Windows. This registration is what allows any ODBC-aware application (like Power BI) to connect to SQLite database files.

Why not just export a CSV?

A live ODBC connection is how professional analysts connect databases to BI tools. It keeps your dashboard in sync with the source data without manual export steps every time the data changes.

Verify the driver is registered in Windows

The installer should have registered the driver with Windows automatically. You will confirm this by opening the ODBC Data Source Administrator.

  • Press the Windows key to open your search bar.
  • Type ODBC and select ODBC Data Sources (64-bit) from the results.
  • Click the Drivers tab at the top of the window.

Before you look at the list, take a guess: what driver name do you expect to see?

✔️ I see SQLite3 ODBC Driver in the list

The driver is registered and ready. Power BI will be able to find it when you set up the connection in the next step.

ⓧ I don't see it in the list

  • Make sure you opened ODBC Data Sources (64-bit), not the 32-bit version. The 64-bit version lives at C:\Windows\System32\odbcad32.exe.
  • Confirm you downloaded sqliteodbc_w64.exe (the 64-bit installer), not sqliteodbc.exe (the 32-bit installer).
  • Try running the sqliteodbc_w64.exe installer again. It is safe to re-run.
  • help me figure out why the SQLite3 ODBC Driver is not showing up in my 64-bit ODBC administrator

You should see SQLite3 ODBC Driver listed in the Drivers tab. This confirms that Windows knows about the driver and Power BI can use it.

Both tools are installed and the bridge between them is in place. Next up, you will connect Power BI directly to your SQLite database and load the financial tables.

Connect Power BI to Your SQLite Database

Your tools are installed and ready. Now it's time to prove that data can flow from a SQL database into a BI tool without exporting a single CSV.

Power BI has no built-in SQLite connector. Instead, you will use the ODBC driver you installed in the previous step as a bridge. Power BI sends a request through ODBC, ODBC talks to your SQLite file, and the tables appear inside Power BI as if they were native.

In this step, get ready to:
  • Open the ODBC connector in Power BI and enter a connection string pointing to your database file.
  • Authenticate and select all four tables in the Navigator window.
  • Verify the tables appear in the Fields pane and Model view.
Open the ODBC connector and enter your connection string

Power BI needs to know which driver to use and where your database file lives. You provide both pieces of information in a single connection string.

  • In Power BI Desktop, click Get Data in the Home ribbon.
  • In the Get Data dialog, select the Other category on the left.
  • Select ODBC from the list, then click Connect.

The From ODBC dialog appears with a Data source name (DSN) dropdown.

  • Leave the DSN dropdown set to (None).
  • Expand Advanced options.
  • In the Connection string (non-credential properties) field, paste your connection string:
Driver={SQLite3 ODBC Driver};Database=[[DB_PATH="C:\Users\YourName\path\to\financial_data.db"]];
  • Click OK.

What does this connection string do?

The Driver={SQLite3 ODBC Driver} part tells Windows which ODBC driver to use. The Database= part points to the exact file path of your financial_data.db on disk.

To find your file path, open DB Browser for SQLite and look at the title bar. It shows the full path to the currently open database file.

Finding your database file path

If you are unsure where your financial_data.db file lives, open File Explorer and search for financial_data.db. Right-click the file, select Properties, and copy the full path shown in the Location field. Append \financial_data.db to get the complete file path.

Authenticate and load your tables

SQLite databases have no username or password. Power BI still asks you to choose an authentication method before it connects.

  • In the authentication dialog, select Default or Custom from the left panel.
  • Leave all credential fields empty.
  • Click Connect.

The Navigator window appears, listing the tables inside your SQLite database.

  • Check the box next to departments.
  • Check the box next to accounts.
  • Check the box next to transactions.
  • Check the box next to budgets.
  • Click Load to import the data into Power BI.

Why Load instead of Transform Data?

The Load button imports data directly into your model. Transform Data opens the Power Query Editor for cleaning first. Your SQLite data is already well-structured, so you can load it straight in.

Power BI takes a moment to load the data. When it finishes, you land in Report view.

Seeing a connection error?

If Power BI reports it cannot find the driver, confirm that you installed the 64-bit version of the SQLite ODBC driver (sqliteodbc_w64.exe). Power BI Desktop is 64-bit only and cannot use the 32-bit driver.

