Smart Data Skills

In-house finance training, built around your team.

Every workshop runs at your premises, in your language, with your data where possible. All programmes are HRD Corp claimable — so your organisation can recover the cost. No public classes. No off-the-shelf slides. Just training that fits the job your team actually does.

✓ HRD Corp claimable — recover your training investment
✓ Delivered in-person at your premises, anywhere in Malaysia
✓ Content customised to your team's level and data
✓ Run by a Fellow Chartered Accountant with 35 years in finance
Enquire about in-house training
In-house finance training session with Joanne Kok
How it works

Training that fits around your team, not the other way around.

01

Tell me what your team needs

Fill in the enquiry form with your team size, current skill level, and the problems you are trying to solve. I will come back to you within one business day.

02

I customise the programme

I adapt the content to your industry, your tools, and your actual reporting challenges. If you can share sample data files, I will use them in the exercises.

03

We agree a date and I come to you

You book the room, I bring everything else — slides, exercises, printed reference cards, and the energy. I have delivered training in finance teams from Kuala Lumpur to Johor Bahru to Penang.

04

Your team leaves with skills they use on Monday

Not in three months, after they have had time to practise. The exercises are built from realistic finance scenarios, so participants can apply the skills immediately.

The programmes

Five workshops. One focus: turning finance data into decisions.

Smart Data Skills · Finance Fundamentals

Finance for Non-Finance Professionals

Grasping the fundamentals of financial management is a need for every business or functional head. Understand financial statements, cash flow, cost variances, and the ratios that measure business performance.

  • Reading the Profit & Loss and Balance Sheet, and how they relate
  • Cash flow management: liquidity, working capital, and capital expenditure
  • Cost behaviour, absorption costing, and variance analysis
  • KPIs and ratio analysis for evaluating business performance
  • Case studies throughout — built for non-finance decision-makers
⏱ 2 days, in-house Executives, managers, CEOs, and entrepreneurs
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Smart Data Skills · Power BI

Power BI Financial Dashboards

Build the P&L dashboard, budget-vs-actual report, and executive scorecard that leadership teams open — and trust. Covers data modelling, DAX measures for finance, and layout principles for non-finance readers.

  • Data modelling for finance: fact tables, dimension tables, the star schema
  • DAX measures for P&L, budget variance, and YTD calculations
  • Building a P&L dashboard and a budget-vs-actual report
  • Connecting to GL exports, SAP files, and Excel data
  • Layout and design principles for executive readers
⏱ 1–2 days, in-house Finance teams, FP&A, management accountants
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Smart Data Skills · Excel 365

Excel for Finance: Clean, Validate & Structure

Stop fighting messy data. This is the course rated 4.9 / 5 by participants at a multinational technology company. Learn to use Power Query, dynamic arrays, XLOOKUP, and pivot tables built for management reporting.

  • Power Query to clean and transform messy GL exports
  • Dynamic arrays and XLOOKUP for finance formulas
  • Pivot tables structured for management reporting
  • Budgeting models that survive month-end without breaking
  • Data validation and error-checking techniques
⏱ 1 day, in-house Finance teams, management accountants, financial analysts
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Smart Data Skills · AI

Excel + AI: From Raw Data to Real Insights

Microsoft Copilot and AI tools are changing how finance teams work with data. This workshop shows you how to use them effectively — and how to verify the output before you act on it.

  • Using Microsoft Copilot in Excel for variance analysis
  • Prompt patterns finance professionals actually use
  • How to verify AI output before you rely on it
  • PDPA considerations when using AI on financial data
  • Building a personal 'verify, don't trust' workflow
⏱ Half day – 1 day, in-house Finance professionals at any level who use Microsoft 365
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Smart Data Skills · Power Query

Power Query for Finance & Shared Services

Automate your monthly data refresh and eliminate the manual rework that eats your first two days of month-end. Covers connecting to multiple sources, cleaning GL exports, and combining budgets and actuals.

  • Connecting to multiple data sources: Excel, CSV, folders
  • Cleaning and reshaping GL exports automatically
  • Automating monthly data refresh — no more manual copy-paste
  • Combining budget files and actuals from different sources
  • Query folding basics and performance tips
⏱ 1 day, in-house Finance teams, shared services, management accountants
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4.9 / 5 average participant rating

Rated 4.9 / 5 by 20 participants in a one-day Excel 365 data-skills workshop at a multinational technology company. All ratings are from post-session evaluation forms.

Your understanding of finance topics makes you relate very well the usage of Excel functions to company reporting and analyses. Your little tricks in Excel could save us a tremendous amount of time.

Goh Bee Khian, Senior Finance Manager, Rohde & Schwarz Malaysia
Let's talk

Tell me what your team is struggling with and I will suggest the right programme.

Most enquiries take about 15 minutes of email back and forth to arrive at a programme outline. There is no obligation and no sales pitch.

Enquire about in-house training