Power Query or SQL

Question

I connected my Excel and Power B through Power Query to SQL Server Database to get data for analysis. I am able to do all analysis I do in SQL in Excel and Power BI Power Query. Should I continue like this or which route is better: Excel & Power BI or Sql.

Thanks.

Answer 1

Short answer: It depends.

Longer answer: It is almost impossible to answer, because, yes, it depends. On a number of things, including your own skills. Myself, I would absolute do the analysis in SQL Server, but I can count myself as expert in SQL Server and T-SQL. On the other hand, I can only do rudimentary stuff in Excel, and I don't know PowerBI. I would expect someone who is well versed in PowerBI, but struggle to write T-SQL queries would say the opposite.

You may want to ask the same question in https://community.powerbi.com/t5/Forums/ct-p/PBI_Comm_Forums to see what these people say. After all, since many there also master SQL, they be better position to give you an informed answer.

Answer 2

Both approaches are valid and can complement each other; the better route depends on where each task is done most efficiently and safely.

General guidance for division of work:

1. Use SQL Server for:
   • Heavy data processing: large joins, aggregations, filtering, and complex logic are usually faster and more scalable in the database engine.
   • Centralized business logic: views, stored procedures, and functions keep rules in one place so all tools (Excel, Power BI, other apps) use the same definitions.
   • Security and governance: row-level security, permissions, and auditing are best enforced in SQL Server.
   • Reusable, shared datasets: prepare clean, modeled tables/views once and let Excel and Power BI consume them.
2. Use Power Query (Excel / Power BI) for:
   • Last-mile shaping: renaming columns, simple merges, unpivoting, splitting columns, and light calculations specific to a report or workbook.
   • Self-service data mashups: combining SQL data with files (Excel, CSV) or other sources that are not in SQL Server.
   • User-specific transformations: logic that only applies to a particular report or analyst, not to the whole organization.
3. When Excel & Power BI Power Query is enough:
   • Data volume is moderate and refresh times are acceptable.
   • Transformations are mostly shaping/cleaning rather than complex business rules.
   • There is no need to share the same logic across many systems.
4. When to move more logic into SQL:
   • Refreshes in Power BI/Excel become slow or unreliable.
   • Many reports repeat the same Power Query steps.
   • Multiple users need consistent, governed data.

In practice, a hybrid model works best: prepare and model data in SQL Server, then connect from Excel and Power BI using Power Query to import and lightly transform that data, as described in the SQL Server Analysis Services and Power Query documentation.

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References:

• SQL Server Analysis Services database
• Import data from data sources (Power Query)
• Connect to a SQL Server Analysis Services Database (Import)
• What is Power Query?