Comparison · RecurBoard and Power BI
RecurBoard or Power BI for your subscription KPIs?
In principle Power BI can calculate anything. But subscription KPIs from Exact Online are not a matter of setting up a dashboard: someone has to build a data model, test it and keep maintaining it. That is a sizeable job, and it doesn't end after the first version.
Short answer
With Power BI you build your subscription KPIs yourself, or buy a template that you then maintain yourself. That takes knowledge of Power Query and DAX, a connector to Exact Online, licences per user and ongoing maintenance. RecurBoard delivers the same KPIs ready-made from Exact Online Subscription Management, with no building and no maintenance.
The differences at a glance
| Power BI | RecurBoard |
|---|---|
| Build it yourself in Power Query and DAX, or buy and adapt a template | Standard, with MRR bridge and cohort analysis |
| A separate connector, usually a separate subscription | Direct connection, read-only via the official Exact login |
| Weeks of building and testing; a template also needs setting up and checking | About five minutes |
| Ongoing: new products, contract types, definitions and updates need changes | None, we do it |
| You, a colleague or a consultant; if they drop out, your reporting stops | RecurBoard; new KPIs and improvements arrive automatically |
| Depends on your own formulas; a mistake in the model doesn't show itself | Fixed, tested definitions, applied to your entire history |
| Fetch each administration separately and merge them in your model | Consolidation of KPIs plus P&L, balance sheet and cash flow (€25 per month) |
| Copilot in Power BI, only with paid Fabric capacity on top of your licences | MCP connector for Claude, ChatGPT or Copilot, for subscription KPIs, P&L, balance sheet, cash flow and all underlying Exact data (from €25 per month) |
| Yes, that is the strength of BI | No, focused on Exact Online |
| Power BI Pro licences (about €12 per user per month), a connector, building or a template (from over €1,000 one-off) and hours of maintenance | Free plan; paid from €50 per month, all included |
Which to choose when?
Choose Power BI if
- You want to combine subscription figures with CRM, HR, inventory or other systems.
- You already have a Power BI team that can build the data model and keep maintaining it.
Choose RecurBoard if
- You want subscription KPIs from Exact Online without a build project.
- You don't want to depend on the one person who understands the model.
- You want definitions fixed and applied the same way across your entire history.
- You want to consolidate several administrations without modelling it yourself.
- You don't want separate costs for connector, licences, template and maintenance.
- You are an advisory firm and want to offer this per client without building per client.
What building it yourself in Power BI really takes
A dashboard with MRR, churn and NRR from Exact Online starts with a connector that pulls your subscriptions, subscription lines, items and customers into Power BI. Then someone has to convert every subscription line to a monthly value, whether it is billed monthly, quarterly or annually. Next you determine per customer per month what happened: new, expansion, contraction, churn or reactivation.
Only then can you calculate churn, NRR and cohorts, and you have to decide when a cancellation counts, how a price increase is classified and what to do with subscriptions changed retroactively. Every choice becomes a DAX formula, and every formula has to be tested against your books. For someone who knows Power BI well, that quickly adds up to weeks of work.
And then maintenance begins
A data model is never finished. A new product, a different contract type, a changed definition or an update to Power BI or the connector calls for changes. If you don't make them, your figures quietly stop being right. And when the person who built the model leaves, the knowledge leaves with them.
There are also ready-made Power BI templates for subscriptions in Exact Online. They shorten the build, but you buy a file that you then manage yourself. At one well-known provider such a template costs €1,095 one-off, and you also need a subscription to their connector and Power BI licences. Maintenance stays with you.
Frequently asked questions
Is there a ready-made Power BI template for Exact Online Subscription Management?
Yes, there are templates that read subscriptions from Exact Online. You buy a Power BI file that you set up, adapt and maintain yourself, and you need a connector subscription and Power BI licences. RecurBoard is not a file but a service: the calculations and maintenance are ours.
Is Power BI cheaper than RecurBoard?
Only if you don't count the hours. A Power BI Pro licence costs about €12 per user per month, but add a connector to Exact Online, the build or a template and the hours of maintenance. For subscription KPIs from Exact Online, RecurBoard is almost always cheaper in total.
Can I use RecurBoard and Power BI together?
Yes. You can use RecurBoard for the subscription KPIs and Power BI for broader reporting. With the MCP connector you can also query the KPIs, financial reports and underlying Exact data in Claude, ChatGPT or Copilot, without the Fabric capacity Copilot in Power BI needs.
Does RecurBoard calculate the same as my Power BI report?
That depends on the definitions in your own model. RecurBoard uses the common definitions of MRR, churn and NRR and applies them to your entire history.
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