Excel Data Analysis and Business Reporting Training Course

Duration 5 days 10 modules · 33 contact hours
Level Intermediate Certificate on completion
Who attends Business Analysts, Finance Analysts and others
Fee from USD 1,100 KSh 95,000 for Kenyan organisations
Where 52 cities + online See dates by city
Next start 16 Nov 2026 Course code SD-DA-107

Before you join: Participants should be regular Excel users who can enter formulas, format worksheets, sort and filter data, and work with basic functions such as SUM and IF.

Dates & prices

Two start dates a month in every city, and live online on weekdays or weekends. Fees are per participant; classroom fees include tuition, materials, lunch and refreshments, and the certificate.

Suggest a date or city

Showing the next six months. Later dates, other cities and private deliveries for your team are available on request.

Course overview

Business reports often fail because data is inconsistent, calculations cannot be traced, dashboards answer the wrong question, or refresh processes depend on one analyst’s manual steps. Excel remains central to finance, operations, sales, HR and programme reporting, but reliable reporting requires more than formulas and charts. Analysts need a disciplined approach to data preparation, model design, analysis, visual communication and quality assurance.

This five-day Excel Data Analysis and Business Reporting Training Course develops the methods used to turn raw operational and financial data into decision-ready reports. Participants build structured Excel models, clean and reconcile source data, use advanced formulas, analyse data with PivotTables and PivotCharts, and create management dashboards. The course also covers descriptive statistics, trend analysis, forecasting, Power Query transformations, Power Pivot data models and DAX measures. Participants learn to define metrics clearly, investigate variances and communicate findings through concise executive commentary.

Instructor-led sessions combine short technical briefings with worked business cases, individual spreadsheet work, group review and report-design discussions. Cases reflect common reporting situations such as monthly budget variance packs, customer performance analysis, service-level monitoring and programme delivery reporting. Participants leave with a reusable Excel business reporting workbook structure, dashboard design model, data-quality checklist and personal report improvement plan. The course is suited to professionals who already use Excel regularly and need to produce more accurate, repeatable and decision-focused analysis for managers, clients, regulators or project sponsors.

What you will be able to do

  • Build structured Excel reporting models using Tables, named ranges and controlled inputs
  • Clean, standardise and reconcile operational data before analysis and reporting
  • Apply advanced Excel formulas including XLOOKUP, SUMIFS, dynamic arrays and date functions
  • Analyse performance data using PivotTables, PivotCharts, calculated fields and slicers
  • Create management dashboards using KPIs, conditional formatting and appropriate chart types
  • Interpret descriptive statistics, correlations, trends and forecast outputs for business decisions
  • Transform recurring data sources using Power Query and create measures with Power Pivot
  • Produce auditable business reports with metric definitions, controls and executive commentary

Benefits of attending

For you

  • Reduce manual reporting time through reusable tables, queries and refreshable PivotTables
  • Identify formula, source-data and reconciliation errors before reports reach decision-makers
  • Explain performance trends and variances with evidence rather than spreadsheet outputs alone
  • Build clearer dashboards matched to management decisions and reporting cadence
  • Create a practical plan to improve one current Excel report after the course

For your organisation

  • More consistent KPI definitions across finance, operations, project and commercial reports
  • Fewer reporting errors through structured models, data checks and documented controls
  • Shorter monthly reporting cycles through repeatable data preparation and refresh processes
  • Better management decisions from clearer variance analysis, trends and exception reporting
  • Reduced dependency on individual spreadsheet owners through reusable reporting methods

Course modules

10 modules over 5 days

Participants can structure an Excel workbook that supports controlled, auditable reporting.

  • Excel Tables with structured references, calculated columns and automatic expansion
  • Workbook architecture separating inputs, calculations, outputs and control checks
  • Named ranges and naming conventions for auditable report models
  • Relative, absolute and mixed references selected for copy-safe formulas
  • IFERROR, ISBLANK and error tracing used to diagnose formula failures
  • Data validation lists and input messages controlling source-data entry

Participants can prepare source data for accurate analysis and reporting.

