Navigating the New Normal: Why CFOs are embracing Data Analytics and Power BI The role of the Chief Financial Officer (CFO) has never been more complex or challenging. Driven by many interrelated factors such as rapid technology change, changing consumer expectations and regulatory shifts, Perth CFOs are turning to data analytics to help them navigate the ever evolving world of business. Below we highlight the key forces propelling the need for data-driven decision-making and explore ways that Power BI can assist CFOs. 1. Complexity of the Business Environment Globalisation: Operating across ..read more

by Wyn Hopkins Setting up a free Personal Power BI Account   Do you want to try out the Power BI Service (PowerBI.com) or share your portfolio of reports with potential new employers? If you have a PowerBI.com account then you can use the Publish to Web option to share your reports, but signing up for Power BI requires a “work” account. I’d previously blogged here about using the rolling Developer Trial but that has been suspended and now requires a paid Visual Studio subscription. These are the 3 ways I’m aware of now: Buy a cheap domain via from https://www.uk2.net/  ..read more

10 Ways to Know If Your Budgeting Process Flow Is Broken Discerning professionals know that efficiency is the key to business success in 2024. According to Forbes media, efficient processes are vital at every stage of your operation, including budgeting.  Is your budgeting process slow, exhausting and stressful? Do you wonder why you always find yourself scrambling at the last minute? If you’re answering yes to either of these questions, that’s an indication that your budget process flow is broken and  is likely undercutting the time and effort you put in. If you’re unsure if your pr ..read more

Complete guide to making faster, better decisions with Solver The speed of making decisions matters. Small delays compound and cost money. The right decision at the right time can be a game changer for an organisation, so the pressure for CFOs and Financial Managers to make that decision quickly is immense. In this article, we outline how Solver is the key to making better decisions faster. Without the right data analytics tools, the process of collating data from various sources is labour-intensive and risks inaccuracies. With Solver, all the necessary information is consolidated in a single ..read more

Unleash the Power of Cloud-Based Budgeting & Forecasting Software In the dynamic landscape of modern business, cloud-based budgeting and forecasting software emerges as a set of indispensable tools for organisations aiming to stay ahead of the curve. Here at Access Analytic, we recognise the critical importance of efficient financial management in achieving sustainable growth and maintaining a competitive edge.  That’s why we are proud to partner with Solver, a cutting-edge, cloud-based budgeting and forecasting solution, designed to revolutionise the way you manage your organisation ..read more

by Wyn Hopkins The Challenge… In this month’s challenge, you need to combine any non duplicate items into a single cell for each client ID#. e.g. Client ID1 has 2 rows. All entries need to be combined to return 1 row for Client ID 1 so for example the two Phone Numbers: Phone 1 and Phone 2, these need to be combined into Phone1, Phone 2 in a single cell. Submissions close 31st October 2023   Download the file Sending us your solutions If you’d like to submit your solution then please save you file as: Your Name – Power Query Challenge – Group Uniques.xlsx (or PBIX if using Power BI) and ..read more

by Wyn Hopkins The Challenge… Download the file Sending us your solutions If you would like to submit your solution please save your file as: Your Name – Power Query Challenge – Bananas Split.xlsx (or PBIX if using Power BI) and send to info@accessanalytic.com.au Wyn-PQChallenge-Bananas Split.xlsx Please don’t send just M code. We’ll add your submission to our submissions folder here. Keep an eye out for Wyn’s solution on our YouTube channel.   The post Power Query Challenge – Bananas! Split Challenge appeared first on Access Analytic ..read more

by Wyn Hopkins Instant Analysis with Code Interpreter and ChatGPT Take 8 Excel files, write 2 instructions ( 25 words in total ), done…data summarized and charts built! Go to OpenAI.com GPT -4, enable Code Interpreter Write 1 sentence and upload folder of data (do not use sensitive data) Here’s the content of the zipped folder (featured in image above) Then Code Interpreter does it’s thing.. 30 seconds later…  I add one more sentence to get the look I want Export image and data Check out the related video for amazingly quick analysis… The post Code Interpreter GPT-4: Is it cocktai ..read more

by Wyn Hopkins Streamlining Power Query Code Documentation with GPT-4: A Game Changer Introduction As Power BI and Excel developers, we often find ourselves knee-deep in lines of code. Writing, cleaning, documenting, and renaming steps – it can all be quite time-consuming. The game has changed with the introduction of GPT-4, a powerful tool from OpenAI that can help streamline the process significantly. We’ve all been there. Our code is handling a variety of tasks, cleaning up data, filtering rows, capitalizing, trimming text, merging columns – typical power query stuff. Documenting and renam ..read more

Dynamic Data Validation with Tables in Excel [contact-form-7] Welcome…this is an older post, you may be more interested in newer, more up to date techniques… For single dependent drop downs check out our video HERE For multi-row multi-level drop downs you can check out our blog post and video HERE     Check out our YouTube channel with weekly videos dedicated to Excel, Power Query and Power BI   Why is Excel returning an error message? Why doesn’t my formula work? What did I do wrong? The answer to these common questions may surprise you. Many spreadsheets I’ve come across h ..read more