Business & Data

Advanced Excel

Master spreadsheets for reports, budgets, and dashboards used across South Sudan.

Level: Beginner–Intermediate Beginner: 4 weeks • Intermediate: 8 weeks Contact for pricing

Prerequisites

Basic computer literacy and familiarity with simple spreadsheets is helpful — Module 1 includes a refresher, so complete beginners can still start here.

Certificate

Awarded by Rescue Academy on successful completion of the program's assessments and final project.

Learn Online — Live Classes

Register, receive your schedule, and join live instructor-led Advanced Excel classes on Zoom. Assignments, instructor feedback, and a certificate on completion.

Learn In Person

Attend Advanced Excel classes in person in Juba with hands-on labs, instructor mentorship, and a certificate on completion.

What You'll Learn

Reliable formulas, Excel tables, validation and error handling
XLOOKUP, INDEX/MATCH, logical and conditional aggregation functions
Dynamic array formulas for self-updating reports
PivotTables, PivotCharts, slicers and dashboards
Power Query, data models, Power Pivot and DAX measures
What-if analysis, Solver and financial modelling
Automation with macros, VBA and Office Scripts

Program Objectives

Build accurate, maintainable workbooks that stay correct as data grows
Combine and summarise business data with lookups, dynamic arrays and PivotTables
Automate data preparation with Power Query and model data with DAX
Support decisions with what-if analysis and financial models
Deliver dashboards and automated reporting systems others can use

Who It's For

Office, finance and administrative staff who report with Excel
M&E and programme officers in NGOs
Small business owners and accountants who want faster, more reliable reports

Where You'll Use It

Monthly sales, stock and financial reporting
NGO programme, budget and donor reporting
Planning, budgeting and decision models

Curriculum

Instructor-led, practical training. Each level is a block of 4, 8 or 12 weeks; every module ends with a practical activity and an assessment, and every level with a project.

Beginner

4 weeks · 52 guided hours · 5 modules Free taster lessons available Level overview

Module 1: Reliable Formulas and Excel Tables 10 h

Refresh core formula skills and build workbooks on Excel tables, named ranges and validation so formulas stay correct as data grows. 3 lessons

Module 2: Lookup and Logical Functions 11 h

Combine data from different tables with lookups, and answer business questions with logical and conditional aggregation functions. 3 lessons

Module 3: Dynamic Array Formulas 10 h

Use modern dynamic array functions to build reports that filter, sort and summarise themselves. 3 lessons

Module 4: PivotTables and PivotCharts 11 h

Summarise thousands of rows in seconds with PivotTables, group and calculate within them, and present them with slicers and PivotCharts. 3 lessons

Module 5: Dashboard Fundamentals in Excel 10 h

Design and build a clear one-page dashboard that answers managers' key questions at a glance. 3 lessons

Level project: Monthly Sales and Stock Dashboard

Intermediate

8 weeks · 90 guided hours · 6 modules Level overview

Module 1: Power Query for Data Preparation 16 h

Replace manual copy-and-paste with Power Query: import, clean, reshape and combine data in repeatable, refreshable steps. 3 lessons

Module 2: Data Models and Power Pivot 16 h

Relate several tables in a data model and write DAX measures for powerful, consistent analysis. 3 lessons

Module 3: What-If Analysis and Financial Modelling 15 h

Explore decisions with Goal Seek, data tables, scenarios and Solver, and build clear, testable financial models. 3 lessons

Module 4: Interactive Dashboards and Sharing Workbooks 13 h

Build interactive, accessible dashboards on data models, and protect and share workbooks safely. 3 lessons

Module 5: Automating Excel 13 h

Automate repetitive Excel tasks with recorded macros, basic VBA and Office Scripts, safely. 3 lessons

Module 6: Excel Reporting System Project 17 h

Build the Automated Reporting System from requirements to a documented, refreshable workbook and present it. 3 lessons

Level project: Automated Reporting System for an Organisation

Final practical project

Automated Reporting System for an Organisation

A complete Excel reporting system that imports and cleans monthly files with Power Query, models them with measures, explores a key decision with scenarios and updates a dashboard with one refresh.

Deliverables

Power Query pipeline for monthly source files
Data model with documented, checked DAX measures
Scenario sheet and interactive dashboard
User guide and one safe automation

Assessed on

A new month's files update everything with Refresh All
Every measure is checked against an independent calculation
The workbook is documented, protected and easy for others to use
Automation is safe and documented

Worked Examples

A selection of the visual, practical examples used in this program's lessons — each teaches a different skill.

Free Course: Excel Skills Starter

A free refresher and step up in Excel: core functions for real work, lookups, PivotTables and a simple one-page dashboard. Free, self-study, about 5 hours — no certificate. The full program above is taught live by an instructor, with practical assignments, assessments and a certificate.

Open the free course

Tools & Technologies

Primary Tools

Microsoft Excel (Microsoft 365 or Excel 2021 and later recommended) — The main tool of the program; some functions need recent versions Practice: Formulas, PivotTables, dashboards and models
Power Query (Get & Transform) — Importing, cleaning and combining data from files and folders Practice: Repeatable data preparation
Power Pivot and the data model — Relating tables and writing DAX measures Practice: Data modelling and measures

Supporting Tools

Solver add-in — Optimising decisions under constraints Practice: Product mix and planning models
VBA editor and Office Scripts — Automating repetitive tasks Practice: Safe, documented automation

Professional / Industry Tools

OneDrive or SharePoint with version history — Sharing reporting workbooks in a controlled way Practice: Collaboration and version control
Power BI (preview) — The natural next step for models built in Power Pivot Practice: Transferring Excel modelling skills to BI

Career Opportunities

Office/business analyst role
Administrative or reporting role in an NGO or company
Freelance Excel/data support services

Practical Projects

Build a business dashboard and reporting workbook for a real or simulated organization
Create an inventory or budget tracking system using lookup functions and PivotTables
Take a workbook with fragile formulas that break when rows are inserted or deleted, and rebuild it using Tables and XLOOKUP/INDEX-MATCH so it survives structural changes

Problem-Solving Focus

Problem: A shared workbook's formulas break or show #REF!/#VALUE! errors whenever someone inserts or deletes a row

Approach: Use structured references (Excel Tables) and INDEX/MATCH or XLOOKUP instead of fragile manual cell ranges, so formulas survive changes to the sheet's structure.

Problem: A weekly report needs to combine data pulled from several different spreadsheets or exports, currently done by hand every time

Approach: Use Power Query to import and automatically refresh the combined data, instead of manually copy-pasting and reformatting on the same schedule every week.

Problem: A repetitive task — formatting a report, cleaning a fresh data export — has to be done by hand every single week

Approach: Record a macro or write basic VBA to automate the repetitive steps, freeing time for the actual analysis instead of the busywork around it.

Problem: A dashboard looks impressive but decision-makers can't quickly find the one number they actually need

Approach: Apply real dashboard design principles — a clear visual hierarchy, one key number highlighted, and slicers for the filters people actually ask for — instead of cramming in every chart that's possible.

Ready to register for Advanced Excel?