Introduction

Excel remains one of the most widely used tools in the world of business intelligence (BI) due to its accessibility, versatility, and powerful data analysis capabilities. While Excel is often seen as a basic tool, its advanced features are essential for BI professionals who need to manage large datasets, perform complex calculations, and create dynamic reports and visualizations. This 5-day training course focuses on equipping BI professionals with the advanced Excel skills necessary for effective data manipulation, analysis, and reporting in business intelligence environments.

Participants will learn how to leverage Excel’s more sophisticated features such as Power Pivot, Power Query, advanced formulas, and data visualization tools to create insightful, interactive dashboards and reports. This course is designed to help you work more efficiently, transform data, and gain deeper insights to support strategic decision-making.

Objectives

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

• Master advanced Excel functions and formulas, including array formulas, LOOKUP, INDEX/MATCH, and advanced date/time functions.
• Use Power Query to clean, transform, and load data into Excel from various sources.
• Implement Power Pivot to create complex data models and perform advanced calculations using DAX.
• Design and build interactive, dynamic Excel dashboards with slicers, PivotTables, and charts.
• Understand how to handle large datasets and optimize Excel for performance.
• Use Excel’s data analysis tools like Scenario Manager, Goal Seek, and Solver to analyze and model business scenarios.
• Automate repetitive tasks using Excel macros and VBA (Visual Basic for Applications).
• Effectively visualize data and present insights with advanced charting techniques and interactive reports.

Who Should Attend?

This course is intended for:

• Business Intelligence Professionals who wish to enhance their skills with advanced Excel features for data analysis and reporting.
• Data Analysts and Data Scientists who need to work efficiently with large datasets and produce actionable insights.
• Finance Professionals and Accountants who work with financial models, forecasts, and complex datasets.
• Project Managers who need to perform detailed analysis and reporting in Excel to support project planning and decision-making.
• Consultants and Analysts looking to leverage Excel to deliver high-quality BI solutions to clients.
• Power Users of Excel who want to deepen their knowledge and learn how to use Excel for more complex business intelligence tasks.

Day 1: Advanced Excel Functions and Formulas

• Review of Essential Functions

  • A quick refresher on lookup functions: VLOOKUP, HLOOKUP, INDEX, MATCH, and XLOOKUP.
  • Understanding IF statements and combining them with AND/OR logic.
  • Introduction to nested formulas for solving complex business problems.

• Array Formulas and Advanced Techniques

  • Working with array formulas: using multiple calculations in a single formula.
  • Dynamic Arrays and their capabilities for simplifying complex formulas.
  • Using SUMPRODUCT, TRANSPOSE, and other array-based formulas for advanced analysis.

• Date and Time Functions

  • Working with DATE, DATEDIF, YEAR, MONTH, DAY, and time-based calculations.
  • Handling workdays and holidays with NETWORKDAYS, WORKDAY, and related functions.
  • Advanced manipulation of time data using TEXT and DATEVALUE functions.

• Advanced Text Functions

  • Using TEXT, LEFT, RIGHT, MID, FIND, and SEARCH for text parsing and manipulation.
  • Cleaning data with TRIM, CLEAN, and SUBSTITUTE functions.

• Hands-on Lab:

  • Solving real-world business problems using advanced lookup, array, and date functions.
  • Creating complex formulas for financial modeling, budgeting, and forecasting.

Day 2: Power Query for Data Transformation

• Introduction to Power Query

  • Overview of Power Query and its role in data transformation and preparation.
  • Navigating the Power Query Editor: loading, transforming, and cleaning data.
  • Connecting to different data sources: Excel files, databases (SQL Server, Access), CSVs, and web data.

• Transforming Data with Power Query

  • Filtering, sorting, and transforming data in Power Query.
  • Combining data from multiple sources: merging and appending queries.
  • Pivoting and unpivoting data for analysis in Excel.

• Data Cleansing Techniques

  • Removing duplicates, handling missing values, and fixing data inconsistencies.
  • Converting data types, applying custom columns, and cleaning up text fields.

• Advanced Power Query Features

  • Using grouping and aggregation to summarize data.
  • Implementing conditional columns and custom formulas in Power Query.
  • Automating repetitive transformations with query refresh.

• Hands-on Lab:

  • Using Power Query to clean and transform raw business data (e.g., sales transactions, financial reports).
  • Merging and appending multiple data sources to create a unified dataset for analysis.

Day 3: Data Modeling and DAX in Power Pivot

• Introduction to Power Pivot

  • What is Power Pivot, and how does it enable advanced data modeling in Excel?
  • Creating a data model in Power Pivot by importing tables and defining relationships.
  • The importance of star schemas and snowflake schemas for data modeling.

• Working with DAX (Data Analysis Expressions)

  • Introduction to DAX and its role in performing calculations in Power Pivot.
  • Basic DAX functions: SUM, AVERAGE, COUNT, MIN, MAX.
  • Creating calculated columns and measures to generate business metrics.

• Advanced DAX Functions

  • Time Intelligence functions: YTD, QTD, MTD, and YEAR-TO-DATE calculations.
  • Using CALCULATE, FILTER, and ALL to build more complex business logic.
  • Creating business KPIs with DAX measures for sales performance, profitability, etc.

• Optimizing Power Pivot Data Models

  • Handling large datasets efficiently with Power Pivot.
  • Techniques for reducing model complexity and improving performance.
  • Understanding data compression in Power Pivot and how to reduce file size.

• Hands-on Lab:

  • Building a data model using Power Pivot and applying DAX functions to calculate business KPIs.
  • Creating complex measures and calculated columns to analyze sales data.

Day 4: Advanced Data Visualization and Dashboards

• Creating PivotTables and PivotCharts

  • Advanced techniques for building PivotTables: grouping, calculated fields, and custom aggregations.
  • Creating PivotCharts linked to PivotTables for better visualization of business data.
  • Adding slicers and filters to make PivotTables interactive.

• Building Interactive Dashboards

  • Key principles of dashboard design: simplicity, clarity, and actionable insights.
  • Using slicers, timeline filters, and interactive charts to create dynamic dashboards.
  • Creating visually appealing and effective dashboards with conditional formatting and data bars.

• Advanced Charting Techniques

  • Exploring advanced chart types: waterfall charts, funnel charts, sparklines, and histograms.
  • Customizing charts with dynamic titles, annotations, and trendlines.
  • Using Combo charts to compare different data series on the same graph.

• Excel’s Data Analysis Tools

  • Using Scenario Manager, Goal Seek, and Solver for business modeling and scenario analysis.
  • Performing what-if analysis to make data-driven predictions.

• Hands-on Lab:

  • Designing an interactive business dashboard using PivotTables, charts, and slicers.
  • Creating a financial analysis model using Excel’s built-in data tools.

Day 5: Automation with Macros and VBA

• Introduction to Macros

  • Recording and running basic macros to automate repetitive tasks.
  • Customizing recorded macros and editing them using the VBA Editor.

• Introduction to VBA (Visual Basic for Applications)

  • Basics of VBA programming: variables, loops, conditional statements, and subroutines.
  • Writing simple VBA scripts to automate data tasks and enhance Excel’s capabilities.

• Creating User Forms and Advanced Automation

  • Building user forms to collect and manage user inputs.
  • Creating custom buttons and commands to trigger macros.

• Advanced Excel Features for BI Professionals

  • Integrating Excel with Power BI and other business intelligence tools.
  • Automating data refreshes and report generation using VBA and Power Query.

• Hands-on Lab:

  • Automating a reporting task with a macro and VBA script.
  • Creating a custom user form for data input and automation.