Advanced Excel Data Analysis & Forecasting

This capstone unit builds on prior Excel fundamentals to teach advanced pivot management, statistical analysis, forecasting, trend modeling, and financial functions. Students will combine PivotTable techniques with hypothesis testing, distribution analysis, trendlines, forecast sheets, and depreciation/IRR calculations to produce actionable, reproducible analyses.

Learning Objectives

• Analyze and manipulate PivotTables to prepare and optimize data for analysis by pivoting fields, grouping and filtering values, renaming and managing PivotTables, using PivotTable values in formulas, removing custom calculations, turning off grand totals, and reducing workbook size.
• Apply statistical functions and hypothesis tests — including standard deviation, variance, skewness, kurtosis, correlation, ANOVA, f-tests, and confidence interval calculations — to evaluate data distributions and support data-driven conclusions.
• Demonstrate forecasting and trend modeling techniques by creating forecast sheets, fitting and interpreting exponential, logarithmic, power, and polynomial trend lines, and deriving forecasted values with associated confidence measures.
• Evaluate financial modeling functions by calculating internal rate of return and applying straight-line, fixed-declining balance, and double-declining balance depreciation methods to interpret their impact on analyses and decision-making.