How to Use Power BI Templates (+Top Recommendations)

Microsoft Power BI is the business intelligence tool that opens the canvas of creativity for you for data visualization🎨

And it’s unfair not to bring out your full potential regarding creativity in Power BI.

However, if you begin designing your Power BI canvas from scratch every time you create a report, it will take you unreasonably longer than usual.

This is where Power BI templates come in.

So where do you get such report templates? Or can you create some of your own? Or can you create a template out of an existing report?

In the following Power BI tutorial, I will show you how to create and use a Power BI template plus, some of our top recommended templates 👩‍🏫

Table of Contents

What are Power BI Templates

Power BI Report templates are derived from existing reports.

It is like a framework with a predefined report layout where you can populate your data and create standardized reports quickly in the same format.

So, your Power BI report template will have all of the following 👇

• A predefined structure (the report layout, visuals, themes, etc. )
• Relationships and measures
• The data model definition (relationships and measures) but not the dataset itself
• Query definitions and other Query Elements

When you import a report template, you get all the report elements except for the data.

This is important and very useful for organizations that need to generate standardized reports. So you launch a report template and populate the data into it (the format and outlook are already there and remain the same) 😎

Must note that you can only create and export a report template from Power BI Desktop. This feature is not available in Power BI Service.

How to create a Power BI Template

Creating a Power BI template is a straightforward process 🚀

You can create your template from a report that you’ve created (or downloaded somewhere from the internet) and that you want to preserve as a pre-defined framework. Here’s how you do it.

Here’s what to do to create a Power BI template:

Step 1) aunch the Power BI file out of which you want to create a template.

Step 2) Go to the File tab > Export > Power BI template.

This will bring up the following window where you must supply a description of the template you’re saving ✍

Step 3) Next, write in the name by which you want to save the template.

For example, I have set it to Sales Forecast Template.

Step 4) Click on Okay.

You will be navigated to the Browse window where you must select the location where you want the template saved.

And that’s it. You have successfully created and saved a Power BI template out of a PBIX file.

How to use a Power BI Template

Created your first Power BI Template? Cool, now it’s time you use it.

Using a Power BI template is all about loading it to Power BI Desktop and creating a new report on it 📊

Let me show you here.

Step 1) Launch Power BI Desktop.

Step 2) Go to the File tab.

Step 3) Go to Import > Power BI Template from the list of options on the left.

This will take you to the Browse window to browse and select the relevant template from your PC.

The report layout will be loaded to your Power BI canvas looking like the below.

Step 4) Now go on, and connect data sources to the report layout to bring these visuals to life.

Easy enough? That’s how you load a Power BI template and immediately create a report with the same visuals but new data 🤩

Our favorite Power BI Templates

Time we show you some of our favorite Power BI Templates – here you go:

1. Basic Layout

As basic, minimal, and clean as it looks 🧼

The Basic Layout template by PowerBI.Tips has three different layouts (on three different pages). Perfect for anyone who wants to swiftly create basic but stunning reports with a handful of visuals.

Link: Basic Layout Template

2. Stock Market Research

This stock market research report is our absolute favorite for its integration with Live Data sources. Whatever stocks you are analyzing, just enter their symbols and this template will fetch live data from the APIs 📊

You also get the stock prices in the relevant exchange currencies. It incorporates many key financial ratios and indicators like ROE, ROIC, RSI, etc.

All of this makes it an excellent Stock Market Research template with all the relevant information placed on the same page.

Link: Stock Market Research template

3. Budget Vs. Actuals

Comparison of the budgeted and the actual expense is a common practice for every organization.

We love this template as it offers a very structured way to compare the actual monthly expenses incurred by any company to the budgeted expenses 💰

After the comparison, it allows the users to dig down into the actual expense figure by vouching it on a transactional basis.

Cool and easy for companies that look forward to making regular and swift budget vs. actual comparisons.

Link: Budget Vs. Actuals Minimalistic Report

4. Sales and Inventory Analysis

If you’re into sales and inventory management, this template is for you!

This Sales and Inventory Performance Dashboard is carefully created to help you see through the monthly sales trends, sales performance by channels and geography, and your top-selling merchandise/channel 👩‍💻

On top of it, it also enables inventory analysis at a glance including inventory aging and stock maintenance levels. Perfect for small businesses.

Link: Sales and Inventory Analysis template

5. Project Management Report

Whatever profession you belong to, your work will always have a chunk of management.

This Project Management Report Template is meant to provide comprehensive insights into your project’s performance, progress, and budget allocation 🧾

Excellent for project managers wanting to optimize their project tracking and reporting in Power BI. It helps you see through the number of active and closed projects at hand, track your budgeted vs. actual expense, and much more.

Link: Project Management Template

6. Accounts Receivable Aging

As a business owner or even as an employee, you must have prepared Accounts Receivable aging at least once in your life 🧓

If yes, go and check out this template to know how seamlessly you could have done it to perfection.

In this aging report template, you can adjust the number of outstanding days with the slicer. You can see on the face of your report a list of all your debtors with their balance divided into age slabs. Any balance that seems unusual to you can be drilled down to the specific invoices behind it.

And not only for receivables, but you can also use it for managing your payables, credit card overdrafts, and other bills.

Link: Accounts Receivable Aging

7. Sales and Supply Chain Management

If you want to have a helicopter view of how your business is doing in terms of sales – this report template is no less than a treasure for you 💪

It breaks down the sales in multiple ways starting from monthly sales, sales by segment, product, region, category, top-selling subcategories, and much more.

See that map in the dashboard? As you hover your cursor over each map segment, the report shows you the underlying sales data that you can further drill down for better data insights.

Get it here to explore it further.

Link: Sales and supply chain management template

Conclusion

Whether you’re a Power BI beginner who doesn’t want to begin from a blank canvas or a seasoned professional who wants to save time and enhance efficiency, “Power BI templates” are your answer ✍

Leveraging templates also helps you ensure uniformity and standardization across your reports making them easier to replicate.

If you have the right templates at your disposal, you can draw more valuable insights from your data and save the unnecessary time that goes into report formatting.

After you’ve seen some of our favorite Power BI report templates, I suggest you also check out the following Power BI blogs by Spreadsheeto. You’ll love reading them.

• Power BI Workspace: What is it and how it works!
• How to Use Power BI Desktop for Mac (Easy Workaround)
• Power BI Best Practices: 10 Guidelines to Always Follow