Excel and AI for Finance Professionals: Build, Clean, Check and Explain Your Spreadsheets Faster

AI wrote you a formula. Can you prove it works? Build, clean, reconcile and report in Excel with AI, and check every number before it leaves your desk

Intermediate · 20 lessons · $97

In a 2025 Vena Solutions survey, more finance leaders picked advanced Excel knowledge than AI skills as the most important skill for their team. The people who pair that Excel skill with AI get through formulas, cleanups, reconciliations and commentary much faster. This hands-on course shows you exactly how: copy-ready prompts, worked examples on illustrative finance data and the exact formulas, Power Query steps and scripts to use. Most important, you learn a checking routine so nothing AI touches reaches your ledger, your forecast or your manager unverified.

What you will be able to do

• Choose the right AI tool for each spreadsheet job, from Copilot in Excel to chat assistants with file upload, and set it up safely
• Anonymize a workbook in minutes so you can get AI help without exposing names, account numbers or confidential figures
• Get AI to write, explain and debug XLOOKUP, INDEX/MATCH, SUMIFS, LET, LAMBDA, FILTER, UNIQUE, GROUPBY and PIVOTBY formulas, and prove each one is right
• Convert legacy VLOOKUP and nested IF formulas into cleaner modern formulas with built-in error checks
• Build Power Query cleaning steps, a bank to ledger reconciliation, duplicate payment checks and a chart of accounts mapping with AI help
• Produce variance analysis, PivotTables, charts and a small KPI dashboard, then draft management commentary from the numbers
• Audit a model with AI and Excel's own tools, run sensitivity tables, and document the workbook so someone else can use it
• Create simple VBA macros, Office Scripts and Python in Excel cells with AI help, and review them before you run them

Who it is for

• Accountants and bookkeepers who live in spreadsheets and want to cut the time spent on lookups, cleanups and matching
• FP&A analysts who build budgets, forecasts and variance reports and want faster formulas and first-draft commentary
• Financial controllers and finance managers who review other people's workbooks and need a reliable way to check them
• Finance professionals who use Excel daily but still copy formulas from old files because writing new ones takes too long
• Anyone in finance who has tried an AI chatbot on a spreadsheet, got a confident wrong answer, and wants a safer method

Curriculum

Module 1: Safe Setup: Tools, Privacy and Proving Formulas

1. Why Excel Plus AI Beats Either One Alone (12 min)
2. Which AI Tool for Which Spreadsheet Job (14 min)
3. Data Privacy and Anonymizing a Workbook in 10 Minutes (14 min)
4. How to Prove an AI Formula Is Right (13 min)

Module 2: Formulas and Modeling with AI

1. The Formula Prompt: Lookups and SUMIFS on the First Try (14 min)
2. Dynamic Arrays, LET and GROUPBY: Reports That Update Themselves (15 min)
3. Explain, Debug and Convert Legacy Formulas (14 min)
4. Building a Small Model with AI and Built-In Error Checks (15 min)

Module 3: Data Cleaning and Reconciliation

1. Power Query Recipes Written with AI (15 min)
2. Bank to Ledger Reconciliation with Formulas, Power Query and AI (16 min)
3. Duplicate Payments and Anomaly Checks (14 min)
4. Mapping Charts of Accounts with AI and a Mapping Table (14 min)

Module 4: Analysis and Reporting

1. Variance Analysis That Gets the Signs Right (14 min)
2. PivotTables, Charts and a One-Page KPI Dashboard (15 min)
3. Python in Excel and Chat-Based Data Analysis (15 min)
4. Drafting Management Commentary from the Numbers (14 min)

Module 5: Model Review and Automation

1. Auditing a Workbook with AI and Excel's Own Tools (15 min)
2. Sensitivity Tables, Goal Seek and Scenarios (14 min)
3. Macros and Office Scripts with AI Help (15 min)
4. Document the Workbook and Run the Final Review Checklist (13 min)

What you get

• 20 hands-on lessons across 5 modules, each with illustrative finance data and exact formulas
• 70+ copy-ready Excel and AI prompts inside the lessons and workbook
• Downloadable PDF workbook: tool selection matrix, anonymization worksheet, formula verification log, reconciliation template, variance commentary template and model review checklist
• Bonus: 60 Excel and AI prompts for finance, organized by task
• Bonus: The Finance Formula Recipe Book with ready-to-adapt formulas
• Bonus: Spreadsheet Review and Controls Checklist Pack
• 5 module quizzes and a 15-question final exam built on real spreadsheet scenarios, with an explanation for every answer, plus a Certificate of Completion when you pass

