Businesses need to manage their payroll processes in an efficient manner which helps them achieve compliance standards and maintain accurate records and keep their employees satisfied. Implementing a new payroll system requires specialized knowledge because it involves complicated procedures.
The payroll process represents a critical yet time-intensive task that growing companies must manage. Small teams face difficulties with payroll work because it requires them to calculate employee wages and handle deduction management and tax compliance.
Organizations now need to manage their personnel operations as they need to manage their financial and operational activities. Organizations are continuously seeking methods to enhance employee productivity while they optimize their human resource activities and develop a better workforce.
As organizations expand their operations, they encounter difficulties in handling employee management and payroll responsibilities and compliance requirements and workforce planning activities. Businesses today need a unified solution that simplifies human resources operations while improving productivity and decision making.
Payroll is one of the most critical functions in a business. A tiny mistake can have a ripple effect on employee trust, compliance, and cash flow. This is precisely the reason why Managed Payroll is considered a wise choice for companies that look for precision without operational tension.
When you think about how to manage a workforce today, many people assume it finishes with HR policies or payroll cycles. However, managing people today is really about how well we allow our systems to help employees and make decisions — this leads to the overall success of your employee’s growth.
Modern-day businesses need intelligent, quick, and well-connected systems for managing their staff, salary and performance. This is the point where Dayforce features have a significant influence. By creating a single solution for human capital management, they integrate HR, payroll, and talent processes of companies in real-time.
One of the most common questions I hear from customers as they move to an allocation-based billing model is: "What levers do I actually have if I want to control how many resources my workloads consume?" Many customers are looking for a way to prevent specific workloads from scaling aggressively and consuming more resources than they're comfortable with. That's where Custom SQL Pools can help significantly. Custom SQL Pools, currently in preview and soon to be generally available, were designed to give customers more control over how resources are allocated across workloads. Their primary purpose is workload isolation and governance, but with allocation-based billing, governing resource allocation can have a direct impact on overall consumption. Figure 1: Custom SQL Pools - application based classification Understanding the tradeoff Every workload wants resources. Your Power BI dashboards want low latency. Your ETL workloads want throughput. Your ad hoc analysts want concurrency. Without workload governance, multiple workloads can compete for the same resources and can scale aggressively when they become active. While that's desirable for some latency-sensitive workloads, customers often want different workloads isolated from one another. A business-critical Power BI dashboard may require priority access to resources, while an ETL process may be allowed to run longer in exchange for consuming fewer resources. Custom SQL Pools provide those isolation boundaries and governance controls, allowing customers to make intentional performance versus consumption tradeoffs. A simple example Imagine a bursty reporting workload. Without a Custom SQL Pool, a query might: Scale to 10 vNodes. Run for 10 seconds. Trigger billing on 10 allocated vNodes, each subject to the one-minute minimum allocation window. In that scenario, the workload would be billed against a maximum allocation of 10 vNodes during the billing interval. Under the one-minute minimum, that's approximately 600 billed vNode-seconds. Now imagine that same workload is assigned to a Custom SQL Pool limited to 50% of the warehouse resources. The query might: Scale to only 5 vNodes. Run for 20 seconds instead of 10. Trigger billing on only 5 allocated vNodes during the billing interval. In that scenario, the workload would be billed against a maximum allocation of 5 vNodes, or approximately 300 billed vNode-seconds under the one-minute minimum. The query took longer to complete, but it reached a lower allocation peak and consumed fewer billed resources. In other words: You're trading performance for a smaller resource footprint. For bursty workloads that frequently trigger the one-minute minimum allocation window, limiting how aggressively a workload can scale may reduce overall consumption. For latency-sensitive workloads, that