FinPod

Meeyeon (00:00)
Hi everyone. And welcome to another episode of what's new at CFI, where we talk about all that is new and good at CFI. I'm your host, Mianne, and you have heard and seen me here before. Today I'm joined by my colleagues, Duncan, McKeen, and Tim Vipon to talk about one of our most foundational and essential learning skills. Now this is a mouthful. We're going to talk about our latest specialization called Excel skills.

for professionals. Now this new specialization brings together five courses that are designed to help you build real world Excel skills, the kind that make your day to day work faster, easier, and more insightful. So whether you're just starting to build your comfort in Excel or looking to polish your data analysis and dashboarding skills, this specialization is going to help you step by step go from fundamentals to advanced visualization and data analysis techniques.

Tim and Duncan are here to walk us through the learning approach, what makes this specialization practical and relevant for all professionals. And so let's get into it. So Tim, I'm going to start off with you. wanted to ask you, ⁓ let's start with the big picture. Why are we launching the specialization?

Tim Vipond (01:12)
Yeah, great question, Meeyeon and thanks for having me on to talk about this. I'm super excited about the launch of the specialization. And what I would say is that in a world where we're hearing so much about AI, it's actually critical to remember that Excel is the foundation that AI builds on. And we are reminded more and more of the importance of Excel.

in today's world for finance professionals. Excel is not going away. It's actually something that we're building on with AI tools. So it's more important than ever that you have a very solid foundation in Excel, that you understand how to structure your logic using Excel to perform financial analysis, and that you understand this sort of universal language, if you will, of Excel. ⁓ So those are a few things. And I should also just highlight as well that like,

AI builds on top of Excel right now. We're not seeing like full replacement of Excel and executives ⁓ and professionals trust Excel work quite frankly. It's something that you can audit, that you can review, that you can play with and use to design your analysis. So I just want to make the point that Excel is actually like more important than ever right now, even in this AI world we're entering.

Meeyeon (02:31)
And Duncan, for a lot of our listeners, they probably are wondering, like, is this specialization for me? I've taken a couple of courses or completed some certifications with CFI. ⁓ Who do you think that this specialization is really for? Is it more for people that are beginners and new to Excel, or is it for professionals who already have a, maybe not necessarily robust, but a good foundation of Excel skills, and they just kind of want to use this to sharpen.

Duncan McKeen (03:01)
Yeah, it's a great question, Meeyeon. And I think it really could be for any of those target groups that you just mentioned. I mean, first of all, in terms of people that are brand new at Excel, we start the specialization off with a quick start guide that literally starts from ground zero and shows people the interface, you know, the most common settings that get used in finance shows them how to get the software set up so they can start using it. And then we just progress through to sort of intermediate level.

and go on to advanced dashboards. And I guess the other, the other thing that I'll add is Tim mentioned just a moment ago that it excels like a language. And I love that analogy because, you know, when you think about learning a language, you always want to be expanding your vocabulary. And what I've found over the years is that ⁓ of teaching Excel is that a lot of the people that ended up teaching, they only know about like five to 10 % of what's in the software. And you want to try to,

know as many of the formulas and functions as you can. So you've got this wide vocabulary and then you know exactly what the right tool is for any particular job that you're doing or analysis that you're doing.

Meeyeon (04:14)
And then ⁓ piggybacking off that question, one thing that I hear from a lot of learners is that they kind of know Excel to the capacity that they need to, but they don't know it as confidently as they would like to, which kind of touches on just expanding your vocabulary, so to speak. But how did we design this specialization to move people from just using Excel ⁓ with like the tasks that they're used to, the functions that they're used to calling?

to actually being able to think fluently in Excel the way that ⁓ a very seasoned Excel professional.

