Overview
FVS, a leading provider of fire protection and building services across Australia, faced mounting challenges in managing their reporting processes. With data spread across Excel spreadsheets and shared drives, reporting was time-consuming, error-prone, and lacked the agility modern businesses require. Partnering with Report Simple marked a turning point in their analytics journey. By implementing Power BI and integrating systems like Business Central, KeyPay, ExFlow, and Asset Pro, FVS streamlined its reporting, improved data accuracy, and significantly reduced time spent on monthly reporting tasks.
Challenge
Before working with Report Simple, FVS relied heavily on manually updated Excel spreadsheets housed on shared drives. This process involved:
• Copying and pasting data from Business Central into Excel each month
• Manually dragging down formulas and creating PowerPoint slides for reporting
• Dealing with files that were large, slow, and prone to crashing
• Lacking data security and control over who could see what
• Being unable to drill into data to uncover the root cause of issues
• Manually consolidating multiple business units for group-level reporting
These inefficiencies were not only consuming valuable staff time but also limiting the business’s ability to make timely, data-driven decisions.
Solution
Report Simple introduced Power BI as a scalable and secure solution to address FVS’s reporting challenges. Given that both Power BI and Business Central are Microsoft products, integration was seamless and enabled several game-changing improvements:
• Automated daily data refreshes from Business Central eliminated month-end delays
• Row-level security ensured the right people saw the right data
• Drill-down capabilities empowered users to explore data and conduct root cause analysis
• Group-level dashboards replaced multiple manual extracts, consolidating business unit data
• Responsive and interactive reports removed the need for static PowerPoint presentations
• Scalability meant performance remained smooth even as data volumes grew
The board reporting process, once laborious and slow, became streamlined, cutting five full days off the monthly reporting cycle.
Result
The success of the initial project sparked a data-first culture at FVS. Power BI quickly became the central platform for reporting and analysis, leading to additional initiatives across the business, including:
• HR and Payroll dashboards from KeyPay
• Invoice reporting from ExFlow
• Fleet and asset tracking from Asset Pro
FVS now has a single source of truth for data, enabling timely, accurate, and actionable insights across departments. Staff no longer waste hours on manual processes and can instead focus on strategic decision-making.
Conclusion
By partnering with Report Simple, FVS has revolutionised the way it approaches reporting and analytics. Power BI has provided the foundation for a centralised, secure, and scalable reporting ecosystem, reducing time spent on reporting, improving data integrity, and enhancing decision-making across the organisation. What started as a fix for board reports has grown into a broader transformation—proving that with the right tools and support, data can drive smarter business.
What used to take days of manual effort every month is now automated, accurate, and available on demand. Their expertise with Power BI helped us move from static spreadsheets to dynamic reporting that empowers our teams with the insights they need—when they need them. It’s not just a reporting upgrade—it’s a cultural shift toward smarter, data-driven decision making.
Cameron Rollason | Chief Financial Officer