tradeoff may not make sense. For others, it's an intentional and useful optimization. The real-world scenario Numerous customers use Custom SQL Pools effectively to control how resources are allocated to their workloads. One customer had a long-running ETL process that wasn't latency sensitive. For this customer, they didn't care whether the load finished in 20 minutes or 30 minutes. What they did care about was controlling how aggressively the workload consumed resources. They used SQL Pools to restrict the throughput available to that ETL process, effectively smoothing resource usage over a longer period of time. The workload ran longer, but consumed resources at a more controlled rate to further utilize the 24-hour smoothing behavior of background operations. That's a great example of where workload governance and consumption governance become closely related. Good Candidates for SQL Pools Custom SQL Pools are particularly useful when you have workloads that: Are not latency sensitive. Can tolerate longer runtimes. Generate large bursts of activity. Compete with other workloads for resources. Need more predictable resource consumption. Examples include: ETL and Data Loading Nightly data loads often care more about successful completion than finishing a few minutes faster. Restricting resource allocation may be a perfectly reasonable tradeoff. Background Processing Data preparation, maintenance operations, and other non-interactive workloads can often run with fewer resources. Power BI Reporting Many organizations want to ensure reporting workloads cannot consume all available warehouse resources during business hours. Using Custom SQL Pools to allocate a fixed percentage of resources to reporting workloads provides predictable behavior while preventing contention with other workloads. What Custom SQL Pools are not It's equally important to be clear about what SQL Pools do not do. They are not: A spending limit. A monthly budget cap. A mechanism to stop charges after a threshold. A "$100/month maximum" control. Instead, they serve as guardrails that define the maximum share of warehouse resources each workload can access. While they are not a cost optimization feature in themselves, the governance they provide can indirectly affect overall consumption. Looking ahead We're continuing to invest in workload management capabilities. A common ask we hear is for resource governance to follow the identity rather than the application. For example, a customer may want executive reporting users, production service principals, or critical business processes to receive different resource allocations than ad hoc analyst workloads. Identity-based classifiers are one example of where we're headed, but the broader goal is to give customers more flexibility in how workloads are governed. We're also working toward making the built-in workload boundaries configurable, allowing customers to adjust resource allocation between the default SELECT and NONSELECT workload groups without needing to define custom classifiers. For customers that simply want different resource allocations for reporting and ingestion workloads, this provides a simpler path to workload governance. Ultimately, the goal is to give customers more explicit control over how resources are allocated and governed, making it easier to align resource allocation with business priorities while managing performance and consumption in a predictable way. Takeaway Custom SQL Pools is primarily a workload management feature, not a cost-control feature. However, in an allocation-based billing model, governing resource allocation and governing consumption become closely related. If you're willing to let a workload run a little longer, Custom SQL Pools can provide a practical mechanism for reducing the resources that workload is allowed to consume. For many customers, that's exactly the lever they're looking for. Get started with Custom SQL Pools today! Learn more in the documentation: Configure Custom SQL Pools in the Fabric Portal.
TMDL View on the Web is a feature in Power BI that enables developers to view and edit semantic models as code directly in the browser using TMDL. It expands the Power BI web modelling experience by introducing a rich code editor for working with TMDL scripts—giving pro developers full transparency into the semantic model code and enabling more efficient workflows through code editing.
Bring your Power BI reports to life with dynamic conditional formatting for lines and legends that stays consistent and updates automatically as your data changes.
Power BI's modern visual defaults and new Customize theme experience enable report authors to centrally manage colors, typography, visual styling, page settings, and filter pane formatting across an entire report, creating consistent, professional reports faster while preserving visual-specific customizations.