  • Data quality checks for duplicates, missing values, inconsistent codes and dates
  • Text to Columns, TRIM, CLEAN and SUBSTITUTE for field standardisation
  • Date parsing and locale-aware conversion of imported transaction records
  • Remove Duplicates and conditional formatting to identify exceptions quickly
  • Filter, Sort and Advanced Filter criteria for controlled record selection
  • Reconciliation checks comparing row counts, totals and unique identifiers

Participants can use advanced formulas to calculate, classify and retrieve business data.

  • SUMIFS, COUNTIFS and AVERAGEIFS for multi-criterion performance calculations
  • XLOOKUP and INDEX-MATCH matched to stable business identifiers
  • Dynamic arrays using FILTER, SORT, UNIQUE and spill-range references
  • Logical tests combining IF, IFS, AND, OR and nested conditions
  • Date functions calculating ageing, month-end periods and working days
  • Formula auditing with Trace Precedents, Evaluate Formula and Watch Window

Participants can analyse large datasets and answer management questions using PivotTables.

  • PivotTables configured with clean source tables and meaningful field names
  • Grouping dates, numbers and categories for management-level analysis
  • Calculated fields and Show Values As for variance interpretation
  • Slicers, timelines and report filters controlling stakeholder views
  • PivotChart selection matched to comparison, trend and composition questions
  • Drill-down detail and refresh controls supporting audit trails

Participants can design Excel dashboards that communicate performance clearly and accurately.

  • Chart selection using comparison, distribution, composition and relationship purposes
  • Bar, line, scatter and waterfall charts built from decision questions
  • Axis scaling, labels and sorting used to prevent misleading interpretation
  • Conditional formatting with rules, icon sets and data bars
  • KPI cards displaying actual, target, variance and status indicators
  • Dashboard layout using visual hierarchy, whitespace and consistent formatting

Participants can interpret statistical outputs and trends for practical business reporting.

  • Descriptive statistics for central tendency, dispersion, skewness and outliers
  • Frequency distributions and histograms used to inspect operational variation
  • Correlation analysis interpreted carefully without making unsupported causal claims
  • Percentiles and quartiles used to set service-level thresholds
  • Regression output reviewed for fit, coefficients and residual limitations
  • Forecast Sheet and moving averages for short-term trend projections

Participants can create repeatable Power Query processes for recurring reporting data.

  • Power Query imports from CSV files, folders and workbook tables
  • Applied Steps documented to create repeatable data transformation pipelines
  • Data types, errors and null values managed before loading
  • Merge queries joining master data through controlled key fields
  • Append queries consolidating monthly files with identical structures
  • Refresh settings and query dependencies managed for recurring reporting

Participants can build Excel data models and measures for multi-table analysis.

  • Data Model relationships connecting fact tables with shared dimensions
  • Star schema design separating transactions, dates, products and customers
  • Power Pivot measures created with SUM, CALCULATE and DIVIDE
  • DAX filter context explained through slicer-driven management questions
  • Calendar tables supporting period comparisons and year-to-date calculations
  • Distinct counts and ratio measures avoiding duplicated transaction totals

Participants can produce decision-focused reports with defined metrics and clear commentary.

  • Reporting requirements translated into audience, decision, metric and cadence
  • Metric definitions documenting numerator, denominator, owner and data source
  • Actual-versus-budget variance analysis separating price, volume and mix
  • Exception reports prioritising threshold breaches, trends and material deviations
  • Executive commentary linking evidence, implications, decisions and accountable actions
  • Report controls covering refresh dates, versioning and source traceability

Participants can apply quality controls and plan improvements to a current reporting process.

