Sales report with an IBCS approach
Power BI · volume and change in a single read
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The problem
The figure goes up. But what’s happening underneath?
A sales report can show a good result and still hide what’s going on.
In this project I rebuilt a sales report in Power BI applying IBCS principles, to make comparing periods simpler, tell positive and negative results apart and spot changes at a glance.
The idea wasn’t to add more elements to the report, but to make the data easier to read.
01 · The starting point
Reading volume and change at a single glance.
When I analyse a sales report, I don’t want to stop at the volume sold. I also need to know how it has changed against the previous period and where the main changes are.
That’s why I built the report around two very simple questions: how much have we sold, and what has changed?
That way, volume and change share the same visual space, without forcing anyone to hunt for the information across different charts.
periods compared
ways of showing change
02 · IBCS
What is IBCS and why do I apply it in Power BI?
IBCS (International Business Communication Standards) is a set of recommendations for making business reports clearer, more comparable and easier to interpret. In Power BI, its principles can be applied to elements such as the use of colour, notation, chart structure and the way comparisons and changes are shown.
In this project I use it as a design guide, so the report doesn’t rely only on eye-catching visuals but keeps a common logic throughout the whole analysis. The idea is simple: anyone should be able to understand what’s happening in the data without having to learn a different visual language for every chart.
IBCS as a starting point, not as decoration. I used its principles from the very start of the build: instead of deciding how to show each figure in isolation, I set common rules for the whole report — what each colour means, how to show changes and how to compare different periods. That let me keep a consistent visual structure and focus on a more important question: does it make clear what’s happening in the data?
04 · Notation
Applying notation, not just colour.
One of the changes I most wanted to work on was how changes are shown. Instead of using colour as the only resource, I combined colour and notation to tell positive and negative results apart.
That way, the meaning of a change doesn’t depend only on telling red from green. It’s a small visual change, but it makes the report easier to interpret and more consistent.
IBCS notation
Four elements, one visual language.
05 · Change
Three ways to read the same change.
The same difference between periods can be shown in several ways. In this project I tried three alternatives to see how the reading changes with the representation used. Comparing them helped me decide which solution worked best in the report and, above all, understand that choosing a chart shouldn’t be just a matter of looks.
01
Multi-tier column chart
Shows the monthly absolute value, the absolute change against last year and the percentage change at the same time.
02
Column chart with built-in change
Packs that information into each bar, which helps when the axis has many items, such as products or categories.
03
Variance line chart
Shows the trend over time, with the area between the actual line and the target shaded according to whether the target is met.
06 · Interaction
One selector, not duplicated pages.
I also wanted to avoid creating a separate page for each comparison period. In Power BI I solved this with a selector that changes the reference of the analysis while keeping the same visual structure.
That way, users can change the period they want to compare without losing context or having to move between pages.
Schema
07 · Applying it in Power BI
Volume and change, in the same visual.
This is where I took the principles above into the final Power BI report. The aim was for sales volume and its change to be read together, keeping a simple, consistent structure. I tried different representations until I found one that made it quick to see what’s happening and where the main differences are. Rather than looking for an eye-catching visual, I wanted the chart to help answer a specific question.
Two periods. The same total.
This is one of the situations I most wanted to show: two periods can end with the same total result and yet tell completely different stories.
That’s why looking at the final figure isn’t enough. Breaking down the change shows which months, products or categories are behind the result, and makes it easier to understand what has changed.
Tools
Tech stack
Power BI
Report design and build.
DAX
Measures and analysis logic.
IBCS
Notation and visualisation principles.
09 · Conclusion
Following a standard doesn’t limit the analysis.
Working on this project, I realised that applying a visual standard doesn’t mean making every report look the same.
Quite the opposite: having clear rules let me focus more on what matters, which is how the data relates and what the person reading it needs to understand.
It also helped me work on something I think matters in Power BI: not choosing a visual because it looks good, but because it helps explain the data better.
From the same total to the real story behind it.
Interactive dashboard published in the Power BI Service
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