Overview
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This Specialization equips you with advanced forecasting and predictive analytics techniques used in modern finance and business strategy. You’ll progress from Excel-based financial modeling and scenario analysis to Monte Carlo simulation, time series forecasting (ETS, ARIMA), machine learning in Python, Power BI forecasting, and Generative AI–enabled planning. By the end, you will be able to build, validate, stress-test, and optimize forecasting models that quantify uncertainty, uncover value drivers, and support strategic decision-making.
Syllabus
- Course 1: Project Sales: Excel Forecasting Functions
- Course 2: Forecast Revenue: Scenario Analysis
- Course 3: Forecast Financials with Monte Carlo Mastery
- Course 4: Forecast Business Metrics: Uncover Value Drivers
- Course 5: Forecast & Evaluate Market Trends
- Course 6: Financial Forecasts: Learn from Errors
- Course 7: Time Series Mastery: Forecasting with ETS, ARIMA, Python
- Course 8: GenAI for Financial Forecasting and Planning
Courses
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In today's data-driven world, the ability to accurately forecast and predict future trends is crucial for businesses to stay ahead of the competition. Time series analysis is a powerful tool that allows organizations to unravel patterns and make informed decisions. This course, Time Series Mastery: Unravelling Patterns with ETS, ARIMA, and Advanced Forecasting Techniques, provides a comprehensive introduction to time series analysis and forecasting. You will learn about the most widely used techniques, including Error-Trend-Seasonality (ETS), Autoregressive Integrated Moving Average (ARIMA), and advanced forecasting methods. By the end of this course, you will have the skills and knowledge to apply these techniques to real-world data and make accurate predictions. Targeted at business analysts, data scientists, financial analysts, and market researchers, this course provides essential skills and insights to excel in today's data-driven business environment, equipping learners with the tools to drive strategic decision-making and foster organizational growth.
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This course introduces financial professionals to the transformative power of Generative AI (GEN AI) in forecasting and planning. You will learn how to leverage AI-driven tools to streamline processes, improve accuracy, and optimize strategic decision-making. By the end of the course, you’ll be able to automate financial predictions and validate assumptions, enabling faster and more precise financial forecasting. This course is not just about AI theory—it’s about practical tools that will immediately impact your ability to forecast and plan with greater precision and speed. This course is designed for financial analysts, planners, and data scientists with basic knowledge of finance and AI, who are looking to enhance their forecasting capabilities with GEN AI tools. Learners should have a foundational understanding of financial forecasting and basic familiarity with AI concepts and data analysis techniques. By the end of this course, learners will be able to use AI-driven insights to validate assumptions, analyze market trends, and develop strategic solutions leading to more informed and data-driven decision-making.
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In this short, practical course, you’ll learn how to use supervised learning to forecast key business metrics and uncover the drivers that shape performance. Through hands-on exercises in Python, you’ll build and tune regression and gradient-boosted models to predict outcomes such as next-quarter EBITDA. Then, you’ll apply explainable AI techniques, including SHAP and feature importance, to translate model outputs into clear, actionable business insights. By the end of the course, you’ll be able to evaluate forecast accuracy, identify which variables truly drive results, and communicate your findings in simple, stakeholder-ready language. Designed for analysts and data professionals, this course helps you connect data science methods to real-world business forecasting and decision-making.
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Financial Forecasts: Learn from Errors is an advanced course for financial analysts and planners who want to move beyond just building models to building better models. In the real world, forecasts are rarely perfect. This course teaches you the critical skill of learning from those imperfections to drive continuous improvement and predictive accuracy. You will learn to perform a root cause analysis on failed models, pinpointing whether errors stem from flawed assumptions, bad data, or broken logic. Through a hands-on analysis of a failed retail model, you'll write a professional lessons-learned memo. Next, you'll shift focus to dissecting success, analyzing how a project overcame cost overruns, and synthesizing those learnings into a reusable best-practice checklist. The course culminates in a final project where you will use these new skills to create a comprehensive forecasting improvement plan. By the end, you won't just be a model builder; you'll be a model strategist, equipped to enhance the reliability and credibility of your team's financial forecasts.
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This course develops essential market forecasting and trend analysis skills for research professionals. Learners will master techniques for analyzing historical data to predict future demand and evaluating the strategic relevance of emerging trends. Through practical application with time-series data, learners will build the predictive capabilities needed to support forward-looking business decisions.
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Are you ready to elevate your financial forecasting from single-point estimates to a powerful, probabilistic view of the future? This advanced course is designed for financial analysts who want to master Monte Carlo simulation to quantify risk and make more robust, data-driven decisions. You will learn to move beyond basic forecasting by first analyzing historical data to create a range of plausible, scenario-based projections. Through a series of expert-led videos and hands-on exercises, you will learn how to identify the key, uncertain variables in your financial models—like costs and market demand—and define appropriate probability distributions for them. The core of the course is a step-by-step guide to executing a Monte Carlo simulation in Excel, allowing you to generate a full probability distribution of potential financial outcomes, such as EBITDA. You will not only run the simulation but also learn to interpret the resulting probability curve to answer the ultimate business question: "What is the likelihood we will hit our target?" Please note: This course assumes prior completion of training in building and auditing financial models, or equivalent experience in constructing integrated 3-statement models in Excel.
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Ready to move beyond basic data entry and unlock the predictive power of Excel? This intermediate course, Project Sales: Excel Forecasting Functions, is designed for aspiring financial analysts, business planners, and data-driven professionals who want to build robust financial forecasts. You’ll learn to transform historical sales data into meaningful insights by calculating key performance metrics like Compound Annual Growth Rate (CAGR) and moving averages to understand underlying trends. The course dives deep into scenario-based forecasting, a critical skill for strategic planning. You will master the application of Excel’s AVERAGE function for stable, "flat" projections and the GROWTH function for dynamic, "trend-based" scenarios. Through expert-led screencasts, hands-on exercises, and real-world case studies, you will build a complete sales forecast from start to finish. To succeed in this course, you should have a basic familiarity with Excel functions and an understanding of concepts like revenue and sales data. You will leave with the ability to not just calculate the future, but to model multiple futures, communicate your findings, and drive data-informed decisions with confidence.
Taught by
Diogo Resende, LearningMate, Manish Gupta, Starweaver and ansrsource instructors