If the error mentions the database file cannot be found, double-check the file path in your connection string. Make sure every backslash is present and the filename ends in .db.

help me fix my ODBC connection error in Power BI

Verify your tables loaded successfully

Before you move on, confirm that all four tables made it into Power BI.

  • Look at the Fields pane on the right side of the screen.
  • Confirm you see four tables listed: departments, accounts, transactions, and budgets.
  • Click the arrow next to any table to expand it and see its columns.

What do you expect to see when you switch to Model view? Think about it before clicking.

  • Click the Model view icon (the middle icon on the left sidebar, shaped like three connected boxes).

You see all four tables displayed as separate boxes. Power BI may have auto-detected some relationships (shown as lines between tables), but you will set these up properly in the next step.

What is Model view?

Model view shows your tables as a diagram. It is where you define how tables relate to each other. Right now the tables are floating independently. In the next step, you will draw the connections that let Power BI calculate totals correctly across departments, accounts, and time periods.

Tables not showing in the Fields pane?

If the Fields pane is empty, the load may have failed silently. Click Home then Transform Data to open Power Query Editor. Check if any queries show an error icon. A common cause is a typo in the connection string path.

help me figure out why my tables did not load into Power BI

Your data is now live inside Power BI. Next up, you will connect these tables with relationships and write DAX measures that calculate revenue, expenses, and profit.

Build the Data Model and Measures

Your four tables are loaded into Power BI, but right now they are completely disconnected. If you tried to build a chart using columns from different tables, Power BI would produce incorrect totals because it has no idea how the tables relate to each other.

In this step, you will wire the tables together with relationships and create DAX measures that calculate revenue, expenses, and profit. Once the model is built, Power BI can correctly slice financial data by department or time period.

In this step, get ready to:
  • Define relationships between all four tables in Model view.
  • Create DAX measures for revenue, expenses, net income, and profit margin.
  • Verify the model produces correct financial totals.
Create relationships between tables

Without relationships, Power BI treats each table as an isolated island. You need to tell it which columns connect the tables so it can filter and aggregate across them correctly.

  • Click the Model view icon on the left sidebar of Power BI Desktop (the third icon down, shaped like connected boxes).
  • You should see all four tables displayed as boxes on the canvas.

Now create the four relationships by dragging columns between tables. Each drag creates a many-to-one relationship automatically.

  • Drag department_id from the transactions table onto department_id in the departments table.
  • Drag account_id from the transactions table onto account_id in the accounts table.
  • Drag department_id from the budgets table onto department_id in the departments table.
  • Drag account_id from the budgets table onto account_id in the accounts table.

You should now see lines connecting the tables on the canvas. Each line has a 1 on the dimension side and a * on the fact side, indicating many-to-one cardinality.

What do these relationships do?

Relationships tell Power BI how to filter across tables. When you later slice by a department name, Power BI follows the relationship line from departments into transactions and budgets to show only matching rows.

Without these links, every chart would show totals for the entire dataset regardless of what filter you apply.

Don't see all four tables on the canvas?

If a table is missing from Model view, it may not have loaded correctly in the previous step. Switch back to Report view, click Home > Get Data > ODBC, and reload the missing table.

If dragging produces an error about unique values, double-check you are dragging from the fact table (transactions or budgets) to the dimension table (departments or accounts), not the other way around.

Help me fix my relationship in Power BI Model view

Create revenue and expense measures

Relationships are set. Now you need measures that calculate meaningful financial numbers. DAX measures are formulas that compute values dynamically based on whatever filters are active in your report.

  • In the Fields pane on the right, right-click the transactions table.
  • Select New measure from the context menu.
  • In the formula bar that appears at the top of the canvas, type the following DAX formula and press Enter:
Total Revenue = CALCULATE(SUM(transactions[amount]), accounts[account_type] = "Revenue")
  • Right-click the transactions table again and select New measure.
  • Type the following formula and press Enter:
Total Expenses = CALCULATE(SUM(transactions[amount]), accounts[account_type] = "Expense")

Both measures should now appear under the transactions table in the Fields pane with a small calculator icon.

