Development process

There are 7 steps in the V-development method and each step was performed with extreme cau-tion and concern. The first step was to analyze the concept of operacau-tions. To create profitability reports with greater efficiency, a thorough study was conducted on the previous methods used for profitability analysis in Planray Oy. Microsoft Excel has been the primary resource for carrying out financial analysis in Planray Oy. However, it was replaced with MS Power BI for the reasons mentioned in the interview with the managing director of Planray Oy, such as lack of real-time data, static analysis, and the cost of maintenance.

The next step was to identify the requirements for the development of the BI reports. The re-quirements were identified from the interview with the managing director of Planray Oy and in-cluded visualization of profitability ratios, equity ratio, net working capital ratio, and the equity and loans.

Once the requirements were defined, draft dashboards for the Power BI reports were designed.

Power BI uses DAX for operating data analysis and calculations and hence, each ratio’s formula was scripted in DAX while developing the reports. For profitability ratios, present ratio and goal ratio were scripted while only present ratio was scripted for equity ratio and net working capital ratio. Last, suitable graphs were chosen to serve as the visualization tool for the BI reports. The chosen visualization tools comprised clustered bar graph, scatter plot, line graph, and stacked area graph.

Clustered bar chart was chosen to show the profitability margin compared to the sales as it gave a clear numerical output on profitability. Line graph was chosen to visualize the profitability ra-tios, as they are best suited to show trends and direction. Direction helps to figure out the fluctu-ations and slope in the data. Stacked area graphs were chosen to show the amount of equity and liabilities are they best pre-sent the volume of data with distinction between variables. Scatter plot was chosen to represent the equity ratio and net working capital ratio as they accurately position variables over a specific period. Positioning of the variable allows better analysis and takes up less space at the same time.

Following step was to implement the drafted design to develop the reports. The implementation process was divided into three parts as a series of steps need to be followed once the design for the draft dashboard is created and development of the reports starts (Ferrari, 2016, n.p.). The first step was to collect the data from the company’s financial statements. Planray Oy maintains its financial data in its ERP system called Lemonsoft and hence, a link was created between the power BI software and the ERP system so that the required data can be imported when needed.

Next, pre-processing was performed once all the required data was imported from the ERP sys-tem so that only the relevant information remains in the data to achieve highest accuracy, in-sights, and relevance. DAX formulas were scripted in this phase as well. Once the data was mod-eled according to the pre-requisites of the report, specific visualizations were chosen as per the data and requirements. Axis, values, and legends were also defined in this step to create relevant visualizations. Once the visualizations were created, the draft report was ready to test.

The next step was to integrate the reports and start the testing. The draft report was published on the extended link of the ERP system so that the data keeps updating on the report. Such inte-gration promoted the use of real-time analysis. A session of user testing was also organized be-tween the company’s staff and stakeholders. The testing was aimed at finding the user-friendli-ness, understandability, validity, and efficiency of the reports. Prospects for further future devel-opment for profitability analysis were also discussed in the testing.

There were 7 participants in the user testing for the Power BI reports. The participants for user testing from the staff were the two product managers, the finance manager, and the managing director. A supplier and two investors of Planray Oy also participants in the Power BI report test-ing. In the beginning, an overview was provided to each participant and then they were given free

reins to examine the reports for themselves. In the end, a peer review form was given to each participant to give their views on the reports and amendments.

The results showed that all participants were content with the new reports and felt that the anal-ysis was more dynamic, fruitful, and relevant than before. However, an error was noticed during testing in the reports related to wrong formula and value script, which was corrected in the re-ports later.

The following step was to verify the system and the compatibility of the BI reports with the com-pany’s ERP system. After testing was over and the reports were amended with right formulas, variables, values, and functions; the final draft of the reports was published on the open link of company’s ERP system. The reports were kept under observation for a month to check daily up-dates and analysis. It was found in the preliminary observation that the variables derived only from the P/L statement affected a daily basis while the variables derived from balance sheet changed only once or twice the month.

Considering that, the reports were programmed to update only P/L statement variables every day and update the balance sheet variables once a month.

The last step was related to the operations and maintenance. It was had a weekly meeting on the Power BI report operations with the managing director to check the profitability analysis. A monthly maintenance on the data retrieval was also agreed to sustain the reliability and validity of the reports.