Auditors are accustomed to handling vast amounts of data in endless rows and columns. But Excel spreadsheets have their limitations. Spreadsheets don’t tell a compelling data story to audiences without an accounting background, and they limit auditors’ ability to drill down to uncover insights and anomalies.
eprentise is a group of software companies with products that accelerate business change by aligning data with new business initiatives.
President and CFO Brian Lewis was involved in an initiative to develop new audit automation software. He needed to create a modern interface with engaging data visualization, so he turned to Power BI.
Up the Data Visualization Game
Initially, the application presented data in a dense, tabular format. While auditors are comfortable interpreting output in this layout, it doesn’t tell a compelling data story to stakeholders like audit committees, senior management, and outside parties.
To increase the product’s value to its customers, Brian aimed to develop visualization capabilities to help auditors easily communicate their results. The team also wanted to turn the visualizations into a tool that auditors could play with to explore data in new and innovative ways.
Brian’s team had tried some homegrown data visualization solutions, but the results were not satisfactory. What they needed was an expert perspective to guide them on the right path, helping them implement Power BI to fully leverage the power of visualization.
Go Above and Beyond the Initial Vision
Brian and his team evaluated different tools but were attracted to Power BI’s white-label integration, which allowed them to make the data visualizations an integral part of the user interface. After speaking to a shortlist of potential implementation partners, they found Collectiv to be the most responsive, knowledgeable, and personable.
Brian chose Collectiv because he needed a partner who could understand the eprentise vision and know the steps to get them there. Collectiv also had in-depth knowledge of Power BI that could help the team fully utilize its advanced capabilities.
Besides delivering a one-time solution, Collectiv trained the team on Power BI so Brian’s team could continue to support the dashboards as the software evolves.
“The most impactful piece of the project was that Collectiv quickly understood what we tried to do and brought new and creative ideas to the table,” said Brian. “We wanted a visualization tool that allows our users to drill down and get insights they can’t get with tabular or other analytic methods. Greg and Dennis thought along with us every step of the way.”
eprentise needed a rapid turnaround to be ready for the conference season when their prospects secured their budgets. A year’s worth of revenue was at stake in this decision. The Collectiv team understood time was of the essence and moved through the process quickly to deliver a complete, well-designed end product of six initial dashboards.
Collaboration Rooted in Power BI Expertise
The requirement document development phase was particularly valuable. The Collectiv team brought their extensive experience and expertise to the table to address eprentise’s core needs.
A strong mastery of the Power BI platform gave Collectiv the insight they needed to identify steps to take to execute the vision of Brian and his team and teach them how Power BI can improve their product even further.
“Their suggestions were pretty much always dead on,” said Brian. “Their recommendations on the slicers and drill-downs allow auditors to explore data and find anomalies in ways not possible with tabular formats. They even helped us select a color palette to communicate areas of concern while staying in alignment with our brand identity.”
eprentise’s product developers enjoyed working with the Collectiv team and were excited about the results the collaboration generated.
Supercharge Sales with an Energized Team
The visually compelling dashboards help Brian and his team become more confident about putting their product in front of prospects and customers.
“The visuals let our users deep-dive into data in new and different ways, which is highly valuable to our customers,” said Brian. “Power BI’s visualizations let them see patterns, gain insights, and address indicators effectively.”
The sales team is also excited about leveraging the visuals this solution creates to create engaging presentations that appeal to different stakeholders and decision-makers.
Overall, adding Power BI to their product also prompted eprentise to plan future versions that will take data visualization further, opening up many exciting opportunities to innovate the software.
Excel is limited. Collectiv is here to help you integrate Power BI into your product, so you can start telling compelling stories through engaging data visualizations.