  • End-to-end reporting workflow from source extraction through management distribution
  • Quality assurance checklist covering formulas, filters, totals and chart labels
  • Peer review criteria testing relevance, accuracy, readability and reproducibility
  • Refresh calendar assigning data owners, cut-off times and approvals
  • Stakeholder feedback log converting report requests into controlled changes
  • Personal application plan defining priority report, milestones and success measures

Exercises and examples are adapted to each cohort's sectors and roles.

What you take back to work

  1. Excel reporting workbook structure template
  2. Data quality and reconciliation checklist
  3. KPI definition and metric dictionary template
  4. Management dashboard wireframe model
  5. Power Query transformation workflow
  6. Personal report improvement plan

Who should attend

  • Business Analysts — need repeatable methods for converting operational data into decision-ready reports
  • Finance Analysts — need stronger variance analysis, forecasting and management reporting models
  • Operations Managers — need clearer KPI reporting for service, productivity and process performance
  • Project Managers — need reliable status, budget and milestone reporting for sponsors
  • Monitoring and Evaluation Officers — need structured analysis of programme indicators and results data
  • Sales and Commercial Analysts — need customer, pipeline and product performance reports for managers

Skills and tools covered

Excel data modellingData quality controlPivotTable analysisDashboard designPower Query transformationManagement reporting

Tools and standards

Microsoft Excel, Power Query, Power Pivot, DAX

How the course runs

Training methodology

The course uses short instructor briefings followed by guided spreadsheet work on realistic reporting cases. Participants work with transaction extracts, budget data, customer records and service-performance measures to apply formulas, PivotTables, charts, Power Query and data models. Group exercises examine report requirements, metric definitions and dashboard design choices. Review discussions compare alternative approaches and identify common reporting risks. Participants use structured feedback and application planning to adapt the methods to a report or dashboard they currently produce.

Requirements and prerequisites

Participants should be regular Excel users who can enter formulas, format worksheets, sort and filter data, and work with basic functions such as SUM and IF. Experience preparing routine reports, budgets, operational trackers or data extracts is helpful. Participants should understand the business context of at least one reporting process they support. No programming, database administration, statistical qualification, Power BI experience or prior use of Power Query, Power Pivot or DAX is required. The course is not intended for complete Excel beginners.

A typical training day

08:30 – 10:30First session
10:30 – 10:45Refreshment break
10:45 – 12:30Second session
12:30 – 13:30Lunch and networking
13:30 – 15:00Third session
15:00 – 15:15Refreshment break
15:15 – 16:30Workshop and daily review

Live online deliveries follow the same structure in East Africa Time, with shorter screen blocks and longer breaks.

What the fee includes

  • Instruction by a practitioner facilitator
  • Full course workbook and materials
  • Exercise files, templates and case studies
  • Refreshments and lunch on classroom deliveries
  • Certificate of completion
  • Post-course application plan

Frequently asked questions

You should be comfortable entering formulas, formatting worksheets, sorting and filtering data. The course starts from intermediate Excel use and does not require prior Power Query, Power Pivot, DAX or statistical training.

Bring a laptop with a current desktop version of Microsoft Excel, ideally Microsoft 365 or Excel 2021 or later. You may also bring a non-sensitive example of a report or dashboard you want to improve.

It suits analysts, finance staff, operations managers, project professionals and reporting specialists who already use Excel for recurring reports. It is particularly useful for people responsible for turning raw data into management information.

This course assumes participants already know basic Excel and focuses on analysis, reporting design, data controls and repeatable reporting processes. It uses Excel tools including PivotTables, Power Query and Power Pivot rather than building reports in Power BI.

The methods apply directly to monthly management packs, budget variance reports, customer analysis, operational KPI dashboards and project reporting. Participants leave with templates and an application plan for improving a current report.

Each day runs from 08:30 to 16:30 and provides about 6.5 contact hours. Time is allocated across structured modelling, data preparation, formulas, analysis, dashboard creation, Power Query, data models, reporting controls and application planning.

Questions about this course?

Ask about dates, fees, group bookings or running it for your team. Our training team replies by email.

Ask on WhatsApp info@skillsetdevelopment.com

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