SAP systems hold critical business data across finance, sales, procurement, inventory, and manufacturing. Microsoft Power BI gives organizations the tools to analyze that information, combine it with other business sources, and turn it into interactive reports. The challenge is getting the right SAP data into Power BI without building and maintaining a complex integration.
The available connection methods depend on the SAP environment, the data users need to access, and how reporting is managed. For organizations running SAP S/4HANA, a dedicated SAP Power BI connector can simplify the process by providing controlled access to SAP services and reusable data sources for Power BI reports.
This guide explains how SAP Power BI integration works and how to connect SAP to Power BI step by step using Power BI Connector for SAP by Metrica Software.
How Does SAP Power BI Integration Work?
There are several ways to connect SAP to Power BI. The right approach depends on the SAP system, the data you need, and how much effort your team can dedicate to integration and maintenance.
Native Power BI Connectors for SAP
Microsoft provides native connectors for two SAP data sources:
SAP HANA connector connects Power BI to the HANA database. It requires database access, appropriate drivers, and permissions to read the relevant data. This works for organizations with accessible HANA views but is not suitable for SAP S/4HANA Public Cloud, where direct database access is unavailable.
SAP BW connector retrieves data from SAP Business Warehouse. It is useful when a company already uses BW for analytics but requires that warehouse infrastructure and its reporting data to be available.
Neither connector is a general-purpose solution for retrieving business data directly from SAP S/4HANA across all deployment models.
Direct SAP OData Connection
SAP S/4HANA exposes business data, such as sales orders, purchasing documents, and financial records, through OData APIs. Power BI can connect to these APIs using its built-in OData Feed connector.
This is a practical option for individual reports. However, as the number of SAP services, reports, and users increases, teams must manage service access, authentication, field selection, filtering, and changes to connections. Keeping these configurations consistent across reports can become an ongoing responsibility.
Power BI Connector for SAP by Metrica Software
For organizations that need a reliable, long-term SAP Power BI integration without developing their own infrastructure, Power BI Connector for SAP by Metrica Software provides a ready-made, enterprise-grade solution.
Available on SAP Store, the application is deployed in the customer’s SAP BTP environment. Metrica assists with the initial setup and provides ongoing product updates and technical support. Organizations can connect SAP data to Power BI without building custom extraction scripts, ETL pipelines, or a separate staging database.
The connector combines several capabilities essential for enterprise reporting:
No-code data preparation: A graphical interface for selecting SAP services, entities, and fields, applying filters, and creating reusable Power BI data sources.
Enterprise-scale data access: Support for large SAP datasets, source-side filtering, and incremental refresh to avoid repeatedly processing entire datasets.
Security and governance: Read-only access, SAP authorizations, role-based permissions, personal access tokens, and activity tracking.
Data ownership: The application runs within the customer’s SAP BTP environment and does not store or replicate SAP business records in external systems.
Reusable connections: Multiple SAP services can be exposed through a single data source, which can be shared across reports and teams.
Once configured, the connector generates an OData endpoint that Power BI can consume directly. BI teams can independently prepare and manage reporting data without custom development or repeated involvement from SAP administrators.
For organizations, the real advantage is having a production-ready SAP Power BI integration with built-in security, scalable data access, and vendor support, without the cost, complexity, and ongoing responsibility of maintaining a custom solution.
Which SAP Systems Can You Connect to Power BI?
Power BI Connector for SAP by Metrica Software supports SAP S/4HANA On-Premise, Private Cloud (including RISE with SAP), and Public Cloud. The connector can also work with SAP ECC, SAP BW, and BW/4HANA, depending on the available OData services and system configuration.
SAP S/4HANA On-Premise
SAP S/4HANA On-Premise runs in infrastructure managed by the organization or its hosting provider.
To connect an on-premises SAP system to Power BI through Metrica Power BI Connector for SAP, administrators configure SAP Cloud Connector to establish secure connectivity between the SAP backend and SAP BTP.
SAP Destination Service then provides the connection configuration used by the application to access authorized OData services.
This approach allows organizations to make selected SAP business data available for reporting without exposing the entire backend system directly to Power BI users.
SAP S/4HANA Private Cloud
SAP S/4HANA Private Cloud, including RISE with SAP environments, follows a similar integration model.
Metrica Power BI Connector for SAP uses SAP Cloud Connector and SAP Destination Service to reach the backend services. Once connectivity and authorizations are configured, users can select SAP OData services and create Power BI data sources.
For organizations using both on-premises and private cloud deployments, this provides a consistent reporting workflow across the two environments.