Welcome to the July 2026 Power BI update!This month, we're introducing new capabilities across reporting, modeling, mobile, and embedded analytics. Highlights include expanded modern visual defaults, conditional formatting improvements for line charts and legends, new org app capabilities and APIs, Model Options in the Power BI Service, and TMDL View on the web.Let's take a look at what's new this month. Download Power BI Desktop Events and AnnouncementsYour Road to the Power BI DataViz World ChampionshipsRound Two of the Power BI DataViz World Championships is now open, with Round Three still ahead. Plus, one wildcard finalist will be selected from standout submissions across all stages of the championship.Is this your moment?The only way to find out is to enter. Every submission is a chance to learn something new, connect with the community, and showcase your creativity. You might surprise yourself along the way and earn a place in the finals. Join now.Data Days Goes Through August 7thLooking for your next Power BI breakthrough? Data Days brings together the best of data, AI, and analytics in free live sessions. Learn new skills, get inspired, and connect with the community. Learn more.Will we see you in Barcelona?The European Microsoft Fabric and SQL Community Conference take place September 28 to October 1 in Barcelona, Spain, bringing together Microsoft experts and community leaders for exclusive content, live demos, and key announcements, along with more than 130 sessions spanning Fabric, Azure AI, Databases, Power BI, and Microsoft Purview. And of course, the live Dataviz World Championships finale!The most recent event in Atlanta sold out. Don’t miss out and register for the Barcelona event with code FABCMTY200 to save €200.GeneralDeprecation of Old File Picker experience in Power BI DesktopIn April we deprecated the old file picker experience in Power BI Desktop. Starting in October, users still utilizing versions of Power BI desktop from March 2026 or earlier will no longer be able to save and share Power BI files to One Drive and SharePoint. Please ensure you update Power BI desktop to keep using this functionality.Note: No action is required from users as part of this deprecation; this is simply an informational announcement.ReportingUpdate your report defaults and use color palettes with the modern visual defaults (Preview)We've expanded the Modern Visual Defaults preview with a new Customize current theme experience directly in the Format pane. You can now adjust report-wide defaults that apply to all visuals on every page—without manually styling each one. Choose from color palettes to change your report's colors while preserving other customizations or use the expanded visual-level options to style or toggle elements like background, border, header icons, tooltips and shadow on or off across your entire report. You can also fine-tune border thickness, corner radius, and default padding. Every new visual you add automatically inherits your styling, so your report stays consistent as you build.Beyond visuals, you can update page size, background color, and wallpaper across all pages at once, and apply filter pane formatting to current and new pages. These customizations create a custom theme layered on top of your base theme. Styling applied to individual pages or visuals takes precedence, and you can reset any setting to re-enforce the theme defaults. When you're finished, export your custom theme to use in other reports or add it to your organizational themes so others can create uniformly styled reports.To get started, enable the Modern visual defaults and customize theme improvements preview in Options, then when nothing is selected on the page, choose the Customize current theme option in the Format pane. Visit our documentation to learn more about visual defaults in Power BI reports.Conditional formatting for line charts and legends (Generally Available)One of the highly requested features from the Power BI community is here: conditional formatting now extends to line charts and visuals with legends. This update applies to bar charts, column charts, pie charts, donut charts, and line charts—when these visuals have a legend, you can conditionally format their colors.For line charts, format line colors using a gradient based on the total value of each line, or by the category it represents. For example, when overlaying multiple years by month, apply a gradient that displays the most recent year in blue while older years fade to lighter shades of grey. Markers and series labels automatically inherit the conditional formatting until you choose to color them differently.For visuals with category legends, you can ensure consistent colors across your entire report. If multiple visuals use Segment as their legend, color each segment using a single DAX measure. Every visual displays the same color for the same category. When you need to change a segment's color, update the measure once and all visuals reflect the new color instantly.Add data-driven colors to your reports today! Learn more about how to use conditional formatting in other places at Conditional formatting in Power BI visuals.Report page tab navigation improvements (Generally Available)Managing reports with many pages is now easier. Previously, when you dragged a page tab to reorder it, you couldn't move it past the visible tabs, making it difficult to move a page from the end of your report to the beginning. Now, when you drag a page tab toward the edge of the tab bar, the tabs continue to scroll until you reach the position where you want to place it. The arrow buttons that page through report tabs are also more precise, ensuring you see each report page tab as you navigate. These improvements make it faster to organize and navigate reports with dozens of pages.Learn more about