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Everything on this page is invented to show the format of the paid deliverable. The client, workspaces, names and figures are fictional.
Audit for Power BI
by HYDRADATA
Sample deliverable · Synthetic data
Audit for Power BI — Standard

Findings, backlog
and 30-day plan

A consultant-validated review of three Power BI workspaces: what was observed, what it puts at risk, and what to do first.

Client
Contoso Retail (fictional)
Scope
3 workspaces · 24 reports · 5 priority models
Evidence captured
Self-service scan + PBIP/TMDL for 5 models
Report date
30 September 2026
01 · Executive summary

Reporting is usable today, but one failure away from a stale month-end.

The finance model has failed its last four scheduled refreshes because a gateway credential expired; month-end figures are currently re-exported by hand. This is the only finding that needs action this week.

Access in the Sales workspace is wider than it needs to be, and three near-identical sales reports are in circulation. Neither is urgent, but both will be raised in the internal audit planned for November.

The reviewed models are sound in structure. Two design choices — bi-directional relationships and automatic date tables — explain the totals that disagree between two sales pages and are worth fixing before the estate grows.

11
Validated findings
1
Needs action this week
9 / 10
Estate controls assessed
7
Backlog actions
Decisions requested from the sponsor
  1. 01Name one owner and one deputy for each of the three workspaces.
  2. 02Approve the reduction of Sales workspace administrators from seven to two.
  3. 03Confirm which sales report is authoritative so the other two can be archived.
Audit for Power BI — Standard · Sample deliverable · Synthetic dataContoso Retail (fictional) · 2
02 · Scope and coverage

What was examined, and what was not.

WorkspaceReportsModelsDeep reviewCapture route
Finance Reporting932 modelsScanner
Sales Analytics1142 modelsScanner
Operations421 modelGuided screen-share
Coverage statement
  • Nine of ten estate controls were fully evidenced. Refresh-duration history was unavailable for one Operations model, so that control is reported as not assessed rather than passed.
  • Five priority models were reviewed from PBIP/TMDL exports supplied on 22 September 2026. No report data rows were read at any point.
  • Workspaces outside the three named above, My Workspace content and tenant-level settings were out of scope.
How to read the source labels
Automated scan
A deterministic control over workspace metadata, validated by the consultant against the private scan.
Model check
A static pattern found in the TMDL definition, confirmed by reading the model.
Expert review
A professional observation from the approved files, screenshots or guided session.
Audit for Power BI — Standard · Sample deliverable · Synthetic dataContoso Retail (fictional) · 3
03 · Priority findings

Five findings that drive the plan.

F-01CriticalAutomated scan · RULE-001

Four consecutive refresh failures

Finance Reporting / Monthly Close model

Evidence
Refresh history: four failed scheduled refreshes, last success six days before the scan. Returned error: data-source credentials expired on the gateway.
Impact
The month-end pack shows figures that are six days old. Finance is re-exporting data manually to compensate.
Recommended action
Renew the gateway credential under a service account rather than a named user, then add failure notifications for two named owners.
F-02WarningAutomated scan · RULE-009

Seven of twelve members are administrators

Sales Analytics workspace

Evidence
Workspace access list: 7 Admin, 3 Member, 2 Viewer.
Impact
Any of seven people can delete content, change access or republish. There is no least-privilege baseline to show the November audit.
Recommended action
Keep two administrators. Move report authors to Member or Contributor and readers to the app audience.
F-03WarningModel check · PBIP-004, PBIP-006

Bi-directional relationships and automatic date tables

Sales Analytics / Sales model

Evidence
TMDL export of 22 September: three relationships filter in both directions; fourteen hidden auto date/time tables.
Impact
Ambiguous filter paths explain why Total Margin differs between the Sales Overview and Margin pages. The model also carries tables nobody maintains.
Recommended action
Make the three relationships single-direction, add one shared date table and turn Auto date/time off.
F-04WarningAutomated scan · RULE-004

Three near-identical sales reports

Sales Analytics workspace

Evidence
Report inventory: Sales_Final, Sales_Final2 and Sales_v3 share the same model and near-identical names.
Impact
Teams quote different numbers in the same meeting, and each copy has to be maintained separately.
Recommended action
Confirm the authoritative version with the sales operations owner, then archive the other two after a 14-day notice.
F-05InfoExpert review

Crowded overview page and unformatted measures

Operations / Daily Operations report

Evidence
Guided session of 24 September: the Overview page holds 27 visuals; nine measures have no format string.
Impact
Slow first render on shared capacity and inconsistent units between visuals.
Recommended action
Split the page into overview and detail, and apply format strings to the nine measures.
Audit for Power BI — Standard · Sample deliverable · Synthetic dataContoso Retail (fictional) · 4
04 · Remediation backlog

Seven actions, each with an owner and a test.

