How to Create a Simple BI Report

Business Intelligence reports (BI reports) are essential for gaining insights into your data, allowing you to track key metrics and make informed decisions. Building simple reports, like tracking deals by status, gives you a quick overview of performance and trends. In this article we'll breakdown the basics for creating a simple BI report including:

• Creating a Dashboard
• Creating a BI Report
• How to create or edit filters in your dashboard
• Understanding what BI reports can and can't do
• Deleting reports or dashboards

First-Time Users: Creating a Dashboard

If you’re using the BI Reports feature for the first time and no dashboard has been created, you’ll see the interface below:

To create a new dashboard, first please follow these steps in this article: How to create a new dashboard and find where it is later on?

Already Have a Dashboard?

If a dashboard has already been created for you, you’re ready to generate reports based on your pipeline and room data.

Creating BI Reports

1. Start by clicking on the three dots in the upper right corner of the dashboard and select Edit dashboard from the dropdown.

2. Click Add in the top left and choose Visualization from the dropdown.

3. A pop-up window titled Choose an Explore will appear. This is where you'll select the data you want to base your report on.

4. To choose an explore, refer to the following article for more details: What kinds of Explores does DealRoom have?. Once you choose an explore, you will see the Edit Tile interface where you can start building out a report.

5. Now you can start choosing the fields of data you'd like to include in your report. We have several guided articles on different reports you can create in our help center.

For example, to build a simple "Deals by Status" report, go to Field Picker section, choose "Status" and "Count" under "Deal" view, and click on "Run" button on the upper right corner. The data will be pulled and showed in the Data Pane. And you can choose any visualization that applies in the Visualization Pane. In below screenshot, Pie Chart is used.

How to Create or Edit Filters in Your BI Dashboard

1. Navigate to Reports: Go to the left-hand navigation panel and click Reports

2. Enter Edit Mode: Click the three-dot menu (⋮) in the top-right corner of the dashboard and select Edit Dashboard.
3. Add the Filter. The dashboard menu will now show new options. Click the Filters button and then select Add Filter from the dropdown list.

4. Configure Your Filter: In the pop-up window, select the data field you want to filter by and define the filter conditions.

5. Save Your Changes: After configuring the filter, click Add in the top-right corner to apply it. The new filter will now be active on your dashboard.

6. To Edit an Existing Filter: In Edit Mode, click on the existing filter to update its settings instead of selecting Add Filter.

Understanding the Capabilities and Limitations of BI Reporting

DealRoom’s BI Reporting feature is a powerful tool for monitoring your pipeline and evaluating performance. But to get the most value from it, it’s important to understand what it is designed to do—and what it’s not.

At its core, BI Reporting tells you what happened and where it happened. It excels at summarizing historical and current data. However, it’s not built to explain why something happened or predict what’s next.

Below is a breakdown of what you can—and can’t—expect from BI Reporting.

1. Predictive Analytics

• What DealRoom BI Can Do
• Display average deal cycle length
• Show historical conversion rates between phases
• What DealRoom BI Can't Do
• Predict the likelihood of a specific deal closing
• Use complex variables (e.g., market trends, team experience) to generate a predictive deal score
• Replace a dedicated data science platform
• Project basic trendlines for pipeline growth

2. Explaining the “Why”

• What DealRoom BI Can Do:
• Surface bottlenecks, such as deals stalling in Confirmatory Diligence
• Identify patterns, like higher failure rates from a specific deal source
• What DealRoom BI Can't Do:
• Reveal the qualitative reasons behind those patterns
• Understand that delays may be due to legal complexity, competitor activity, or other contextual factors

3. Unstructured Data Analysis

• What DealRoom BI Can Do:
• Analyze structured data (e.g., deal value, industry, stage) with accuracy
• What DealRoom BI Can't Do:
• Interpret content in legal agreements, meeting notes, or audit reports
• Extract and highlight risks from documents like PDFs

4. Replacing Human Judgment

• What DealRoom BI Can Do:
• Report pipeline metrics like “$18,585 in active revenue”
• What DealRoom BI Can't Do:
• Assess the strategic significance behind a number
• For example: It can’t know that a small deal represents a key entry into a new market. That’s where your team’s insight is critical.

Deleting Reports or Dashboards

If you need to delete a report or dashboard, please note that restoring it requires manual intervention from our support team. Reach out to us, and we'll be happy to assist with the restoration from the backend.

Key Takeaway

BI Reporting gives you a clear view of what’s happening in your pipeline—helping you spot trends, ask smarter questions, and make informed decisions. It’s not a replacement for human judgment—it’s a tool that strengthens it.

If you have questions about building specific visualizations, using filters, understanding report capabilities, or need any further assistance, please don't hesitate to reach out to our support team via the in-platform chat or email us at support@dealroom.net. We're here to help you make informed decisions.

Relevant articles

BI Reporting Overview
How do I change BI reports access?
What reports can I create with DealRoom's BI Reporting?

Updated on: 29/06/2025