working with report pages in Report View in Power BI Desktop.Simplified title spacing for visualsWe've streamlined how spacing works in the title area of your visuals. The spacing properties now use a consistent "space above" approach—Space above subtitle, Space above divider, and Space above plot area—instead of the previous "space below" settings. This makes it easier to understand and control the gaps between title elements, and ensures visuals look consistent even when they have different combinations of subtitle and divider.Your existing reports and themes automatically adjust to the new settings without any change to their appearance. If you've configured title spacing in a custom theme, we recommend updating it to use the new "space above" properties for clarity and consistency going forward. Learn more about customizing visualization titles.Visuals calculations LOOKUP function now supports INFERRED mode for associated columnsThe LOOKUP function in visual calculations now accepts an optional AssociatedColumnsBehavior parameter with two values: EXPLICIT (default) and INFERRED. When you use INFERRED, the engine automatically identifies which axis columns are functionally determined by the coordinates you supply and fills them in before evaluating the lookup. This means a lookup that specifies Year, Quarter, and Month can return a value across all rows in the matrix, rather than only on the row where the current context exactly matches.When the parameter is omitted, LOOKUP behaves exactly as it does today—existing expressions continue to work without changes. When you explicitly supply a value for a column that would have been inferred, LOOKUP validates your value against the inferred value and returns BLANK if they conflict, providing consistent error handling across both modes.Org apps with audiences (Generally Available)With support for audiences, app creators can deliver different content experiences to different groups of users within the same app, making it easier to personalize content while managing a single app experience.Learn more in these blog posts, Org apps with audiences for Power BI and Fabric (Generally Available) or learn more about how org apps and audiences work.Bookmarks support for reports in org appsUsers can now access bookmarks when viewing interactive reports in org apps. This includes both report bookmarks created by report authors and personal bookmarks users create for themselves, making it easy to return to saved report views with the filters, selections, and visual state they care about most.To learn more about bookmarks in the Power BI service, refer to the documentation. Storytelling (PowerPoint embed) support for reports and visuals in org appsReports in org apps now support Storytelling in PowerPoint, allowing users to add live report pages and visuals from org app content into PowerPoint presentations. This extends the existing Storytelling experience to reports distributed through org apps, making it easier to present and share curated content across your organization.Learn more about how you can enhance your data storytelling in PowerPoint with live, interactive Power BI data.CRUD APIs (REST) for org apps and audiencesDevelopers and administrators can now programmatically manage org apps and audiences using Microsoft Fabric REST APIs. New APIs support create, read, update, delete, and list operations for both org app items and audience items, enabling automation, deployment, and management scenarios at scale.Learn more about the org app item definition and org app audience item definition.CRUD APIs (REST) for paginated reportsPaginated reports can now be managed through Microsoft Fabric REST APIs. New support for create, read, update, delete, and list operations enables developers and administrators to automate report lifecycle management, deployment workflows, and administrative processes.Learn more about the paginated report APIs and the paginated report definition.ModelingMeasure descriptions in line with triple-slash (///) commentsGood descriptions make a semantic model self-documenting. Until now, adding them was a two-step process: you authored your measures in DAX query view, then switched over to Model Explorer just to type the description in.Yet with the latest Desktop release, you can now add measure descriptions right where you write your measures, using the same triple-slash (///) syntax that TMDL already supports for both measure and function descriptions. Add one or more /// comment lines directly above your MEASURE definition, select “Update model with changes”, and the description is written straight into the model along with the measure definition.DEFINE /// Year-over-year sales growth, as a percentage. /// Returns BLANK when there is no prior-year value. MEASURE Sales[YoY Growth %] = ...Once it’s saved, the description travels with the measure: hover over the measure in DAX query view, in Model Explorer, or in the Data pane, and the description shows up in the tooltip next to the measure name, and it carries through to the quick queries DAX query view generates. Specifically, when you right-click a measure and choose Quick queries, and then select Define and evaluate (or any other Define option), Power BI generates a DEFINE MEASURE statement in DAX Query View that includes the description as /// comments above the measure definition, as in the following screenshot.It’s a small addition with a nice payoff — descriptions become part of the authoring flow, consistent across measures and UDFs. And it’s non-breaking: if you already use /// inside a measure body, nothing changes there. This is specifically about the comment lines above the MEASURE definition.Try it out in the July release of Power BI Desktop. For more details about how to work with measures in DAX query view, refer to Work with DAX query