AI for Finance with Microsoft Copilot Training Course

Welcome and objectives

Live poll on current AI usage and a check of each participant's Copilot license type, to tailor pace and examples.

Copilot for Finance – From Occasional Use to Consistent Daily Practice

Topics

•     Copilot Chat vs. Microsoft 365 Copilot: what you get with each edition

•     Copilot across the Microsoft 365 apps finance teams use most

•     Where the Premium edition adds capability and when the upgrade is worth it

•     Setting a personal daily usage routine

Practical exercise (identical for Basic and Premium)

•     Participants audit their everyday finance tasks and identify where Copilot can be applied immediately

Advanced Prompting for Finance Tasks

Topics

•     Prompt structure for financial accuracy

•     Giving Copilot the right context and constraints

•     Iterating and refining results

•     Avoiding common errors in numeric outputs

Practical exercise (identical for Basic and Premium, in Copilot Chat)

•     Participants rewrite weak prompts into strong ones using their own finance scenarios and compare outputs

Excel – Data Reconciliation and Cleaning

Topics

•     Using Copilot to spot mismatches and anomalies

•     Cleaning and standardising messy datasets

•     Automating repetitive checks (full functionality Premium only)

Practical exercise (dual workflow)

•     Premium: reconciling a two-source dataset directly in Excel, with in-app Copilot

•     Basic: uploading the xlsx file to Copilot Chat, generating the mismatch report, and applying corrections in Excel based on the guidance received

•     Shared deliverable: a documented, reusable process to take back to the desk

Excel – Forecasting and Budgeting

Topics

•     Building forecast scenarios with Copilot assistance

•     Testing budget assumptions

•     Explaining variance drivers in plain language

Practical exercise (dual workflow)

•     Premium: building and adjusting a simple forecast model directly in Excel, testing two scenarios with Copilot

•     Basic: uploading the model to Copilot Chat, generating and comparing the two scenarios in chat, then transferring the results into the Excel model

Financial Reporting and Executive Communication

Topics

•     Turning raw analysis into clear management reports

•     Summarising financial results for non-finance stakeholders

•     Drafting executive-ready commentary with Copilot

Practical exercise (dual workflow)

•     Premium: drafting the executive summary directly in Word, with in-app Copilot

•     Basic: generating the commentary in Copilot Chat and finalising the document in Word

•     Shared deliverable: a one-page executive summary based on a dataset used earlier in the day

Recap, knowledge check, and personal action plan

Outcomes

By the end of the day, participants will be able to:

•     Write consistently strong prompts for financial tasks

•     Reconcile and clean data faster with Copilot, regardless of license type

•     Build and test forecast and budget scenarios with AI support

•     Produce clear, executive-ready reports and summaries

•     Know exactly what they can achieve with their current license and when upgrading to Premium is justified

•     Apply a personal action plan and reusable prompt examples immediately at their desk