Course Schedule:
Please call 8622 8900 or
email us for further information
Overview:
Microsoft Excel is the spreadsheet program most commonly used by financial analysts, project managers, academics, and small business owners around the world to track and analyse business and personal data. Because of the increasing demands on their time, business professionals need to learn efficient and effective data forecasting methods that give them the answers they need. This course will provide experienced Excel users with a practical, hands-on understanding of advanced Excel data forecasting and charting techniques. It examines the risks and benefits of forecasting, teaches different forecasting and trending methods, and explores ways to maximise profit potential.
Learning Method:
Instructor led.
Who will benefit from this course?
This course is designed for experienced Microsoft Excel users, including:
- project managers
- financial analysts
- accountants
- business owners
- business professionals who have a vested interest in forecasting trends at the industrial, corporate, and project levels.
They use Excel on a regular basis and have no difficulty creating formulas, charts, and cell formats.
Pre-requisites:
Before attending this course, you must have:
- Experience with analysing business data to make decisions about products, projects, and strategic direction.
- The ability to use Excel to create formulas, including advanced formulas using the Insert Function dialog box.
- The ability to create line graphs and column charts from Excel data.
- Familiarity with named ranges (for example, abbreviations that replace cell addresses, such as C3:D15, with nicknames such as “All Sales”).
What can you expect to gain from this course?
After completing this course, you will be able to:
- Describe the role data forecasting plays in organisational planning
- Identify the positive and negative aspects of data forecasting
- Create formula-based data forecasts
- Define best, middle, and worst case scenario data
- Establish target values using Goal Seek
- Calculate moving averages
- Chart moving averages interactively
- Calculate Net Present Value and Internal Rate of Return
- Define and solve problems in Solver
Course Content:
Module 1: The Risks and Benefits of Forecasting Data
- This module introduces the risks and benefits of data forecasting both in general and in the context of your business environment.
- What Is Data Forecasting?
- The Business Needs for Data Forecasting
- Summary of the Risks and Benefits of Data Forecasting
Module 2:Creating Formula-Based Forecasts
- This module introduces the FORECAST formula, a versatile Excel function that you can use to create data forecasts; scenarios, which enable you to define best-case, middle-case, and worst-case data scenarios; and Goal Seek, an Excel tool that enables you to find the inputs required to make a formula generate a desired result.
- Three Formula-Based Forecasting Resources
- Walkthrough: Creating Forecasts from Existing Data
- Demonstration: Analysing Data by Using Goal Seek
- Exercise: Establishing Targets by Using Goal Seek
- Tips and Tricks for Formula-Based Forecasts
Module 3:Forecasting Using Moving Averages
- This module introduces moving averages and shows how to calculate and chart averages in the context of a business that is not affected by strong seasonal business cycles. One example is a toy manufacturer, which might have trouble forecasting sales that cross one or more gift-giving seasons.
- What Is a Moving Average?
- What Decisions Do Moving Averages Help Me Make?
- Walkthrough 1: Calculating and Charting a Moving Average
- Walkthrough 2: Creating an Interactive Chart
- Tips and Tricks - Refining Moving Average Analysis
Module 4:Maximising Profit Potential
- This module introduces Net Present Value and Internal Rate of Return, two factors often used to project product viability. The module then introduces Solver, a tool used to find the maximum (or minimum) output for a given set of constraints. The final exercise in this module shows you how to use Solver to find the most profitable mix of products to manufacture.
- Net Present Value and Internal Rate of Return
- Walkthrough 1: Calculating Net Present Value
- Walkthrough 2: Calculating Internal Rate of Return
- Introduction to Solver
- Walkthrough 3: Determining Optimal Project Mixes
- Discussion: Best Practices for Defining Problems in Solver
- Summarising Data Forecasting Benefits
- Next Steps