Lesson 41 - Goals (Preview) Visual in Power BI Desktop

The Goals (Preview) visual in Power BI helps track the progress of business goals and key performance indicators (KPIs) against predefined targets. It integrates with Scorecards in the Power BI Service, allowing users to monitor progress and performance directly within reports.

Note: In the current version of Power BI Desktop, this visual appears as Goals (Preview) in the Visualizations pane and works together with Scorecards in the Power BI Service.

How to Proceed?

Step 1

In the Visualizations pane, click Goals (Preview), which is highlighted in the figure below.

Prerequisites

A Power BI Service account is required to create or connect Goals. Goals are managed through Scorecards in the Power BI Service.

Click on the metric visual then add metrics.

Step 2: After selecting the Goals (Preview) visual, choose one of the following options:

Add a goal as a visual – Displays a single goal and its progress.

Add goals as a list – Displays multiple goals in a scorecard.

In this example, select Add goals as a list.

In this example, I selected Add goals as a list to create a Scorecard. You can either create a new Scorecard or browse existing goals and scorecards available in the Power BI Service.

• Browse goals – Select an existing goal or Scorecard that you have access to.
• Create new – Create a new Scorecard and add one or more goals.

Click Create new to create a new Scorecard. Enter the Scorecard name, select the workspace, optionally provide a description and sensitivity label, and then click Create.

Step 3: Create a Scorecard

Click Create new to create a new Scorecard.

Enter the following details:

• Scorecard name – Enter a meaningful name.
• Workspace – Select the Power BI workspace.
• Description (Optional)
• Sensitivity label (Optional)

Click Create.

Step 4: Add Goals

After creating the Scorecard, click New to add a goal.

Enter the required details:

• Goal name – Enter a meaningful name for the goal.
• Owners – Select the person responsible for tracking the goal.
• Current value – Enter the current value manually or connect it to a Power BI semantic model.
• Final target – Specify the target value you want to achieve.
• Status – Select the current status of the goal (for example, Not started, On track, At risk, or Behind).
• Start date and other optional fields can also be configured if required.

After entering the required details, click Save.

Step 5: Connect the Goal to Data

You can enter the Current value manually or connect it to a published Power BI semantic model in your workspace to update the goal automatically.

In this example, I have already published the Olympic Visuals report to my workspace. I selected its semantic model and used it to populate the current value for the goal.

Step 6: Customize the Report

Hover over the Goals visual and click Edit from the toolbar to modify the connected Scorecard. Formatting changes made here affect only the report visual and do not modify the original Scorecard stored in the Power BI Service.

Step 7: Format the visual

The connected Scorecard displays its source information. You can customize fonts, colors, headers, and other formatting options to match the report theme. You can customize the fonts, colors, headers, and other formatting options to match your report design. We can format the scorecard font colors etc., Also header and column headers can also be customized.

By using the format options, we can further customize the score card or metric to change the look and feel of the report.

Step 8 Save the visual

Finally, your Goals visual is ready. Click Save to save the report.

When to use Goals (Preview) visual?

The Goals visual is useful for tracking business goals and KPIs against predefined targets. It is especially helpful for monitoring organizational performance using Scorecards in the Power BI Service.

• Available only in legacy reports.
• Not supported for new implementations.
• Existing organizations should migrate to alternative KPI reporting approaches.

Pros 

• Easy to monitor business goals and KPIs.
• Supports both single goals and Scorecards.
• Integrates with the Power BI Service.
• Provides clear status and progress tracking.

Cons

• Requires access to the Power BI Service.
• Some features depend on Scorecards stored in the Power BI Service.
• Limited interactivity compared to other report visuals.

Conclusion

The Goals (Preview) visual and Scorecards were designed to track organizational KPIs and business goals. Since Microsoft has retired this feature, it is no longer available for new reports. For modern KPI reporting, use standard KPI visuals, Cards, Matrix visuals, or Microsoft Fabric reporting capabilities where appropriate.

Useful Information

Tags	Power BI
Useful links	https://www.numerro.io/blog/using-poger-bi-scorecards-metrics-visuals
MS Learn Modules	https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/power-bi/visuals/power-bi-gisualization-scorecard-visual
Test Your Knowledge	Quiz