PROGRAM DETAILS

Program Overview

This 5-day hands-on training is designed to empower finance and accounting professionals with the skills to leverage Microsoft Power BI for data-driven decision-making. As financial data grows in volume and complexity, professionals need tools that can help them analyze, visualize, and communicate insights effectively. Power BI offers powerful capabilities to transform raw data into interactive dashboards and meaningful reports.

Throughout the program, participants will work with real-world financial datasets to develop practical skills in data preparation, modeling, and visualization. They will learn how to connect to various data sources such as Excel, CSV files, databases, and cloud services. Using Power Query and DAX (Data Analysis Expressions), they’ll clean, structure, and analyze financial data to create accurate and insightful reports.

The course emphasizes financial applications, including building income statements, balance sheets, and KPI dashboards. Participants will also explore best practices in data visualization, time-based analysis (e.g., YTD, MTD), forecasting, and dashboard interactivity. By the end of the training, participants will be able to automate recurring financial reports, deliver executive-level insights, and make better data-informed decisions.

Whether you’re in FP&A, accounting, or finance leadership, this course provides essential Power BI skills to enhance reporting and analytical capabilities in a financial context.

Learning Objectives

By the end of this training, participants will be able to:

• Understand Power BI’s role in financial data analysis and reporting.
• Connect, transform, and model financial datasets using Power Query and DAX.
• Design interactive dashboards and visual reports tailored for finance and accounting use cases.
• Apply data visualization best practices to financial metrics and KPIs.
• Automate financial reporting and improve data-driven decision-making.

Target Audience

• Finance professionals (e.g., Financial Analysts, Controllers, Accountants)
• Accounting and audit professionals
• Business analysts working with financial data
• FP&A teams
• Professionals interested in automating and visualizing financial reports

Training Methodology

• Instructor-led live sessions (on-site or virtual)
• Hands-on exercises and real-world financial data projects
• Case studies and best practices
• Quizzes and daily wrap-ups
• Final project: Build a finance-focused interactive dashboard

5-Day Program Content

Day 1: Introduction to Power BI & Financial Data Sources

• Introduction to Power BI: Interface, components & workflow
• Overview of Power BI Desktop and Power BI Service
• Connecting to data: Excel, CSV, databases, cloud sources
• Importing & transforming financial data using Power Query
• Data types, columns, and applied steps
• Case Study: Cleaning general ledger data

Day 2: Data Modeling & Relationships for Finance

• Understanding data models: tables, relationships, and normalization
• Creating relationships between P&L, balance sheet, and transaction data
• Introduction to DAX (Data Analysis Expressions)
• Basic financial calculations (e.g., Gross Profit, Net Margin)
• Filtering, context, and calculated columns vs measures

Day 3: Financial Visualizations & Reporting

• Principles of effective data visualization for finance
• Using visuals: tables, matrix, bar/column charts, cards, waterfall, KPI visuals
• Conditional formatting for financial insights
• Creating financial statements using matrix visual
• Designing profit & loss and balance sheet views

Day 4: Interactive Dashboards & Advanced Analytics

• Designing interactive dashboards with slicers and filters
• Drill-through and tooltips in financial dashboards
• Time intelligence with DAX: YTD, QTD, MTD, YoY analysis
• Forecasting and what-if analysis
• Bookmarking and storytelling with Power BI

Day 5: Publishing, Sharing & Capstone Project

• Publishing to Power BI Service
• Workspace, dashboard creation, and sharing reports
• Power BI security: row-level security for financial data
• Mobile view customization
• Recap & best practices for finance dashboards