  • Switch to Report view by clicking the first icon on the left sidebar.
  • From the Fields pane, drag Total Revenue onto the blank canvas.

Power BI creates a card visual showing approximately $4.7M. This confirms your relationship between transactions and accounts is working correctly, because the measure filters by account_type which lives in the accounts table.

What does CALCULATE do here?

CALCULATE evaluates an expression (the SUM of all transaction amounts) with a filter applied. The filter accounts[account_type] = "Revenue" narrows the sum to only revenue transactions.

This works because the relationship you created between transactions and accounts lets Power BI filter transactions using a column from the accounts table.

Seeing a blank card or an error?

If the card shows blank, confirm that your relationship between transactions[account_id] and accounts[account_id] exists in Model view. Without it, the filter on account_type cannot reach the transactions table.

If you see a syntax error, make sure you typed the formula exactly as shown, including the double quotes around "Revenue".

Help me debug my Total Revenue DAX measure

Create derived and budget measures

With revenue and expenses working, you can now build measures that derive from them. These give you net income, profit margin, and budget variance in a single click.

  • Switch back to Report view if you are not already there.
  • Right-click the transactions table in the Fields pane and select New measure.
  • Enter the following formula and press Enter:
Net Income = [Total Revenue] - [Total Expenses]
  • Right-click transactions again and select New measure. Enter:
Profit Margin = DIVIDE([Net Income], [Total Revenue], 0)

You should now see four measures listed under the transactions table in the Fields pane. Delete the card visual you created earlier (click it, then press Delete) so the canvas is clean for the next step.

  • Create one final measure for budget comparison. Right-click transactions and select New measure. Enter:
Budget Variance = [Total Expenses] - SUM(budgets[annual_budget])

What does Budget Variance tell you?

A positive Budget Variance means the company is overspending relative to its budget. A negative value means spending is under budget.

This measure subtracts the planned budget from actual expenses. When you later filter by department, it shows exactly which departments are over or under their allocated budget.

Before you move on, predict what you will see: if you drag Total Revenue onto the canvas again, do you expect a higher or lower number than $4.7M?

  • Drag Total Revenue from the Fields pane onto the canvas to verify the model.

You should see the same value around $4.7M. The number has not changed because no new data was added. What changed is that Power BI now has five measures ready to power your dashboard.

  • Click the card visual and press Delete to clear the canvas for the next step.

Net Income or Profit Margin showing 0?

Double-check that your Total Revenue and Total Expenses measures both return non-zero values by dragging each one onto the canvas individually. If one shows 0, the issue is in that measure's formula.

Make sure you used square brackets [Total Revenue] (a measure reference) rather than transactions[Total Revenue] (which would look for a column named Total Revenue).

Help me fix my derived DAX measures

Your data model is fully wired. Next up, you will use these measures to build the actual dashboard visuals with KPI cards, trend lines, and expense breakdowns.

Build the Dashboard Visuals

Your data model is wired up and your DAX measures are ready to calculate revenue, expenses, and profit on the fly.

Numbers sitting in tables do not tell stories. Visuals reveal seasonal revenue patterns, highlight which departments spend the most, and surface budget overruns at a glance. In this step, you will turn your measures into KPI cards, a revenue trend line, and an expense breakdown chart.

In this step, get ready to:
  • Add four KPI Card visuals showing Total Revenue, Total Expenses, Net Income, and Profit Margin.
  • Build a Line Chart showing monthly revenue trends with seasonal patterns.
  • Create a Clustered Bar Chart breaking down expenses by category.
Add KPI Card visuals

Card visuals display a single number prominently, making them perfect for headline metrics like total revenue or profit margin. You will place four of these across the top of your report canvas.

  • Switch to Report view by clicking the top icon on the left sidebar (it looks like a bar chart).
  • In the Visualizations pane on the right, click the Card visual (it looks like a number with "123" on it).
  • A blank card appears on the canvas. In the Fields pane, expand the transactions table and drag Total Revenue into the card.
  • Drag the card to the top-left area of the canvas and resize it to about one quarter of the page width.

You should see a large number around $4.7M displayed on your card.

