Hiring a Power BI or Power Apps consultant? Start here.

Describe one ordinary working day.

Start with a sentence such as: ‘Every Monday I combine three exports, check the totals and email a report to the team.’ Say who does each step, how often it happens and where it gets stuck. That tells a consultant more than ‘we need a dashboard.’ If an app is the goal, describe what someone submits, who reviews it and what happens next.

Bring examples, without sharing private records.

A blank form, a sketch or a screenshot with sensitive details removed is enough for a first conversation. Keep real customer records, passwords and confidential files out of a public inquiry. Before implementation, agree a suitable way to share data and the access the work actually needs.

• A current report or form with names and sensitive values removed.
• The systems involved, such as Excel, SQL, SharePoint or Dataverse.
• The people who own the source data and approve access.
• A list of recurring problems: conflicting totals, missed approvals or failed refreshes.

Agree what a good result means.

For a report, name the important measures, the period they cover and the source total they must reconcile to. For an app, walk through submission, review, correction and approval with each role. For automation, include a missed approval, a duplicate request and an interrupted connection. These become acceptance checks before the work is handed over.

Ask what is included in the quote.

A clear proposal names the sources, reports or screens, integrations, revision rounds, training and delivery assumptions. It also says what is separate. Major cleanup, extra sources, Microsoft licenses, cloud capacity and ongoing support can change the effort. Ask who will maintain the solution and how changes after handover will be handled.

Start with one useful piece.

If your question can be answered from one clean Excel or CSV file, a reporting starter may be enough. If the work spans systems or needs an app, start by scoping one workflow and its access requirements. At Jav Reports, the $2,200 starter is limited to one Excel/CSV source, one Power BI dashboard with up to five metrics, supported refresh setup, two revision rounds and training. Pipelines, apps, automation, AI reporting and advanced analytics receive a separate quote.

Copy this brief into your own notes.

You can answer these in everyday language. Unknowns are useful too; write ‘not sure’ instead of guessing.

• We want to improve…
• Today, these people do these steps…
• The data or records are in…
• A good result would let us…
• We will check it works by…
• Our administrator or data owner is…
• Our timing and budget constraints are…