Duncan McKeen (04:49)
I think that the key is that, you know, at CFI, we always focus on practicality. So instead of going through Excel and just going through the ribbon, like, this is what this button's for, and this is what this button's for, we always teach in the context of, you know, here's what we're trying to accomplish. You know, we're trying to transpose this data or we're trying to aggregate the data.

or ⁓ maybe just prepare it in some way for a dashboard. And then we only just teach the tools in the software and the functions in the software that you need to fulfill that sort of mission for what you're trying to do. So it's always very focused on an end goal ⁓ that we are thinking about. And we always want to teach in that context so that everything makes sense. And we're only just teaching the things that are relevant for. ⁓

you know, whatever you're actually trying to do in the software, because there's, there's a ton in the software and you can get lost and actually a lot of things that are in the software, there's a lot of functions in there that you probably never use in finance. So we like to avoid those ones and just focus on the ones that are relevant.

Meeyeon (05:54)
Another question that I wanted to answer for our listeners today is around why Excel still matters. I think a lot of us, myself included, hope that it remains important for very long time because I feel like a huge tool in my toolkit would be rendered useless if Excel were obsolete today. But speaking of that, let's zoom out a little bit. With so many tools ⁓ from AI to BI platforms,

Tim Vipond (05:54)
Thank

Meeyeon (06:19)
Why does Excel continue to be so essential in business and finance today, do you think? And why is it just, you know, such an enduring tool that we use?

Tim Vipond (06:30)
Yeah, it's a great question. And what I keep coming back to is that Excel is a bit like a canvas. It's a blank canvas where you can go to brainstorm, to learn, and to create.

analysis and conclusions off of that. So there's nowhere else you can really go to do that. Even these AI tools that layer on top, they don't give you a place to play with the data, you know, in a grid format that Excel is. So when you think about what you're doing in Excel as an analyst, you're taking inputs, let's call it accounting and financial data, or maybe statistical data as well, operational data, right? And you're putting that out on a canvas, on a grid.

looking at it, analyzing it, learning it, understanding the numbers, seeing how things are connected. Once you see how things are connected and you get comfortable with the data, then you can do your analysis, right? Calculating ratios and performing actual analysis on top of it. And then once you've done that, you're sort of developing conclusions or hypotheses.

and ultimately recommendations. And so it's the one place you can go to do all that from end to end. Get the data that's your input and get your recommendations or your hypotheses or whatever that are your output. And then you distribute that around your organization or to your clients or whatever it is. So it's the one place to go to do all that. We then layer AI tools on top of it.

to supplement and enhance that analysis. But I really can't imagine a world where you don't have a grid or a canvas, whatever you want to call it, to go play with data, learn the data, and perform your own analysis. So from my perspective, that's why Excel still matters and I suspect will matter in perpetuity. Yeah, fingers crossed, because I've spent a lot of time learning Excel.

Meeyeon (08:25)
I hope so. Fingers crossed for all

of us. And something that I love, I mean, it goes without saying, something that I love about CFI and the stuff that we do here and the courses and programs specializations we create is that everything is very practical. It is career oriented skills that you're going to use from day one. One of the things that I love about this specialization is how it is designed for

working professionals very broadly, not just students and not people that are not just finance professionals, but it's really relevant for everyone. Duncan, could you share an example of how the skills from these courses in our specialization directly relate to what someone might be doing in their job?

Duncan McKeen (09:15)
Yeah, absolutely. mean, one of the things that we do with a lot of courses in the specialization is a lot of the times we focus on the outcome that we want to get to, meaning, you know, what is it that we're aiming to do? Well, maybe what we're trying to do is present a bunch of data to other stakeholders in the form of a dashboard, for example. And then we sort of say, okay, well, if we need to get there with a really clear and insightful dashboard,

Well, how do we then back solve for all the steps that are needed in order to get to that dashboard? And when you think about the steps, a lot of the times, one of the first things you might want to do is link up to a data source. And so we teach that through workbook links, which have really come a long way in Excel over the past few years. So we can connect to the data, but then we bring it in and we learn that, ⁓ the data is messy in some way, you know, or the dates aren't getting recognized as dates. So

We take everybody through how to clean up messy data. A lot of times then we'd need to like transpose or aggregate the data up in some way. So we go through that and we sort of get it prepared through those steps so that we then get to the dashboard, which we could present to stakeholders. And that's very much a real world example, where you start with just raw data, you connect, you clean it, transpose, aggregate it.

