Free course · Digital Business
Business Data Analytics Starter
A free introduction to business data work: entering and cleaning data, advanced Excel functions, building a dashboard, a first look at Power BI and simple forecasting.
Free · self-study · no certificate
About 6 hours
2 modules · 5 lessons
What you will be able to do
- Clean a messy dataset so it can be analysed
- Summarise data with SUMIFS and charts
- Explain when to use Excel or Power BI and make a simple forecast
Who it's for
- Staff who prepare business or programme reports
- Learners moving from Excel towards analytics
Before you start
Basic Excel.
Module 1 · about 120 minutes
Clean Data, Clear Summaries
Data entry and cleaning, functions and dashboards.
- Clean and structure data
- Build a dashboard
Module 2 · about 80 minutes
Beyond the Spreadsheet
Power BI basics and forecasting.
- Compare Excel and Power BI
- Make a simple forecast
Further learning
- What is Power BI? (Microsoft Learn) — Microsoft's overview of Power BI Desktop, the Power BI service and their core features.
- Understand star schema and its importance for Power BI (Microsoft Learn) — Guidance on fact and dimension tables and modelling for reliable reports.
- Excel help & learning (Microsoft Support) — Official help for the Excel functions, PivotTables and data tools used at the Beginner level.
Continue with a full program
- Business Data Analytics & Advanced Excel — Clean data, build dashboards, create reports, and visualize business insights using Power BI.
- Advanced Excel — Master spreadsheets for reports, budgets, and dashboards used across South Sudan.
- Business Analytics — Use data to measure impact, track KPIs, and guide strategy for organizations.
Want the full Business Data Analytics & Advanced Excel program?
This free course is an introduction. The full program is taught live by an instructor, with practical assignments, assessments, projects and a certificate.
See the Business Data Analytics & Advanced Excel program