Why Every Software Tester Should Learn Power BI in 2026

let
    Source  = Csv.Document(File.Contents("C:\qa\test_runs.csv"),
                [Delimiter = ",", Encoding = 65001, QuoteStyle = QuoteStyle.Csv]),
    Headers = Table.PromoteHeaders(Source, [PromoteAllScalars = true]),
    Typed   = Table.TransformColumnTypes(Headers, {
                {"run_date", type date}, {"case_id", type text},
                {"module", type text}, {"status", type text}}),
    Clean   = Table.TransformColumns(Typed, {{"status", Text.Upper, type text}})
in
    Clean

Executed = CALCULATE ( COUNTROWS ( TestRuns ), TestRuns[status] <> "NOT RUN" )

Passed = CALCULATE ( COUNTROWS ( TestRuns ), TestRuns[status] = "PASS" )

Pass Rate % = DIVIDE ( [Passed], [Executed] )

Blocked = CALCULATE ( COUNTROWS ( TestRuns ), TestRuns[status] = "BLOCKED" )

Open Defects =
CALCULATE ( COUNTROWS ( Defects ), Defects[status] <> "CLOSED" )

Avg Age Open (days) =
AVERAGEX (
    FILTER ( Defects, Defects[status] <> "CLOSED" ),
    DATEDIFF ( Defects[created_date], TODAY (), DAY )
)

Reopen Rate % =
DIVIDE (
    CALCULATE ( COUNTROWS ( Defects ), Defects[was_reopened] = TRUE () ),
    CALCULATE ( COUNTROWS ( Defects ), Defects[status] IN { "FIXED", "CLOSED" } )
)

-- If defects live in a database, prepare a clean view for Power BI
CREATE VIEW v_defects AS
SELECT defect_id,
       module,
       UPPER(severity)            AS severity,
       UPPER(status)              AS status,
       CAST(created_at AS DATE)   AS created_date,
       CAST(closed_at AS DATE)    AS closed_date,
       (reopen_count > 0)         AS was_reopened
FROM defects;

Critical Open =
CALCULATE ( [Open Defects], Defects[severity] = "CRITICAL" )

Planned Cases = COUNTROWS ( TestCases )

Execution % = DIVIDE ( [Executed], [Planned Cases] )

Ready Flag =
IF ( [Critical Open] = 0 && [Execution %] >= 0.95 && [Pass Rate %] >= 0.9,
     "READY", "NOT READY" )

Release Readiness — Release 2.4
Row 1: Cards — Execution %, Pass Rate %, Critical Open,
               Ready Flag
Row 2: Line — Executed and Passed by day
       Bar  — Open defects by module and severity
Row 3: Table — Critical and major defects older than 3 days
Slicers: Module, Environment, Test cycle

Week 1: Power BI Desktop, import CSV, Power Query basics
Week 2: Data model — TestRuns, TestCases, Defects tables
Week 3: DAX — COUNTROWS, CALCULATE, DIVIDE, AVERAGEX
Week 4: Build the release readiness dashboard
        and present it to a friend in 3 minutes

TestCases(case_id, module, priority, planned_cycle)
TestRuns(run_id, case_id, run_date, status, environment)
Defects(defect_id, case_id, module, severity, status,
        created_date, closed_date, was_reopened)
Generate 200 cases, 600 runs and 80 defects with
Python or Excel for practice.

- Built a Power BI release readiness dashboard from test
  management and defect exports (Power Query, DAX), used
  to report execution %, pass rate and critical defects