And then eventually you get it to a cohesive dashboard that you'd be presenting to the board of directors or to a group of stakeholders, for example.

Meeyeon (10:50)
I remember very clearly, it's funny that you mentioned dates. This must be my first year in DC, maybe my first month, but I do some some if analysis or just multiple criteria. There was a column that was full of dates, but they were in as text and you had to multiply them by one, convert them to a date. And it was like, those are the types of real life learnings that are done on the job. And I'm glad to hear that we have some of that in our courses. Of course,

I feel a little bit of trauma thinking about

Now, our specialization, this is a bit of a tighter journey. It's only five courses. ⁓ Without diving into each course one by one, Duncan, can you tell me about how the specialization, how those courses build from start to finish and what that sequence is like, how it can take someone from, I can use Excel in the way that I do to do my daily activities, but

maybe there's a lot of things I don't know out there. So how it takes them from, can use Excel in the way that I do today, all the way to, I can build professional presentable dashboards.

Duncan McKeen (11:58)
Yeah, it's a great question, Meeyeon. And just to answer it at a high level, first of all, with the five courses, we literally take somebody from here is the software interface, here are the settings, all the way through to here's how to build a really cohesive, insightful dashboard by the end of that journey. And we basically walk it through the first course, you know, called Excel Fundamentals Quick Start Guide. That's where we're looking at the interface. We're looking at the software settings.

Then we go into the second course, Excel fundamentals formulas for finance. And that's really sort of broadening a learner's ⁓ vocabulary of all of the formulas that are in the software that are really, really common within the finance profession. The third course we get into Excel for data preparation and visualization. That's when we're teaching how to connect to data sources, clean messy data, ⁓ transform.

aggregate the data, basically get the data ready so that we're at a point where we could create a dashboard. And then courses four and five, the fourth course, we're sort of introducing everybody to data visualization and dashboards, like the basics. And then in the fifth course, Excel data visualization and dashboards, we're going a little step further and looking at some more advanced features of dashboards that you can put together. So it really is like from seed to flower, it's like,

how to set up the software all the way through to how to do some pretty advanced dashboards by the end.

And yeah, and I think Tim wanted to talk a little bit about how this Excel specialization, you know, it sort of fits into the larger CFI library of other specializations and certifications and courses as well.

Tim Vipond (13:47)
Yeah, for sure. And thanks for walking us through the flow of the specialization itself, Duncan. And then if we're zooming out and thinking about the whole CFI dashboard and catalog, we have a series of certification programs that all call vertically oriented towards careers. So you have your FMVA focuses on investment banking and private equity, your FPAP that focuses on financial planning analysis, CBCA in terms of credit. Okay. And so on these vertical careers.

paths, this is like a horizontal skill set that cuts across all the certification programs. So whether you're working in investment banking, private equity, commercial banking, FP &A, these Excel skills cut across all those career paths and are applicable to essentially all finance careers. ⁓

Part of the reason we're so excited about this specialization is the broad application that it has for all finance careers. So that's from my perspective is how it fits into the overall CFI ecosystem.

Meeyeon (14:53)
Yeah, and just myself having taken a lot of the courses in the specialization, I think that's why truly we've just called it for professionals. Even if you don't work in finance and you're aspiring to work in finances, the courses may have a finance context to it, meaning that the spreadsheets that you work in, they will have some sort of financial analysis that's very relevant to a finance professional. But all of the functions and all the skills that you're

learning in the specialization are truly for any working professional, regardless of what industry you might be in. ⁓ And so on that note, Duncan, you've been teaching Excel and financial modeling for years, and truly I genuinely do not think I have met a better teacher for that subject. ⁓ What do you think sets CFI's approach apart from other Excel tutorials out there? And I know this answer ⁓ personally just

Duncan McKeen (15:42)
Thanks, Peter.

