Cut hours off your close and forecast cycles by pairing Microsoft Copilot with the analytical discipline FP&A demands. You’ll analyze multi-row variance reports with Copilot to isolate and quantify the primary drivers behind every deviation—price, volume, mix, timing, and one-time items—and learn to direct the AI with structured prompts that produce defensible, reconciled results. You’ll apply structured Copilot prompts to generate and validate forecasting formulas—rolling averages and seasonality flags—for future-period projections, and master the spot-check controls that ensure every AI-generated formula is accurate before it enters your planning model. Then you’ll create board-ready narrative variance commentary in Copilot that connects financial deviations to business context, validating every figure so a drafting shortcut never becomes a credibility risk. Through realistic monthly-close scenarios, coach dialogues, and a capstone where you present your variance story to the CFO, you’ll build skills you can use immediately. Designed for FP&A analysts, finance business partners, and accountants with working Excel knowledge who want to accelerate their work with Copilot without sacrificing accuracy. Intermediate level; Microsoft 365 Copilot access recommended. By the end of this course, You will be able to: – Analyze multi-row variance reports with Copilot to isolate and quantify primary drivers such as price, volume, mix, timing, and one-time items.
– Apply structured Copilot prompts to generate and validate forecasting formulas (e.g., rolling averages, seasonality flags) for future-period projections. – Create board-ready narrative variance commentary in Copilot that connects financial deviations to business context using spot-check controls for accuracy. Working knowledge of Excel (formulas, pivot tables) and familiarity with core FP&A concepts (budget vs. actuals, variance, forecasting). Access to Microsoft 365 Copilot in Excel is recommended for hands-on practice. No prior Copilot experience required.
