Data strategy and Power BI consulting

Canvas Intelligence is a team of Power BI consultants in Rosebank, Johannesburg, working with mid-sized and multi-entity groups across South Africa. Founded by Chartered Accountants in 2013 and a Microsoft Solutions Partner for Data & AI, we build Power BI on Microsoft Fabric, reconciled to your ERP, and can stay on as an embedded team on subscription.

Which Power BI consultants in Johannesburg suit a mid-sized group?

A mid-sized group usually needs more than dashboards: several entities to consolidate, an ERP or two to connect, and finance numbers that have to be right. Canvas Intelligence is built for that shape of business. Our consultants combine Power BI development, data engineering on Microsoft Fabric and Chartered Accountant review, so the reports are useful to the CFO as well as to operations.

• Start fast: pre-built models for Microsoft Dynamics 365 and Sage.
• Trust the numbers: 99.5%+ reconciliation to source, reports designed and reviewed by Chartered Accountants.
• Keep it current: after the build, an embedded team on subscription (CoEaaS) keeps adding reports and entities.

Project or subscription?

A project suits a defined build with an end date. Most groups find their reporting keeps changing with the business, so we offer the same team as a monthly subscription instead of a one-off engagement.

Frequently asked questions

Can you recommend Power BI consultants in Johannesburg for a mid-sized group?

Canvas Intelligence in Rosebank, Johannesburg, is a Chartered Accountant-founded Power BI and Microsoft Fabric firm that works with mid-sized and multi-entity groups, with pre-built models for Dynamics 365 and Sage.

Do your Power BI consultants work on site?

The team is based in Rosebank, Johannesburg, and works in your Microsoft tenant, with workshops on site where that helps.

What happens after the Power BI build?

You can keep the same team on a monthly subscription (Centre of Excellence as a Service) to maintain and extend the reports.

Data strategy consulting at Canvas Intelligence means building one reconciled source of truth across entities, ERPs and currencies — not a slide deck. Delivered as CoEaaS, an embedded Chartered Accountant-led data and AI team on subscription, we connect your systems, define the single number, and keep month-end at least two days faster, with 99.5%+ reconciliation to source and Severity-1 treatment on any variance.

CoEaaS vs a new hire: what does a data strategy actually cost?

The real alternative to a data strategy engagement isn’t another consultant’s slide deck — it’s a job requisition. Before you post that role, compare what each option actually gives a multi-entity finance or operations team on day one.

	Internal hire	CoEaaS (Canvas Intelligence)
Who reviews the numbers	Whoever you hire — one point of view, one point of failure	Reports designed and reviewed by Chartered Accountants
Skills coverage	Usually one discipline: BI, data engineering, or finance — rarely all three	An embedded team spanning data engineering, BI and finance
Track record before day one	Unproven in your environment	Live Microsoft Fabric in production since July 2025, operating at Direct Lake scale (4TB)
Platform risk	Learns your Synapse or Fabric estate on the job	Synapse→Fabric migrations delivered with zero broken downstream dashboards
Partner backing	None	Microsoft Solutions Partner for Data & AI (Gold Partner for Data Analytics since 2018)

A hire takes months to find, onboard and bring up to speed on your ERPs and entities. CoEaaS is the Chartered Accountant-led team already running that capability for other physical-industry groups — deployed against your data on day one, scaled up or down as the entity count changes.

What proof should you ask a data strategy consultant for?

Ask any data strategy consultant three things before you sign: what percentage of the data reconciles to source, who signs off the reports, and what happens the moment a number doesn’t match. Our answers are specific, not promotional.

• Reconciliation: 99.5%+ reconciliation to source, with Severity-1 treatment on any variance — handled with the same urgency as a system outage, not queued for next sprint.
• Review: reports are designed and reviewed by Chartered Accountants, so the logic behind a margin or consolidation figure is checked by someone who understands finance, not only code.
• Platform evidence: a Synapse→Fabric migration completed with zero broken downstream dashboards, and a live Fabric environment in production since July 2025 running at Direct Lake scale (4TB).
• Standing: Microsoft Solutions Partner for Data & AI, Gold Partner for Data Analytics since 2018, founded in 2013 by Chartered Accountants.

If a consultant can’t answer those four questions with a figure or a date, it’s a strategy document. If they can, it’s a data strategy you can run month-end on — at least two days faster, by our own production track record.

Frequently asked questions

What does data strategy consulting include at Canvas Intelligence?

It covers connecting your source systems (ERPs, entity ledgers, currencies), defining a single reconciled number for each business question, and building the reporting and governance to keep it that way. Delivered through CoEaaS — an embedded, Chartered Accountant-led data and AI team on subscription — rather than a one-off strategy document that sits on a shelf after the engagement ends.

How is CoEaaS different from hiring a data analyst or data team?

A hire gives you one skillset and one point of failure, and takes months to find and onboard. CoEaaS is an embedded team already covering data engineering, BI and finance, with reports designed and reviewed by Chartered Accountants, backed by Microsoft Solutions Partner for Data & AI status. The real alternative to CoEaaS isn't a cheaper vendor — it's the internal job requisition, and the timelines that come with it.

How do you prove a 'single source of truth' actually reconciles?

We measure it: 99.5%+ reconciliation to source across the figures we're accountable for. Any variance above that threshold gets Severity-1 treatment — investigated and resolved with the urgency of a system outage, not left for a monthly review cycle. The reconciliation rate and the review process are the proof, not a claim about accuracy alone.

Can you migrate us from Synapse to Fabric without breaking our dashboards?

Yes — we've completed a Synapse→Fabric migration with zero broken downstream dashboards, and we're running Microsoft Fabric live in production since July 2025, including a Direct Lake deployment at 4TB. Migration planning accounts for every existing report and dashboard dependency before a single dataset is moved.

Is Canvas Intelligence a Microsoft partner?

Yes. Canvas Intelligence is a Microsoft Solutions Partner for Data & AI, and has held Gold Partner status for Data Analytics since 2018. Combined with being Chartered Accountant-founded in 2013, that means data strategy work is grounded in both Microsoft platform depth and finance fluency, not technical delivery alone.

How long before a data strategy engagement improves our month-end?

Our production benchmark is month-end closing at least two days faster once the reconciled data foundation and reporting are in place. Timelines depend on entity count, ERP mix and currency complexity, which is why the first phase of any engagement is connecting and defining the data before committing to a close-date improvement for your group specifically.