Connecting Power BI to FileMaker via OData

Intermediate

Step-by-step guide to building a live Power BI report connected directly to a FileMaker database.

What you'll learn

  • Setting up a service account with OData access in FileMaker
  • Configuring the OData connector in Power BI Desktop
  • Handling date and time fields from FileMaker in Power BI
  • Scheduling automatic refresh in Power BI Service

Power BI has native OData connector support. Connecting it to FileMaker allows business users to build and refresh reports directly from live FileMaker data -- no CSV exports, no manual data entry, no stale snapshots. This lesson walks through the complete setup from FileMaker to a refreshing Power BI report.

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Step 1: Create a FileMaker service account

Create a dedicated FileMaker account for Power BI: username "svc-powerbi", a strong password, and a custom privilege set with read-only access to the specific tables you want to report on. Enable the `fmrest` extended privilege. Do not use a personal account.

Reading the OData Metadata DocumentLive Excel Reports from FileMaker via OData

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