The Microsoft Power BI Gateway is a tool that enables users to access on-premises or cloud-based data from various sources, including QuickBooks, within the Power BI platform. The gateway can be used with CData Sync and Connectors to replicate data from any source or application to a database, data warehouse, or data lakehouse for analytics efforts in Power BI. Users can connect to their QuickBooks data using either CData Sync or the CData Power BI Connector, which supports both import and DirectQuery access. The gateway is installed on the machine that contains the SQL Server database or MySQL proxy, and users need to add a data source to the Gateway by signing into Power BI Online and selecting the Manage Gateways option. Once connected, users can publish datasets to Power BI Online and create visualizations based on their data using the Power BI Desktop app. The gateway supports both standard and personal gateways, with the standard gateway supporting live connections and DirectQuery for organizations, and the personal gateway supporting importing data and scheduled refreshes for individual users.