SAP S/4HANA Public Cloud
SAP S/4HANA Public Cloud uses a different connectivity approach.
Rather than relying on SAP Cloud Connector, integration is configured through SAP Communication Arrangements. These arrangements define which services are available to external applications and how they can be accessed.
After the required communication configuration is in place, Metrica’s connector can discover the available OData services and expose selected data to Power BI.
What About SAP ECC and SAP BW?
Power BI integration with SAP ECC, SAP BW, and BW/4HANA is also possible. Metrica Software assesses the technical requirements and compatibility of each environment on a case-by-case basis to determine the appropriate integration approach.
How to Connect SAP to Power BI Using Power BI Connector for SAP
Power BI Connector for SAP by Metrica Software is a ready-to-use application available on the SAP Store. It runs in the customer’s SAP Business Technology Platform (SAP BTP) environment, providing teams with a dedicated workspace to manage SAP data sources for Power BI reporting without custom integration development.
Initial deployment and SAP connectivity are configured with assistance from Metrica Software. Once the application is ready, authorized users can independently create data sources, manage access, and connect SAP data to Power BI.
Here’s how to connect SAP to Power BI step by step.
Step 1: Select SAP Services for Your Power BI Report
Open Power BI Connector for SAP, go to Data Sources, and click Create to start configuring a new data source.
Click Add Service to browse the SAP OData services available in your environment. Search for the services containing the business data you need and add them to your data source.
For example, a procurement report might require purchasing documents, supplier information, and materials data. You can include multiple SAP OData services in a single data source rather than configuring separate connections in Power BI.
Step 2: Select SAP Entities and Fields
Once you add a service, Power BI Connector for SAP displays its available entities. Expand the relevant entities and select the individual fields you need for reporting.
You can select all fields within an entity or choose specific ones, such as document numbers, transaction dates, amounts, or supplier identifiers, depending on the available SAP data.
This allows you to define exactly which SAP data will be available in Power BI, without importing unnecessary columns or writing custom extraction queries.
Step 3: Apply Filters, Preview, and Save Your SAP Data Source
Before importing SAP data into Power BI, you can apply filters to limit the records retrieved from SAP. Power BI Connector for SAP supports both a visual filter editor and OData expressions for more advanced conditions.
For example, you might limit financial transactions to a particular accounting period or select procurement records for a specific organizational unit.
Use Preview to check the selected data and Preview ERD to inspect relationships between entities.
Once everything is ready, save the data source. Power BI Connector for SAP generates a unique OData URL that you can use to connect SAP to Power BI.
The saved data source can also be shared with colleagues and reused across reports without recreating the same SAP data configuration.
Step 4: Create an Access Token
Power BI Connector for SAP uses personal access tokens to authenticate Power BI connections without exposing SAP backend credentials.
Open Access Tokens in the application, create a new token, and copy its value. You will need it when connecting Power BI Desktop.
Tokens are associated with individual users and can be revoked when necessary, helping organizations maintain control over access to their SAP reporting data.
Step 5: Connect SAP to Power BI Desktop
With the data source URL and access token ready, you can establish the SAP Power BI connection.
Open Power BI Desktop and select Get Data → OData Feed.
Paste the data source URL generated by Power BI Connector for SAP.
Select Basic authentication and enter your connector username and personal access token as the password.
In the Navigator, select the SAP tables you need and click Load or Transform Data.
Power BI imports the selected SAP data, making it available for data modeling, calculations, and visualizations in Power BI.
Step 6: Build and Publish Your Power BI Report
Once the SAP data is loaded, you can use Power BI’s standard reporting and analytics capabilities to build reports and dashboards for financial performance, sales, procurement, inventory, and other business processes.
Depending on your reporting requirements, you can:
Create relationships between imported SAP tables.
Define DAX measures and calculated metrics.
Build interactive charts, tables, and dashboards.
Combine SAP data with information from other business systems.
When your report is ready, publish it to a workspace in the Power BI service to make it available to your team.
Step 7: Configure Incremental and Scheduled SAP Data Refresh
Power BI Connector for SAP supports both scheduled and incremental refresh, allowing teams to keep SAP reporting data up to date automatically.
Incremental refresh is particularly useful for large SAP datasets. Instead of reloading the entire history, Power BI refreshes only the configured recent data period. To enable it, create RangeStart and RangeEnd parameters in Power BI Desktop, apply them to a date field, and define the historical and refresh periods. This configuration is optional and must be completed before publishing.