  • Repeat the process three more times to create cards for Total Expenses, Net Income, and Profit Margin.
  • For each new card, click an empty area of the canvas first (to deselect the previous card), then click the Card visual again in the Visualizations pane.
  • Arrange all four cards in a row across the top of the canvas.
  • Click on the Profit Margin card to select it.
  • In the Visualizations pane, click the Format visual tab (the paint roller icon).
  • Expand Callout value, then set Display units to None and set Value decimal places to 2.
  • Under the same formatting area, toggle on Format style and set it to show as a percentage if available, or note the value displays as a decimal (e.g., 0.35 means 35%).

Your top row should now show four cards with financial KPIs clearly visible.

What are KPI cards?

KPI stands for Key Performance Indicator. These single-number cards give stakeholders the headline story before they look at any chart.

Financial analysts put revenue, expenses, net income, and profit margin at the top because those four numbers answer the fundamental question: is this company making money?

Card showing a blank or an error?

Make sure you dragged the measure (shown with a calculator icon) from the transactions table, not a raw column. Measures have a calculator icon next to them in the Fields pane.

If you see "Error" on the card, your DAX formula may have a typo. Click on the measure in the Fields pane to open it in the formula bar and double-check the spelling of table and column names.

Help me figure out why my Power BI card visual is blank

Add a Line Chart for revenue trends

A line chart is the standard way to show how a metric changes over time. Here you will plot monthly revenue to reveal seasonal patterns in the data.

  • Click an empty area of the canvas below your KPI cards to deselect everything.
  • In the Visualizations pane, click the Line chart visual (a line going up with dots on it).
  • A blank line chart appears on the canvas. From the Fields pane, expand the transactions table and drag transaction_date into the X-axis well.
  • Drag Total Revenue (the measure with the calculator icon) into the Y-axis well.

Power BI auto-groups dates into a hierarchy (Year > Quarter > Month). You should see a line with clear seasonal patterns: Q4 spikes from holiday spending, summer dips, and year-over-year growth.

  • Resize the line chart so it fills roughly the left two-thirds of the space below your cards.
  • Hover over any data point on the line to confirm you see a tooltip with the exact revenue value for that period.

Why does the line show spikes and dips?

The dataset has realistic seasonality built in. Revenue spikes in Q4 because of holiday-season sales, then dips during summer months. Year-over-year growth means 2025 values are higher than 2024.

This is exactly the kind of pattern a financial analyst looks for when reporting to stakeholders.

Line chart showing a flat line or no data?

If you see a single flat line, Power BI might be summarizing all dates into one point. Click the small down arrow next to transaction_date in the X-axis well and make sure it is set to the date hierarchy (not "Count" or "First").

If the chart is completely empty, check that Total Revenue (the measure) is in the Y-axis, not the raw amount column.

Help me fix my Power BI line chart that shows no data

Add a Clustered Bar Chart for expenses

A bar chart is ideal for comparing categories side by side. You will use one to show which expense categories cost the most, making it easy to spot the biggest cost drivers at a glance.

  • Click an empty area of the canvas to deselect the line chart.
  • In the Visualizations pane, click the Clustered bar chart visual (horizontal bars stacked next to each other).
  • From the Fields pane, expand the accounts table and drag account_name into the Y-axis well.
  • Drag Total Expenses (the measure from the transactions table) into the X-axis well.

The chart shows bars for each expense account. Salaries will dominate as the longest bar because payroll is typically the largest expense category for any company.

  • Position the bar chart to the right of or below the line chart, filling the remaining canvas space.
  • Hover over the longest bar to confirm the tooltip shows the expense category name and the exact dollar amount.

Why are revenue accounts showing in the bar chart?

The Total Expenses measure uses a CALCULATE filter that only sums transactions where account_type = "Expense". Revenue accounts appear in the Y-axis labels but show zero or blank values because the measure filters them out.

If you want to hide those empty bars, you can add a visual-level filter. Click the bar chart, expand Filters on this visual in the Filters pane, drag account_type in, and select only Expense.

Bar chart showing all zeros?

Check that you dragged the Total Expenses measure (calculator icon) into the X-axis, not a raw column like amount.

Also verify the relationships are set up correctly in Model view. If accounts is not linked to transactions, the measure cannot filter by account type and will return zero.

Help me troubleshoot my Power BI bar chart showing zeros

Before you move on, take a moment to predict what you expect to see on your finished report page. Do you have four cards at the top, a line chart in the middle, and a bar chart below or beside it?

