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Dashly or setting up Power BI yourself?

In Power BI you set up connections, data model and formulas yourself; Dashly supplies that part and keeps it right.

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Short answer

The difference in short.

Power BI turns your data sources into reports; Dashly supplies the connections and the model with fixed formulas for workforce.

The strengths of Power BI

  • Connects to many data sources.
  • Turns them into reports and dashboards.
  • Design reports in full detail yourself.

What Dashly adds

  • The connections and the connected data.
  • The Workforce Intelligence Model with fixed formulas.
  • Numbers checked against your own records before they go live.

The alternative: Power BI

Power BI is Microsoft's reporting platform. In Power BI Desktop you connect to data sources, transform data in the Power Query editor and build a data model with DAX formulas and relationships. In the Power BI service you share reports, schedule refreshes, set up alerts and manage security, including row-level security (RLS).

About Dashly

Dashly is the Workforce Intelligence Layer for staffing, secondment and recruitment organisations, recruitment departments and recruitment marketing agencies. It connects ATS, scheduling, payroll, accounting and CRM, and runs everything through the Workforce Intelligence Model: fixed formulas, with source. You use it in Dashly Dashboard or in your own AI.

Use both?

You can. If you want to keep your reports in Power BI, let Power BI work on Dashly's connected data and fixed formulas. Then you no longer have to connect, deduplicate and write formulas yourself. Do agree which tool leads for which number.

Differences

Power BI and Dashly side by side.

  • Focus

    Power BI
    Reports and dashboards on data you connect and model yourself, for any industry.
    Dashly
    The model of a workforce organisation: from demand and supply to margin, across all your systems.

  • Connections

    Power BI
    According to Microsoft, more than 100 data sources. Whether your ATS, scheduling and payroll are among them, and with what history, you have to find out yourself.
    Dashly
    Including Carerix, Mysolution, OTYS, Easyflex, XPS, AFAS and Exact Online, retrieved on a schedule with history and monitoring.

  • What belongs together

    Power BI
    You build relationships and deduplication yourself in the data model.
    Dashly
    Every client, candidate and employee once, permanently linked across your systems.

  • Formulas and definitions

    Power BI
    You write the calculations yourself in DAX. The workforce knowledge sits with whoever writes them.
    Dashly
    The Workforce Intelligence Model: every metric with a fixed formula, source and frequency, and recorded per KPI on work date, invoice date or booking date.

  • Where you step in

    Power BI
    You can set up alerts. Which numbers are related and what you do then is up to you.
    Dashly
    Levers with signal and action, and a steering model that shows from cause to effect where to step in.

  • Permissions

    Power BI
    Row-level security is available. You set up roles and rules yourself.
    Dashly
    Permissions per role down to the row, also for your AI. Logging and a data processing agreement (DPA) as standard.

  • Your own AI

    Power BI
    Asking questions in plain language within Power BI, with Microsoft's AI features.
    Dashly
    Claude, ChatGPT, Copilot or your own agents through MCP, on the same model as your dashboards.

  • Setup and maintenance

    Power BI
    Yourself, with your own analyst or with a Power BI partner.
    Dashly
    Dashly connects, models and validates against your own records. You sign off each step, then we keep it right.

  • Pricing model

    Power BI
    Microsoft licences: per user, and for larger environments also capacity.
    Dashly
    Per connection, not per user. See the pricing page.

Choosing

What fits you?

Choose Power BI if

  • You have an analyst or BI team that builds and maintains data models.
  • Your organisation already uses Microsoft and Power BI widely, also outside workforce.
  • You want to design reports in full detail yourself.

Choose Dashly if

  • You want to steer on numbers that are right, without first having a data model built.
  • You want formulas made for workforce, such as fill rate, time to fill, margin per hour or cost per hire.
  • You want someone to maintain the connections and the model when your systems change.
  • You want the same numbers in your dashboard and in your own AI.

Questions

Questions about Power BI and Dashly.

Is your question not here? In a demo we show how Dashly works with your systems.

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What is the difference between Dashly and Power BI?

Power BI is a tool for building reports on data you connect and model yourself. Dashly supplies the connections, the connected data and a model with fixed formulas for workforce organisations, with dashboards or your own AI on top. With Power BI you build the model yourself; with Dashly we set it up on your definitions.

Can I keep using Power BI alongside Dashly?

Yes. You can let Power BI work on Dashly's connected data and formulas. You still make the reports yourself, but you no longer build connections, deduplication and formulas yourself.

Do we need a data team?

To make Power BI calculate across several systems, you need someone who connects, models and writes formulas, in house or through a partner. For Dashly you do not: we set up and check the connections and the model. You provide what only you know, such as what counts as a filled shift or placement, and sign off each step.

How do I know the numbers are right?

In Power BI that depends on who builds the model. In Dashly, before go-live, we put the numbers next to your own records, such as worked hours between scheduling and payroll and revenue against accounting, and explain the differences. Only when they match does it go live.

Sources

Where this comes from.

What we say about Power BI comes from their documentation or is common knowledge, checked on 23 October 2026. Something no longer right? Email us and we will correct it.

  1. What is Power BI? (Microsoft Learn, in Dutch)
  2. What is Power Query? (Microsoft Learn, in Dutch)
  3. DAX overview (Microsoft Learn, in Dutch)
  4. Row-level security (RLS) with Power BI (Microsoft Learn, in Dutch)
  5. Data refresh in Power BI (Microsoft Learn, in Dutch)
  6. Power BI licensing guide for organizations (Microsoft Learn)

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Dashly or Claude and ChatGPT? 

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Dashly or ATS reporting? 

Your ATS or scheduling system reports on itself. Dashly shows what recruitment and scheduling deliver in placements, hours and margin.

Dashly or Excel? 

Excel is flexible and familiar. Dashly takes the weekly exporting, pasting and checking out of your hands, with one version for everyone.