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Back links make it easy to go from the aggregated data in reports in Power BI to the transactional data or source documents behind it in Business Central. The connection between the visuals and the backstory lets you quickly validate, audit, and reconcile figures.
Where you can expect to find back links
Back links are added to tables and matrices that display aggregated values or detail entries in Power BI. Some examples include:
- Daily Sales by Date: Quickly go to detailed sales transactions for a specific day.
- Income Statement by Month: View the underlying G/L entries for monthly financial summaries.
- Moving Annual Total Details: Drill down to transaction-level details for moving annual totals.
How back links work
Back links use custom Data Analysis Expressions (DAX) measures to dynamically generate web URLs that link to the Business Central instance connected to the Power BI report.
The DAX measure retrieves and concatenates the Tenant ID, Environment Name, and Company Name from the report parameters and queries.
The filter context in Power BI, such as the Date filter, and other key fields construct the URL. The URL filters the relevant transactions or documents in Business Central that correspond to the data displayed in the Power BI report.
Example
This example uses the Income Statement by Month matrix in the Power BI Finance App to illustrate the advantages that back links provide.
The Income Statement by Month matrix in Power BI shows aggregated financial figures by G/L accounts and months.
Without back links, you typically need to:
- Drill through the numbers in Power BI.
- Manually note the entry numbers.
- Reconcile and locate the entries in Business Central.
However, with back links:
- Links are added to both Level 1 accounts and sublevel accounts in the matrix.
- Clicking a back link takes you to the detailed entries in Business Central that make up the aggregated figure.
- If a Date Filter is applied in Power BI, the URL includes it to filter the transactions in Business Central.
For example, to show the transactions that make up the figure of the "5460 Cost of Capacities" account for January 2021, the URL displays the filtered G/L entries in Business Central.
Limitations
Currently, back links don't consider all visual and page filters applied in the Power BI report. The URL includes only Date Filters.
Related information
Install Power BI apps for Business Central
Power BI apps/reports for functional areas
Frequently asked questions about the Power BI apps in Business Central