Your report page should now display four KPI cards across the top (Total Revenue, Total Expenses, Net Income, and Profit Margin), a line chart of monthly revenue showing seasonal peaks and dips, and a clustered bar chart showing expense categories ranked by cost. Hovering over any data point reveals a tooltip with the exact value.

Your dashboard looks great, but right now it shows everything at once. Next up, you will add slicers and cross-filtering so you can ask "what if" questions and watch every visual update instantly.

Add Interactivity with Slicers and Cross-Filtering

Your dashboard tells a complete financial story with KPI cards, revenue trends, and expense breakdowns. But right now it's frozen in place.

Slicers let you ask "what if" questions: how did Marketing perform last quarter? What happened to travel expenses in 2025? In this step, you'll add filters that let you slice the data by department and year, then watch every chart update simultaneously. This is what makes Power BI worth using over a spreadsheet.

In this step, get ready to:
  • Add department and year slicers to filter the entire dashboard.
  • Test cross-filtering between visuals.
  • Add a summary table showing financial metrics by department.
Add a department slicer

A slicer is an on-canvas filter control. When you click a value in a slicer, every other visual on the page instantly recalculates to show only that slice of data.

  • In Report view, click on an empty area of the canvas to the left of your existing charts.
  • In the Visualizations pane on the right, click the Slicer icon (it looks like a funnel with a list).
  • In the Fields pane, expand the departments table.
  • Drag department_name into the slicer's Field well.

A slicer appears on your canvas showing department names as a dropdown. You need to change it to a vertical list so all options are visible at once.

  • With the slicer still selected, click the Format pane (the paint roller icon in the Visualizations pane).
  • Expand Visual > Slicer settings > Options.
  • In the Style dropdown, select Vertical list.

Your slicer now shows all department names as a vertical list with checkboxes.

What is a slicer?

A slicer is an on-canvas visual filter. Unlike the Filters pane (which is hidden until you expand it), a slicer sits right on the report page where the viewer can see and click it.

When you select a value, Power BI automatically filters every other visual on the page to show only data matching that selection. This is called cross-filtering.

Add a year slicer

A department slicer lets you filter by team. A year slicer lets you narrow down to a specific fiscal year for time-based comparisons.

  • Click on an empty area of the canvas below your department slicer.
  • In the Visualizations pane, click the Slicer icon again to add a second slicer.
  • In the Fields pane, expand the budgets table.
  • Drag fiscal_year into the new slicer's Field well.

You now have two slicers on the left side of your canvas. One shows department names, the other shows fiscal years.

Don't see the Style dropdown?

The Style option only appears for text-based fields. If your slicer shows a slider or range instead of a list, make sure you dragged a text or category column (like department_name or fiscal_year) into the slicer. Numeric or date columns default to a range filter.

Help me fix my slicer style settings.

Test cross-filtering between visuals

Now for the payoff. Cross-filtering means clicking a value in one visual automatically filters every other visual on the page.

Before you click anything, think about what you expect to happen to the KPI cards and line chart when you select a single department.

  • Click Engineering in the department slicer.
  • Look at your KPI cards, line chart, and bar chart. All of them now show only Engineering's data.
  • Click on one of the bars in the expense chart.
  • Watch the line chart highlight the related time periods for that expense category.

Every visual responds to every other visual. This is cross-filtering in action.

  • Click Engineering again to deselect it and return to the full unfiltered view.

Why does everything update at once?

Power BI enables cross-filtering by default. Every visual on the same page shares a filter context. When you click a slicer value, Power BI pushes that filter to every other visual's query, recalculating totals and redrawing charts in real time.

You can customise this behaviour per visual if needed (Format > Edit interactions), but the default is what makes dashboards feel interactive.

Add a department summary table

Charts are great for spotting patterns, but stakeholders often want exact numbers. A summary table shows department-level metrics side by side.

  • Click on an empty area of the canvas (below or beside your charts).
  • In the Visualizations pane, click the Table icon (a grid of rows and columns).
  • From the Fields pane, drag department_name (from the departments table) into the table's Columns well.
  • Drag Total Revenue, Total Expenses, and Net Income (your DAX measures) into the Columns well as well.