Owners are proposals to be confirmed in the findings review. Each acceptance test is the evidence checked again at the re-check.

#ActionEvidence sourceImpactProposed ownerTargetAcceptance testStatus
B-01Renew the gateway credential under a service accountAutomated scan · F-01AvailabilityBI administratorDay 3Five consecutive successful scheduled refreshesOpen
B-02Send refresh-failure notifications to two named ownersAutomated scan · F-01AvailabilityBI leadDay 5Test alert received by both ownersOpen
B-03Reduce Sales workspace administrators from seven to twoAutomated scan · F-02SecurityWorkspace ownerDay 10Access list shows two administrators; change approved by the ownerOpen
B-04Confirm the authoritative sales report and archive duplicatesAutomated scan · F-04GovernanceSales operationsDay 18One report in the app; two archived with a redirect noteOpen
B-05Replace bi-directional relationships in the Sales modelModel check · F-03AccuracyBI developerDay 20Total Margin matches on both pages; no undocumented two-way filterOpen
B-06Turn off Auto date/time and add a shared date tableModel check · F-03MaintainabilityBI developerDay 22No LocalDateTable tables in a fresh TMDL exportOpen
B-07Publish a one-page naming and ownership standardExpert reviewGovernanceBI leadDay 28Standard published; each workspace has an owner and a deputyOpen
Audit for Power BI — Standard · Sample deliverable · Synthetic dataContoso Retail (fictional) · 5
05 · 30-day plan

Availability first, then access, then cleanup.

Days 1–5
1

Restore and protect the finance refresh

B-01 and B-02. Confirm five clean refreshes before the next month-end close.

B-01 · B-02
Days 6–15
2

Reduce access exposure

B-03, with the workspace owner approving every change. Record the before and after access lists.

B-03
Days 16–23
3

Remove duplication and fix the Sales model

B-04 to B-06. Validate margin totals with sales operations before publishing the corrected model.

B-04 · B-05 · B-06
Days 24–30
4

Set the standard and re-check

B-07, then the same-scope re-check against every acceptance test above.

B-07 · Re-check
Capacity assumption

The plan assumes about two days of BI developer time and half a day from each named owner across the month. If that is not available, B-05 and B-06 move to the following month without affecting B-01 to B-04.

Audit for Power BI — Standard · Sample deliverable · Synthetic dataContoso Retail (fictional) · 6
06 · Re-check (day 30)

What changed, measured against the same scope.

This page is added after the re-check. It is shown here so you can see how the engagement closes.

5
Resolved
2
In progress
74 → 91
Observed-scope score
#ActionRe-check resultEvidence at re-check
B-01Gateway credentialResolvedNine consecutive successful refreshes
B-02Failure notificationsResolvedAlert received by both owners on test
B-03Administrator reductionResolvedTwo administrators on the access list
B-04Duplicate reportsIn progressAuthoritative report confirmed; archive notice still running
B-05Bi-directional relationshipsResolvedMargin totals reconcile; no two-way filters in TMDL
B-06Auto date/timeIn progressShared date table added; three reports still to migrate
B-07Naming and ownership standardResolvedStandard published; owners and deputies named

The score is a triage signal for the observed scope only. It is not a certification, and it says nothing about workspaces that were not examined.

Audit for Power BI — Standard · Sample deliverable · Synthetic dataContoso Retail (fictional) · 7
07 · Limits and next step

What this report does not claim.

  • It is not a tenant-wide inventory or a compliance certification.
  • KPI values were not reconciled to source systems.
  • Performance was not measured under production load.
  • A cleanup candidate is not safe to delete until its owner confirms downstream use.
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