Meeyeon (15:52)
by having taken your courses and by having taken other courses. But what do you think sets our approach apart from the YouTube tutorials out there and just other general Excel teachers?

Duncan McKeen (16:05)
I think many things, but maybe one of the most important things I think is that we're always teaching in the context of a larger mission. know, like for example, we would never have an Excel course where we're like, ⁓ here's this button on the interface and here's what it does. And then here's this function and here's what it does. Because that would just be not very engaging at all. And then the learner would be sitting there thinking, well,

great that I know what this button does, but what am I ever going to use it for? So we always try to teach in the context of, you know, a larger mission, you know, like, what is it that we're actually trying to do here? Okay, we're trying to build this particular type of dashboard. Well, in order to build that dashboard, here is, you know, one of the skills that we're going to need to build that dashboard. So, ⁓ and I think, so I think that if you always teach in the context of that larger mission,

then it becomes a lot more engaging. And then you're only just using the skills in our skills or the functions in the software that are relevant because you can get lost in Excel. There's literally thousands of functions and a lot of them, quite frankly, you don't need in finance. So we try to focus on the ones that are relevant towards that larger goal.

Meeyeon (17:21)
And with our specialization and generally at CFI, I think we put a great emphasis on making sure that people are learning by doing, because at the end of the day, we want these practical skills that learners develop to be applied immediately. so a lot of our courses ⁓ emphasize like you have this is not a spectator sport. Excel is not a spectator sport. You've got to get in. You've got to get your hands on it. Keyboard shortcuts, for example.

⁓ case study exercises, building prep files, cleaning data files. Why do you think this approach is so effective compared to, let's say, a little bit more passive learning where the instructor is just kind of showing you the motions of what they're

Duncan McKeen (18:04)
I think it's more effective because first of all, it's more fun. mean, it's one thing to just watch somebody, like really, think people in their hearts, they just want to roll up their sleeves and try it. And it's also critical because when you come out of a course, you don't want to just have knowledge. You also want to have some sort of mechanical skills, right? So, and you want to be efficient on the software.

⁓ so yeah, keyboard shortcuts are definitely a key feature through, I'd say all of our courses. We really kind of push them because I mean, things are changing and we're always monitoring things and maybe one day we'll be able to operate the computer more quickly just by talking to it. It's not quite there yet. The keyboard is still, ⁓ the fastest way to operate the computer. So yeah, we want, we want students to come out, ⁓ not only with knowledge, but also, you know, with practical skills, they can hit the ground running and,

know how to be efficient on their computers.

Meeyeon (19:05)
Yeah, and I find that generally whether whether it's in practice, well, making mistakes at work is more painful than making them in a tutorial. But the way that you have learners do the exercises on their own, come back, debrief, it allows them the opportunity to make their own mistakes. So for everyone listening, it'll allow you to have those moments where you get stuck and you don't necessarily know what the solution is. And I find that the moments where you are

in a pinch and you can't figure out what to do, those are the learning moments. They are so much more impactful than if someone said like, hey, like this is a mistake that I've kind of made before. ⁓ Let me just help you out by showing it to you in advance. It is much more impactful, I think, when you make the mistake yourself and then you get to apply it right away.

Tim, often talk about, we all often talk about career readiness and building up transferable skills that you could take throughout your career. How do you think mastering Excel through this specialization is going to open doors for working professionals, whether they're in finance, accounting,

data analytics, et cetera.

Tim Vipond (20:15)
Mm-hmm.