Scheduled refresh determines when Power BI retrieves updated SAP data. After publishing your report to the Power BI service:
Open the published semantic model’s Settings.
Configure the data source credentials using your Power BI Connector for SAP username and access token.
Enable Scheduled refresh and select the required frequency.
Power BI then retrieves data through the existing OData endpoint at the scheduled intervals. If incremental refresh is enabled, subsequent updates process the configured recent data period rather than reimporting the entire historical dataset.
For detailed step-by-step instructions, screenshots, and additional guidance on creating SAP data sources, connecting Power BI, managing access, and configuring data refresh, refer to the Power BI Connector for SAP User Guide.
Benefits of Using Power BI Connector for SAP
A direct connection to an SAP OData service may be sufficient for an individual report. However, organizations working with multiple SAP services, large datasets, and reporting teams need a more manageable approach to SAP Power BI integration.
Power BI Connector for SAP provides a ready-made solution with several advantages for enterprise reporting.
Reusable SAP Data Sources
When multiple Power BI reports rely on the same SAP information, configuring connections separately can lead to duplicated work and inconsistent data selections.
Power BI Connector for SAP allows teams to create data sources once and reuse them across reports. Data source owners can share them with colleagues, providing access to the same approved SAP entities, fields, and filters.
This helps maintain consistency across reports and reduces the need to repeatedly configure SAP data access.
Access to Multiple SAP OData Services
Business reporting often requires information from several SAP services. For example, a procurement dashboard may combine purchasing documents, supplier details, and materials data.
Power BI Connector for SAP allows users to include entities from multiple SAP OData services within a single data source, accessible through one OData endpoint.
An Entity Relationship Diagram (ERD) preview also helps developers understand the structure of the selected data before building their Power BI models.
Efficient Handling of Large SAP Datasets
Importing unnecessary SAP records can increase data transfer volumes, slow down refreshes, and affect reporting performance.
The connector supports field selection and source-side filtering, allowing teams to retrieve only the data relevant to their reports.
It also supports Power BI incremental refresh, helping organizations update recent data without repeatedly processing their entire historical datasets. This is particularly valuable for reporting on large volumes of SAP transactions.
SAP Data Security and Ownership
Power BI Connector for SAP runs within the customer’s SAP BTP environment and accesses SAP data through authorized, read-only connections. It does not store or replicate business data in a separate database or external integration platform.
Organizations retain control over their SAP environment, data access, and security policies without introducing additional data storage infrastructure.
Access Management and Auditability
Power BI Connector for SAP provides role-based permissions, personal access tokens, and controlled data source sharing, allowing organizations to manage who can access and use SAP data for reporting.
The application also maintains a comprehensive audit trail covering all data source changes, access token activity, and Power BI data export requests. Every event is recorded with the responsible user, timestamp, and relevant details.
This gives administrators full visibility into how the integration is used, helps investigate unauthorized activity or reporting issues, and supports enterprise security and compliance requirements.
No Custom Integration Development or Maintenance
With Power BI Connector for SAP, organizations don’t need to build or maintain their own SAP Power BI integration software.
The application is available on SAP Store and comes with vendor-managed updates, ongoing maintenance, and technical support. Metrica Software also assists with initial deployment and configuration.
Instead of developing extraction scripts, managing custom API integrations, and maintaining compatibility as systems evolve, organizations rely on a ready-made, supported solution.
SAP administrators retain control over backend connectivity and permissions, while Metrica Software maintains the connector. This eliminates the development and maintenance burden of a custom integration and allows IT and BI teams to focus on their core responsibilities.
Best Practices for SAP Power BI Integration
Even with an established connector, the quality and reliability of SAP reporting depend on how data sources and Power BI models are designed.
A few practices can make the integration easier to manage as reporting requirements grow.
Select Only the Required SAP Data
Start with the business questions the report needs to answer.
Identify the relevant SAP services, entities, and fields before importing data. Use source-level filters where appropriate and avoid loading complete transaction histories unless they are necessary.
This keeps data models focused and can improve refresh performance.
Use Shared Data Sources for Common Reporting Requirements
If several teams need the same SAP information, consider maintaining an approved shared data source.
For instance, financial reporting teams may benefit from a common selection of accounting entities and organizational dimensions.
This reduces configuration duplication and makes the reporting scope easier to review.
Plan Data Refresh Around Business Needs
Not every report requires the same refresh frequency.
Operational dashboards may need frequent updates, while monthly financial analysis may require only periodic refreshes.
Choose a Power BI refresh schedule based on the business requirement, the volume of data, and SAP service perfo