Bonuses

• The Excel and AI Finance Prompt Vault: 60 Copy-Ready Prompts for Formulas, Cleaning, Reconciliation and Reporting ($37 value). Sixty copy-ready prompts for the spreadsheet jobs finance teams repeat every month, from lookups and aging buckets to Power Query, reconciliations, variance commentary and macro reviews. Every prompt asks for proof, so you get an answer you can check, not just an answer.
• The Finance Formula Recipe Book: 70+ Ready-to-Adapt Excel Formulas for Accountants and Analysts ($37 value). A dense reference of the finance formulas you reach for every month, written with structured references and modern Excel functions, plus older-version fallbacks where they matter. Each recipe includes a note on the most common way it goes wrong, so you can check it fast.
• The Spreadsheet Review and Controls Checklist Pack: 10 Checklists for AI-Assisted Finance Workbooks ($47 value). Ten practical checklists that cover every point where an AI-assisted spreadsheet can go wrong, from sharing data and pasting formulas to reconciliations, scripts and the final sign-off. Includes a spreadsheet risk register and a review sign-off form you can drop into any workbook.

Your instructor

Shihan Sheriff, FCMA, CGMA, CPA (Australia), MBA (General), MBA (Data Science & AI), UAECA, CAAB, CAIS, is VP of Finance at Nomod (Y Combinator-backed), CFO at Esanjo and a four-time Amazon bestselling author. He shares practical, plain-English ways to use AI in finance, business and life.

14-day money-back guarantee on all one-time digital products. If it is not right for you, email within 14 days of purchase for a full refund. Implementation and Done-For-You services are not refundable. Subscriptions are covered by the subscription terms. Read the refund policy

Frequently Asked Questions

Do I need Copilot or a paid AI plan to take this course?

No. Every lesson works with at least one widely available tool, and most prompts work in any capable chat assistant. Where a feature needs a specific license, such as Copilot in Excel or Python in Excel, the lesson says so and gives you an alternative route.

Who is this course NOT for?

It is not for complete Excel beginners: you should already be comfortable with basic formulas, sorting, filtering and tables. It is not a programming course, it does not teach accounting standards or tax, and it is not for anyone who wants AI to produce final numbers without checking them. If you lead a finance team and want policy, controls and rollout, AI for CFOs and Finance Leaders is the better fit.

What version of Excel do I need?

Excel for Microsoft 365 gives you everything, including dynamic arrays, LAMBDA, GROUPBY, PIVOTBY and the REGEX functions. If you use an older version, you can still follow the lessons on XLOOKUP alternatives, SUMIFS, Power Query, reconciliations and checking, and the lessons show older-version fallbacks where it matters.

Is it safe to put company data into AI tools?

It depends on the tool, the plan and your company policy. Module 1 shows you how to check that, how to anonymize a workbook before you share it, and which tasks should never leave your approved environment. When in doubt, use anonymized or sample data.

How advanced is this course?

It is Intermediate. You should be comfortable with basic formulas, sorting, filtering and tables. You do not need to be a power user, programmer or modeler. The course explains every formula it uses.

Will this course make me faster at my job?

That depends on your work and how much you practice. The course gives you methods, prompts and formulas that remove a lot of repetitive effort, but it makes no promises about specific time savings or career results.

Is any of this accounting, tax or audit advice?

No. All data in the course is illustrative. The course teaches spreadsheet and AI technique. Accounting treatments, tax positions and audit conclusions must come from qualified people in your organization.

How much time does it take each week?

Each lesson takes 12 to 16 minutes, and each action step is designed to take under 20 minutes on a workbook you already use. Most learners finish one module a week. Your first result comes in Lesson 1: a working monthly sales formula, written by AI and proved by you, in about 10 minutes.

What if the AI gives me a different formula from the lesson?

That is normal. AI tools vary between runs and vendors, and there is often more than one correct formula. Every lesson gives you the expected result on illustrative data and a five-test routine, so you judge any formula by whether it proves out, not by whether it matches a screenshot.