view in Power BI documentation.Model Options now available in Power BI ServiceWe’re continuing to bring more semantic modeling capabilities to the web! With this update, the Model options dialog will now be available directly in web modeling, giving you greater control over key modeling-level settings, without needing to switch back to Power BI Desktop.The new Options dialog enables you to configure important behaviors and metadata that are defined at the model level (current file) in a centralized experience.The new Model Options dialog in web modeling includes the following settings:Type detection: enable/disable automatic detection of column types and headers for unstructured sources.Relationships: configure auto-detection behavior for relationships in the model.Time intelligence: enable/disable automatic creation of hidden date tables.Parallel loading of tables: set the concurrency mode used when loading tables.Locale for import: set the regional settings used to interpret numbers, dates and time in imported text.DirectQuery connections to this semantic model: Toggle whether other semantic models can connect to this semantic model using DirectQuery. When enabled, this model cannot be used as a DirectQuery source.(Direct Query only) Maximum connections per data source: limit how many concurrent DirectQuery connections can be opened to a single data source.For more details, refer to the Model Options in Power BI Service documentation.New: The semantic model settings pane becomes the default (Preview)Starting in August, when you open the settings for a semantic model in the Power BI Service, they open in the new settings pane instead of the full settings page. This change updates the default experience: the settings pane opens beside your content, so you can update refresh schedules, credentials, and other options without leaving your workspace or losing your current work context. Everything you manage on the settings page today is available in the pane, so the settings are fully configurable.If you'd rather keep using the legacy settings page, you can switch back at any time from within the pane. The settings pane first arrived in preview in May. Refer to the original semantic model settings pane announcement to learn what it offers and to review how semantic model settings work, refer to Edit Semantic Models In The Power BI Service.TMDL View on the WebNow, developers can script, modify, and apply changes to model objects directly in a code editor using Tabular Model Definition Language (TMDL), without switching to Desktop or downloading model files.This experience provides immediate, code‑level visibility into all semantic model metadata (tables, measures, relationships, and more), enabling bulk edits, automation of repetitive tasks, and the reuse of definitions to improve consistency and productivity.For more details about TMDL view and the full list of capabilities in this release, refer to the documentation: Use Tabular Model Definition Language (TMDL) view in Power BI Desktop.MobileOrg app audiences are now in mobile appsOrg app audiences in the Power BI mobile app extend a tailored org app experience from Power BI Service to users on iOS and Android. With this update, mobile and tablet users can open an org app and see and navigate content based on their assigned audience, so they can quickly find the reports, dashboards, and Power BI content most relevant to their role while on the go.Audiences in org apps help organizations deliver the right content to the right people from a single governed app experience. Instead of creating and managing multiple apps, app creators can define multiple audiences, control which items each audience sees, and tailor navigation for each group. On mobile, this results in a cleaner, more focused experience on smaller screens.Executives, managers, frontline workers, and department teams can each land in an app experience curated for their needs while still benefiting from centralized management of a single org app.This update helps close a key gap for customers adopting org apps. Org apps are the recommended way to package and distribute Power BI and Fabric content, and mobile access is essential for users who rely on Power BI away from their desks or in frontline scenarios. Organizations that use audiences to personalize org app content can now extend those tailored experiences to Power BI mobile apps.To learn more about org apps and audiences, refer to the org apps blog, Org apps with audiences for Power BI and Fabric.Third-party custom visuals Need more visual options for your report? Power BI reports support custom visuals built to fit your exact needs. Browse hundreds of options in AppSource, also available directly from Power BI Desktop, or develop your own and add it to a single report, share it across your organization, or publish it to AppSource for the community. You can even develop a custom visual tailored to your specific requirements with AI coding tools like GitHub Copilot Free.These are some updates from the community-based custom visuals you can use in your reports today. Drill Down Scatter PRO by ZoomChartsDrill Down Scatter PRO brings a new level of interactivity to scatter chart analysis in Power BI. Users can seamlessly drill down through multiple hierarchy levels, zoom into dense data clusters, and pan across large datasets to investigate trends, outliers, and relationships with precision.The visual helps consumers report from high-level summaries to detailed insights without leaving the report. Advanced features such as dynamic regression lines, area and threshold highlighting, area selection, and lasso selection make it easier to identify patterns, compare segments, and focus on the most relevant data points.With over 200 formatting options, authors can tailor the visual to match business