Does BambooHR connect to Power BI?

There is no BambooHR connector built into Power BI. We use the BambooHR API with a read-only key, load the data into Azure on a schedule and build the reports on top, so refreshes never depend on someone exporting a report.

What access do you need in BambooHR?

A dedicated BambooHR user with access to the fields the reports use, and an API key created by that user. The key can only read what that user can see, and you can remove it at any time.

Can we see headcount and turnover for past months?

Yes. We keep the job and employment status history for every person, so you can see headcount, starters, leavers and turnover for any month, by department, location or employment type.

Can we add payroll and finance data?

Yes, and that is usually where the most useful reports come from. Joining BambooHR to payroll and your accounts system gives cost per head, salary cost against budget and the cost of vacancies.

Can managers see only their own teams?

Yes. Row-level security in Power BI means each manager sees their own people and nobody else’s, while HR and the leadership team see everything.

Is our people data kept safe?

Everything stays in your own Microsoft tenant. Sensitive fields such as salary can be left out entirely or limited to the people who should see them.

Which Power BI licence do we need?

People who view shared reports usually need a Power BI Pro licence, which is included in some Microsoft 365 plans. If many managers need access, a capacity licence can work out cheaper. We will tell you the most economical option.

As a fixed-price project agreed before work starts. A short reporting review comes first, so you know what is worth building and what it will cost.

BambooHR reporting

BambooHR reporting in Power BI

Headcount over time, turnover, hiring and time off from BambooHR, refreshed automatically and joined to payroll and finance. No more stitching BambooHR reports together in Excel.

Talk about BambooHR reporting Try the report

BambooHR runs your people. Reporting is where it gets harder.

BambooHR’s standard and custom reports answer the questions about today well. As the business grows, the questions are about trends, cost and the rest of the business.

Headcount over time

BambooHR shows who works here today. Job and status changes sit in history tables for each person, so a month-by-month headcount means pulling and joining that history.

Date ranges in custom reports

Reviewers say custom reports cannot simply be limited to a date range, so a year of starters and leavers can mean several reports combined by hand.

Turnover in a spreadsheet

Leavers are exported, matched to headcount in Excel and the turnover maths done again for every board pack.

HR on its own

Cost per head, overtime and hiring spend need payroll, finance and recruitment figures that sit outside BambooHR.

Time off patterns

Time off is recorded and approved, but comparing teams or spotting repeat short absences means more exports and more formulas.

Connecting BambooHR is fiddly

An API key sees only what its creator can see, history comes table by table, and pulls are rate limited, so do-it-yourself exports break easily.

What the reports cover

Five report pages, set up around your departments, sites and custom fields. Try the first four on sample data below, then see them on your own.

Workforce

Headcount, starters and leavers over time by department, location and employment type, with tenure and gender split.

Retention

Turnover and retention by team, reasons for leaving and how long leavers stayed, so you see where people are not staying.

Hiring

Time to hire and time to fill, open roles, where hires come from and which teams take longest to fill.

Leave and absence

Days taken by month and team, allowance used, people with days left to take, and repeat short absences.

Cost per head

BambooHR joined to payroll and the finance ledger, so headcount, salary cost and budget sit in one view.

See them on your own BambooHR data

Book a reporting review

Try the report

A working BambooHR report on sample data for a 426-person company in two countries. Change the year or location, or click any bar to filter the rest of the page.

Home page of the BambooHR sample report, with workforce, retention, hiring and leave

Open the live report

From BambooHR to the report

01
Connect

A read-only API key from a dedicated BambooHR user with access to exactly the fields the reports need. Nothing in BambooHR can be changed.
02
Store

Employees, job history, employment status, time off and hiring data land in a database in your own Microsoft tenant, with history kept so every month can be compared.
03
Report

Power BI reports in Teams or the browser, refreshed automatically, with row-level security so managers see their own teams only.

History, not just today

We load the job information, employment status and compensation tables for every person, so headcount and turnover are correct for any past month, including back-dated changes.

Only what changed

After the first load we ask BambooHR only for employees changed since the last run, which keeps refreshes quick and inside the API limits.

HR reporting we have delivered

People data is only useful when HR trusts the numbers. Every report we build is checked against the source system before anyone relies on it.

Charities & care

HR analytics pipelines for a national charity

Fortnightly manual extracts from the HR and payroll systems became automatic daily updates into one organised set of figures, with each manager seeing only their own teams.

Read the case study

Questions about BambooHR reporting

Does BambooHR connect to Power BI?: There is no BambooHR connector built into Power BI. We use the BambooHR API with a read-only key, load the data into Azure on a schedule and build the reports on top, so refreshes never depend on someone exporting a report.
What access do you need in BambooHR?: A dedicated BambooHR user with access to the fields the reports use, and an API key created by that user. The key can only read what that user can see, and you can remove it at any time.
Can we see headcount and turnover for past months?: Yes. We keep the job and employment status history for every person, so you can see headcount, starters, leavers and turnover for any month, by department, location or employment type.
Can we add payroll and finance data?: Yes, and that is usually where the most useful reports come from. Joining BambooHR to payroll and your accounts system gives cost per head, salary cost against budget and the cost of vacancies.
Can managers see only their own teams?: Yes. Row-level security in Power BI means each manager sees their own people and nobody else’s, while HR and the leadership team see everything.
Is our people data kept safe?: Everything stays in your own Microsoft tenant. Sensitive fields such as salary can be left out entirely or limited to the people who should see them.
Which Power BI licence do we need?: People who view shared reports usually need a Power BI Pro licence, which is included in some Microsoft 365 plans. If many managers need access, a capacity licence can work out cheaper. We will tell you the most economical option.
How is it priced?: As a fixed-price project agreed before work starts. A short reporting review comes first, so you know what is worth building and what it will cost.

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