Yeah, it's a great question. And I think this is what we're all after at the end of the day, is career growth. And Excel is critical in that for a corporate office function. If we think of a corporate office function that it could be finance, but it could also be operations, accounting, and other functions that are performing analysis and at the end of the day, trying to generate insights. If you can take data and turn it from just that data on its own to actual insights,

that would help improve the business, drive it forward, and so on. That's where you're gonna see the career growth. Excel is the tool to play with the data and the information to generate the insights and present that broadly at your company so people have actual takeaways and feel like you are contributing to...

Meeyeon (20:54)
you

Thank

Tim Vipond (21:10)
creating value for the business. So Excel is your tool to do that. And I think by taking this specialization, by the end of it, you'll be extremely confident in ⁓ using the full capability of this tool to generate insights and drive value at your organization.

Meeyeon (21:29)
And then a couple of final thoughts for us. Before we wrap up, I wanted to ask both of you, what's the one thing that you hope learners walk away from after completing their specialization in this course?

Tim Vipond (21:42)
The number one thing that I hope people come away with from this specialization is the confidence that they can take data input and turn it into insight output. That's really the name of the game in any of the corporate functions that you're using Excel for. So if you know the capabilities of this tool and you can use it to generate insights and valuable analysis, that's the number one thing you can get out of this.

Meeyeon (22:11)
And Duncan, what about you?

Duncan McKeen (22:14)
I think that's great. First of all, I Tim's answer the best. But what I would say just maybe to add to that, but I would say my answer is maybe a second place answer to what Tim answered. But it would be, I would like to have learners come out of this and be completely convinced that they need to abandon the mouse on their computer and just only use the keyboard.

Meeyeon (22:39)
For me, ⁓ what Tim says really strikes me because I visualize a, whether it's an analyst or associate, ⁓ someone that kind of gets stressed out by receiving a task to do a bunch of data analysis in Excel, where someone sends them an email or someone stops at their desk and says, hey, can you prepare this analysis for me? I need it to look like this type of table, this type of chart. I need it in 30 minutes.

When you receive that type of instruction, the person that goes like, oh my God, like, how am going to do this? And is internally so stressed out. Seeing that person transform from that stressed out, I got to figure out how to do this. Seeing that person progress to, oh yeah, okay, I got it, I got it, I got you. I'll be able to turn this around in like 20 minutes. I'll have you give me your feedback, suggestions, comments, and then we could do some final revisions. I could clean it up and send it to you for your meeting.

That is the most ideal learner outcome that I envision. And so that was a great conversation. Thank you guys both for joining me. For all of you that are listening, if you're ready to take your Excel skills to that next level, the Excel skills for professionals specialization at CFI. We have five very practical.

hands-on courses that are going to really help you elevate your Excel skills and take them to the next level. Thanks for listening and we will see and hear you next time on another episode of What's New at CFI.

Yay!

Tim Vipond (24:12)
Thanks, Meeyeon.

Meeyeon (24:13)
Okay, so this is near like the.

I would say first 15 minutes of recording. I'm going to ask this question to Duncan one more time.

So one thing that I hear a lot from our learners is that...

So

So one of the things that I hear from our learners, whether it's through course feedback or on our community page or on LinkedIn, is that they feel like they know how to use Excel. They know it well enough that they can use it at work for what they need to do, but that's about it. And they don't have a whole lot of confidence. And if they were asked to do new things at work, they're not confident that they have the Excel skills to be able to navigate a new process. So Duncan, with this specialization, how do you think that we move people from just using Excel?

to really being able to think and excel the way that a robust Excel user.

Okay, so that was the question that I flubbed up to Duncan. And I think we're pretty good on the intro.

Maybe I'll just try it one more time.

Hi everyone, and welcome to another episode of What's New at CFI, where we talk about all that is new and good at CFI. I'm your host, Meeyeon as always, and today I'm joined by my colleagues Duncan McKeen and Tim Vipon to talk about one of our most foundational and essential... No, you know what? I think I'm just going to keep the intro because it's just too much. ⁓

I'm sorry that this was such a horrible edit.