# Power BI Advanced Course

Canonical URL: <https://www.graduateschool.edu/courses/power-bi-advanced>

## Overview

This advanced Power BI course is designed for people who have some experience building reports, but want to better understand how Power BI handles data behind the scenes. You’ll learn to build better data models (using the correct relationships and filter flow) to make reports more reliable by ensuring totals, filters, and calculations behave the way you want. 

In this training, you will build data models using hierarchies, custom sort orders, and reusable date tables that support both fiscal and calendar year reporting. You will deepen your DAX knowledge by working with parameters, inactive relationships, and context-aware calculations, while learning when logic belongs in the data model versus in a DAX measure. You will also implement Row-Level Security (RLS), including dynamic security based on the logged-in user, to control data access in shared reports. 

You will learn how to connect Power BI to databases, understand Import versus DirectQuery tradeoffs, and improve performance as you learn about query folding. By the end of the course, you will be better prepared to troubleshoot common modeling issues, publish secure datasets, and apply best practices that align with Microsoft’s PL-300 Power BI Data Analyst Associate certification.

## What you'll learn

- Build better data models by understanding relationships, cardinality, and cross-filter direction
- Design reliable data models and avoid common modeling mistakes
- Create and use hierarchies to organize and drill into data
- Control visual order with custom sort columns
- Create reusable date tables supporting fiscal and calendar years
- Add parameters to make reports interactive and flexible
- Implement Row-Level Security (RLS) with Static and Dynamic roles

## Prerequisites

Students should have Power BI knowledge equivalent to our [Power BI Bootcamp](/classes/power-bi-bootcamp).

## Curriculum

#### Hierarchies

- Grouping Data with Hierarchies
- Creating & Using Hierarchies

#### Custom Sort Order

- Default vs Custom Sorting
- Making & Using a Custom Sort Order

#### Date Tables and Fiscal Calendars

- Dates & Date Tables
- Fiscal Year vs Calendar Year
- Creating Date Hierarchies
- Sorting Date Columns

#### Diving Deeper into Data Modeling

- Data Modeling vs DAX
- Common Mistakes

#### Relationships & Cross-Filter Direction

- One to Many (1:\*) Relationships
- Cross-Filter Direction
- Many to Many & Bi-Directional Filtering
- Troubleshooting Data Modeling Problems

#### Parameters

- Creating & Using Parameters
- Formerly called “What-If parameters”

#### Inactive Relationships & USERELATIONSHIP()

- Active vs Inactive Relationships
- Using USERELATIONSHIP()

#### Row-Level Security (RLS)

- Setting Up Row-Level Security (RLS)
- Static and Dynamic Roles
- Configuring RLS in the Power BI Service

#### Power BI Certification

- About the Microsoft Certified Power BI Data Analyst Associate PL-300 Exam
- PL-300 Exam Information and Resources

#### Working with Databases

- Connecting to a Database
- Import vs DirectQuery
- Query Folding (Optimizing Query Performance)

## Schedule
- May 21, 2026 10:00am–5:00pm — Live Online
- Jun 12, 2026 10:00am–5:00pm — Live Online
- Jul 22, 2026 10:00am–5:00pm — Live Online
- Aug 27, 2026 10:00am–5:00pm — Live Online
- Sep 30, 2026 10:00am–5:00pm — Live Online
- Nov 6, 2026 10:00am–5:00pm — Live Online
- Dec 17, 2026 10:00am–5:00pm — Live Online

## Pricing

**Tuition:** $399