A table appears showing each department with its revenue, expenses, and net income values.

  • Format the values as currency: select the table, go to the Format pane, expand Cell elements, and toggle on the formatting options. Alternatively, select the measure in the Fields pane, go to Measure tools in the ribbon, and set the Format dropdown to Currency.

Format measures once, apply everywhere

If you format a measure using Measure tools > Format > Currency, that currency format applies to every visual that uses that measure. You only need to do it once per measure.

Table showing wrong values?

If your table shows blanks or unexpected numbers, make sure you dragged the DAX measures (Total Revenue, Total Expenses, Net Income) from the transactions table in the Fields pane, not raw columns. Measures have a calculator icon next to them.

Help me fix my summary table values.

Time for the final check. Before you click a department in the slicer, predict what you expect to happen to the table values.

  • Click Sales in the department slicer.
  • Watch every visual update: the revenue line shows only Sales revenue, expenses show only Sales expenses, KPIs recalculate, and the table narrows to the Sales row.
  • Click 2025 in the year slicer.
  • The entire view narrows to Sales department data for 2025 only.

Your dashboard is now fully interactive. Clicking any department or year filters every visual on the page simultaneously.

What should I see?

With "Sales" and "2025" selected: all four KPI cards show Sales-only numbers for 2025, the line chart shows monthly Sales revenue for that year, the bar chart shows only Sales expense categories, and the table shows a single Sales row with currency-formatted values.

Secret mission

Add a Drill-Through Detail Page

Your summary dashboard tells the story at a glance, but what happens when a stakeholder spots something unusual and wants to see the raw transactions behind it? In this secret mission, you will build a drill-through page that lets anyone right-click a department and land on a filtered detail view of every transaction.

Clean Up Your Resources

Clean Up Your Resources

Decide whether to keep your resources running, pause them to come back later, or delete them entirely. This project runs entirely locally, so there are no ongoing costs.

Resources you used:

  • Power BI Desktop (installed application).
  • SQLite ODBC Driver (installed driver registered in Windows ODBC).
  • Power BI report file (.pbix file saved on your machine).

Keep everything running

No action needed. Choose this if you are still actively building on your dashboard or plan to add more visuals soon.

  • Power BI Desktop stays installed and ready to open your report.
  • The SQLite ODBC Driver stays registered so Power BI can refresh data from your database at any time.
  • Your .pbix report file stays where you saved it.

Pause - I'll come back to this later

Shut down Power BI Desktop to free up memory. Your report file and ODBC driver stay on disk so you can pick up where you left off.

  • Save your report in Power BI Desktop by pressing Ctrl+S.
  • Close Power BI Desktop.
  • When you return, double-click your .pbix file to reopen the dashboard exactly as you left it.

Delete - I don't want to use this again

Remove all project resources and start fresh. Follow each step below to fully clean up.

  • Delete your Power BI report file. Navigate to where you saved the .pbix file in File Explorer, right-click it, and select Delete.
  • Uninstall Power BI Desktop. Press the Windows key, type Add or remove programs, and press Enter. Find Microsoft Power BI Desktop in the list, click it, and select Uninstall.
  • Uninstall the SQLite ODBC Driver. In the same Apps & features list, find SQLite ODBC Driver, click it, and select Uninstall.
  • Confirm the ODBC driver is removed. Press the Windows key, type ODBC, and open ODBC Data Sources (64-bit). Click the Drivers tab and verify that SQLite3 ODBC Driver no longer appears.

Nice Work!

Nice Work!

Nice work! You just built a complete financial analyst dashboard in Power BI, connected live to a SQLite database through an ODBC bridge.

You've learned how to:

  • Connect Power BI Desktop to a SQLite database through an ODBC driver, proving you can bridge any SQL database into a BI tool without exporting CSV files.
  • Build a data model with table relationships and DAX measures that calculate revenue, expenses, net income, and profit margin from raw transaction data.
  • Create an interactive dashboard with KPI cards, trend lines, expense breakdowns, slicers, and cross-filtering so clicking any element updates the entire view.
  • Secret Mission: You built a drill-through page that lets stakeholders right-click any department and see its full transaction history on demand.

Ready to quiz yourself?