Live dashboards
data in real time
Turn ERPNext data into live dashboards and MIS
A complete guide to connecting ERPNext to business intelligence and reporting tools: Power BI, Tableau, Google Looker Studio and the native Frappe Insights, plus the connection methods behind them. Each option is marked so you know what is native, what is a database connection and what needs a warehouse.
KPI reporting
with targets and trends
Management MIS
sales, finance, HR in one view
How ERPNext data reaches your BI tool
ERPNext data is read through a read-only user, a read replica or a warehouse, then connected to the BI tool of your choice.
Source
ERPNext
Sales & Finance
Inventory & HR
Native dashboards
Access
Read layer
A read-only DB user, a read replica, or a data warehouse fed from ERPNext.
Connector
MariaDB / MySQL
ODBC or driver connection
or a warehouse connector
Outcome
BI tools
Frappe Insights (native)
Power BI · Tableau
Looker Studio & others
Best Practice: for scale, consolidation or governace, connect the BI tool to read replica or a warehouse rather than the production database.
What ERPNext gives you before any external tool
ERPNext runs on a MariaDB database and ships a lot of reporting out of the box. For many teams this is enough on its own, and it is the base every external BI tool reads from.
Native dashboards
Number cards, charts and KPI tiles inside ERPNext for live visibility without leaving the system.
Report builder & query reports
Report Builder, Query Report and Script Report for tabular and custom reports without any external tool.
Auto email reports
Schedule any report to deliver by email to the right people, on a daily, weekly or monthly cadence.
Frappe Insights
The native open-source BI tool: no-code query builder, dashboards and role-based access that respects ERPNext permissions.
Every BI tool you can connect
Each option is marked so you know what is native, what needs a database connection and what needs a warehouse.
| BI Tool | How it connects | Live or scheduled | Type |
|---|---|---|---|
| Frappe Insights | Direct to ERPNext database | Live | Native |
| Microsoft Power BI | MariaDB ODBC connector (v3.1.x) | DirectQuery or scheduled | DB connector |
| Tableau | MySQL or MariaDB driver | Live or extract | DB connector |
| Google Looker Studio | MySQL connector or warehouse | Cached, near live | DB connector |
| Metabase / Superset / Grafana | MariaDB, MySQL or warehouse | Live or scheduled | Open source |
| Zoho Analytics / Qlik / Sisense | DB connection or warehouse | Scheduled or live | DB connector |
| Any BI via warehouse | ERPNext → BigQuery / Postgres / Snowflake | Scheduled sync | Warehouse |
Power BI note: Use the MariaDB ODBC connector version 3.1.x. Version 3.2.x has a known bug that stops it working with Power BI.
The connection methods, explained
There are a few ways to get ERPNext data into a BI tool. The right one depends on how live you need the data, how much you are querying, and whether you consolidate more than one company.
See it working, screen by screen
Representative BI views built on ERPNext data for live dashboards, KPI reporting and management MIS. These are illustrative mockups, not live ERPNext or Power BI screenshots.
Live dashboards: revenue, orders and margin, always current
Revenue, orders, margin and channel mix on one board that reads live ERPNext data, so the number on the screen is the number in the system, filterable by branch, period, product or channel.
Revenue and order count updated live from ERPNext
Margin and channel mix visible without manual assembly
Filterable by branch, period, product or channel
Live Dashboard — Sales & Operations
Illustrative dashboard mockup, not a live ERPNext or Power BI screenshot.
Scoping notes
Key architectural decisions and guidelines to plan for before connecting your BI tools to ERPNext.
Frequently Asked Questions
Everything you need to know about connecting ERPNext to your BI and reporting tools.
Power BI, Tableau and Google Looker Studio all connect directly, and Frappe Insights is the native open-source BI tool. Power BI uses the MariaDB ODBC connector (v3.1.x), Tableau the MySQL or MariaDB driver, and Looker Studio a MySQL connector or warehouse. Metabase, Superset and Grafana work the same way via MariaDB.
Yes. Frappe Insights and native ERPNext dashboards read live data. Power BI can use DirectQuery or a scheduled refresh, and Tableau can run live or on an extract. For heavy use, a read replica or warehouse keeps dashboards fast without slowing operations.
Through the MariaDB ODBC connector and a read-only database user. Use connector version 3.1.x — version 3.2.x has a known bug that breaks the Power BI connection. For large deployments, connect to a read replica or warehouse instead of production.
Not for a single company with modest volumes, where a read replica is enough. A warehouse becomes worthwhile when you consolidate several entities, need long-term history for trends, or run heavy BI queries across many data sources.
Yes. BI tools connect with a read-only user that cannot change data, connections are encrypted, and Frappe Insights respects ERPNext permissions so people see only what they are allowed to.
Ready to turn ERPNext into alive BI dashboard?
Connect Power BI, Tableau, Looker Studio or Frappe Insights to ERPNext. Start with native dashboards and scale to a full warehouse as you grow.
