Error: The PowerPivot workbook could not be imported. The service account for the workspace database server does not have permission to read from the PowerPivot workbook

I recently was working with a customer and trying to get a PowerPivot workbook working. We were running into the following error.

I found the following blog post, which helped me get past the issue.

http://www.bidn.com/blogs/DevinKnight/ssis/5362/dealing-with-power-pivot-to-tabular-upgrade-errors

The recommendation in the blog post is as follows:

Translation: The Service Account that is running the SSAS Tabular does not have rights to the folder that the PowerPivot workbook is stored in. You can find out which account this is by launching the SQL Server Configuration Manager and find the instance name.

Solution: Grant the Service Account the permissions it needs or move the PowerPivot workbook to a folder that the Service Account does have access to.

If you know the Service Account does indeed have access but still is not able to import with this error then again you likely need to upgrade to SQL Server 2012 SP1.

Many thanks to the author of the blog post above, Devin Knight!