These workbooks are published by, and are the property of, the Infrastructure and Projects Authority (IPA). They are hosted on the Department of Finance website for the convenience of Northern Ireland Gateway and assurance review team members. The original publication date was 15 July 2021 but the workbooks are subject to ongoing review.
IPA state that the files may not be suitable for users of assistive technology. You may request an accessible format directly by following the link to the IPA assurance review toolkit and clicking on the appropriate workbook at the foot of the page.
The file is compressed in a zip format. This is an Excel-based tool for developing strategies, taking action and measuring success. Versions with higher numbers, express updates. To learn more about the features in this version, check out our summary or a demo here.
Please note that for the workbook to work properly you must enable the macros. The User Manual for the workbook contains instructions related to security settings, or here you can download a quick guidance on how to use the workbook in Excel 2007.
You can import Excel workbooks from your local machine, or from cloud storage such as OneDrive for work or school or SharePoint Online. This article explores the advantages of using cloud storage for your Excel files. For more information about how to import Excel files into Power BI, see Get data from Excel workbook files.
When you import an Excel workbook from your personal OneDrive, any data in the workbook loads into a new semantic model in Power BI. For example, tables in worksheets, data loaded into the Excel data model, and the structure of the data model goes into a new semantic model. Power BI automatically connects to the workbook on OneDrive, or SharePoint Online, approximately every hour to check for updates. If the workbook changed, Power BI refreshes the semantic model and reports in the Power BI service.
You can refresh the semantic model in the Power BI service. When you manually refresh or schedule a refresh on the semantic model, Power BI connects directly to the external data sources to query for any updated data. It then loads updated data into the semantic model. Refreshing a semantic model from within Power BI doesn't refresh the data in the workbook on OneDrive or SharePoint Online.
In Power BI, connecting to OneDrive for work or school is typically seamless because you likely use the same account to sign in to Power BI as OneDrive for work or school. But with personal OneDrive, it's more common to sign in with a different Microsoft account.
When you sign in to OneDrive for work or school with your Microsoft account, select Keep me signed in. Power BI can then synchronize any updates you make in the file in Power BI Desktop with semantic models in Power BI.
If your Microsoft account credentials change, edits to your file on OneDrive can't synchronize with the semantic model or reports in Power BI. You need to reconnect and import the file again from your personal OneDrive.
When you connect to an Excel workbook this way, a semantic model isn't created in Power BI. But the workbook appears in the Power BI service under Reports with an Excel icon next to the name. Unlike with Excel Online, when you connect to your workbook from Power BI, if your workbook has connections to external data sources that load data into the Excel data model, you can set up a refresh schedule.
When you use Power Query (Get & Transform Data in Excel 2016) to connect to a data source, you have several options of where to load the data. To ensure that you load data into the data model, you must select the Add this data to the Data Model option in the Import Data dialog box.
When you set up a refresh schedule, Power BI connects directly to the data sources by using connection information and credentials in the semantic model to query for updated data. It then loads the updated data into the semantic model. Any visualizations in reports and dashboard