requirements and branding while creating highly engaging analytical experiences.Drill Down Scatter PRO is ideal for customer segmentation, sales performance analysis, operational monitoring, and any scenario where users need to explore large volumes of data interactively. By combining powerful analytics with intuitive navigation, the visual enables faster discovery of actionable insights directly within Power BI. To get started, download it now.Neutral variance color in Zebra BI TablesYou're reviewing a Revenue vs Plan report. Anything within ±5% is considered fine, but Actuals are 3% below plan and everything flashes red. The whole dashboard looks alarming.Sound familiar? This is the fix.With Neutral variance color in Zebra BI Tables and Charts, you can now define a tolerance zone where small swings stay neutral. Variances beyond your set limits still turn red or green, so you instantly see where real action is needed.Where it helps:Revenue vs. Plan: "Set ±5% tolerance. Q4 revenue at -3%? Stays neutral. Drops to -7%? Turns red."Spend vs. Budget: Could we keep the current detail level but add context: "Department at 95% of budget? Neutral. Hits 115% or drops to 85%? Both turn red - overspend wastes money, underspend may signal delivery issues."On-time Delivery or HR KPIs: Could we pick one specific example - may be HR? Something like the below?Employee Turnover: "Annual target 12% ±2%. At 13.5%? Neutral. At 15%? Red alert."Now your dashboards reflect reality: not every variance needs a red alert. Instead, you can:Focus on what matters: Stop investigating variances within acceptable limits.Align with business rules: Your CFO says ±5% is fine, your dashboard should too.Achieve faster executive reviews: Leadership can scan dashboards and immediately spot true outliers.Try it now in Zebra BI Tables and Charts.Heatmap by PowervizThe Powerviz Heatmap visualizes data density and value distribution using color gradients, transforming complex datasets into an intuitive matrix format. It is ideal for identifying patterns, correlations, and outliers, aiding data-driven decision-making.Key Features:Shapes: Choose from Default, Fixed, or Diverging built-in shapes. Data Colors: Offers 30+ palettes, color-blind mode, and custom color options. Data Labels: Select from different styles available or add custom labels with formatting. Grid Lines: Improve data readability with visual grid lines. Reference Lines: Highlight key points using X-axis and Y-axis lines. Totals: Display row and column totals with advanced bar customization.Null Values: Customize null values (Blank /NA / Null/ ”0”) and their styling. Small Multiples: Split visuals into smaller ones using selected fields. Conditional Formatting: Spot outliers with Value/ Percentage/ Ranking based rules.Ranking: Filter Top/Bottom N rows or columns.Other features included Axis Settings, Grid View, Sorting, Show Condition and more.ResourcesTry Heatmap visual for FREE from App SourceCheck out all features of the visualStep-by-step instructionsYouTube VideoLearn more about visualsFollow Powerviz on LinkedInGantt by ProfitbaseReviewing a project plan, stakeholders rely on color to quickly identify at-risk tasks, and owner-specific highlights. Version 3.1 of Gantt by Profitbase lets you apply conditional formatting rules independently to specific levels of your hierarchy.The new version also includes:Expand and collapse rows based on a condition, so the right level of detail opens automatically based on the rules added.A default scroll position at the start of the chart.Include the last day in duration calculationsFor more feature details, refer to the Gantt by Profitbase v3.1 release notes.Additional capabilities for Gantt by Profitbase:Unlimited hierarchyFormat hierarchy levels individuallySupports additional columnsSupports multiple milestones per taskApply expansion stylesZoom in/out using zoom buttonsApply highlighting curtains to important periodsSort, Filter and Search for any information across all columnsUse theming templates to set formattingRagged HierarchyDynamic event markers from dataResourcesVersion 3.1 Youtube videoGantt by Profitbase wikiPower BI Visuals YouTube PlaylistSupport ForumLearn more and download the visual on AppSourceUntil next monthThat’s a wrap for July!This month’s enhancements continue our focus on making Power BI easier to build, manage, and scale across your organization. From report-wide formatting improvements and expanded org app capabilities to new web modeling experiences and developer APIs, these updates help streamline both the authoring and consumption experience. We hope you enjoy trying out these new capabilities and, as always, we welcome your feedback as we continue to improve Power BI.Download Power BI Desktop
The future of Power BI and Copilot starts by meeting users where they already work. We’re bringing trusted Power BI answers into Microsoft 365 Copilot first, so people can ask questions of governed business data in the flow of work — then carrying that richer, more conversational experience back into the Power BI service itself.
Power BI’s new date picker slicer helps report authors set dynamic default date ranges while giving viewers flexible, easy ways to explore dates, ranges, and rolling periods as data refreshes.
We’re proud to share that Microsoft has once again been named a Leader in the 2026 Gartner® Magic Quadrant™ for Analytics and Business Intelligence Platforms for the nineteenth consecutive year.
Discover how the Shape Map visual (Generally Available) in Power BI helps you bring custom geographic boundaries, flexible map formats, and data-driven color formatting into your reports.
Discover how Power BI’s tooltip (Generally Available) options help you tailor hover experiences—from curated field lists and sentence-style insights to fully custom report page tooltips.
