How much does a Power BI dashboard cost for an SME?

This is the first question company directors ask me, and the answer from a provider is rarely clear. Here are the prices I charge, what makes them vary, and the questions to ask before signing with any freelancer or agency.

The short answer

All my prices are net, VAT not applicable (article 293 B of the French tax code), based on a €500 day rate:

• Audit of your figures : €1,000, 2 working days. You leave with a clear picture of your data and a costed plan.
• Custom dashboard : from €3,500. For a dashboard, allow 7 working days on average, depending on the number of sources and indicators.
• Monthly follow-up : from €500 per month, to keep the dashboards up to date and reliable.

If you continue with a dashboard within 30 days of the audit, 50% of the audit price is deducted.

What makes the price vary

1. The number of data sources. A single Excel file is not the same as connecting management software, an accounting file and a website.
2. The state of the data. Clean, consistent data connects quickly. Scattered data, with duplicates or different formats, needs cleaning first.
3. The business calculation rules. The more there are, or the more specific they are to each customer, the longer it takes to understand, write and test them.
4. The number of indicators and pages. Ten readable indicators are worth more than fifty that drown out what matters.
5. Access and permissions. Getting rights on databases or software can take longer than expected, and it drives the schedule.
6. Training and documentation. A dashboard nobody knows how to maintain quickly loses its value.

A concrete example

On a recent 10-day assignment for an SME, building the Power BI dashboards was estimated at around 3 days. The rest of the time went on fixing existing pivot tables, automating a pricing calculation and understanding discrepancies between several sources of figures.

That upstream work is invisible in the result, but it is what makes the dashboard reliable. A dashboard built on poorly understood data gives you beautiful charts with the wrong numbers.

What the price does not always include

• Microsoft licences. Depending on how many people view the dashboards and how they are shared, licences may be required. Check Microsoft's current pricing before committing.
• Your teams' time. They need to answer questions, validate the rules and test. Allow a few hours, not days.

The questions to ask before signing

1. Fixed price or time spent? I prefer a fixed price after the audit: you know the price before starting.
2. What exactly is delivered? The dashboard alone, or also documentation and training for your teams?
3. Who owns the result? With me, after payment in full you hold a licence to use your deliverables.
4. What if the data is bad? A good provider tells you at the audit stage, not halfway through.
5. How is payment handled? A deposit on order, the balance on delivery. Above €5,000, payment is staged. The full terms are in my general terms and conditions of sale.

Where to start

If you are hesitating, start with the audit: for €1,000, you know what is feasible, what it costs, and what can wait. Or let's talk it through first for 30 minutes, free and with no commitment.

Alexis Zueras, independent data analyst. I make your figures reliable and readable.