Copilot training · Finance
COPILOT TRAINING
FOR FINANCE & ACCOUNTING.
Finance teams live in Excel and Outlook, so that's where this session stays. We work on a real workbook or a real thread the team brings, not a sample budget nobody recognises, and we're upfront about the one thing that matters most in this room: Copilot drafts the words, the finance team still owns the numbers.
Who it's for
Finance, accounting and payroll teams who spend their week in Excel, Outlook and Teams and want Copilot to take the grunt work out of a close, a variance report or a reconciliation — without it inventing numbers.
Format
Usually 2–3 hours, hands-on, repeatable across cohorts (payroll, AP/AR, management accounting can run separately if useful). On-site at your premises or live remote.
What people leave able to do
- Use the Copilot pane in Excel to summarise, sort, filter and spot outliers in a real workbook.
- Draft variance commentary or a first-pass board pack section from source data, then check the drafted numbers against the workbook before it goes anywhere.
- Use Copilot Chat in Outlook to summarise a long thread with an auditor, supplier or customer and draft the reply.
- State plainly what Copilot can and can't see in a spreadsheet — the file in front of it, not other people's mailboxes or other systems.
- Recognise when a Copilot-drafted number or summary needs a second set of eyes before it reaches the CFO or an external party.
The session, module by module
What we cover.
Module 1
What changed in Excel
The old COPILOT worksheet function was retired on 14 September 2026 — if any internal training or template still references it, that needs updating. We work entirely in the Copilot side pane instead, which covers the same ground.
Module 2
Copilot in Excel on a real workbook
Hands-on with a workbook the team brings — a budget, a variance report, a reconciliation — using Copilot to summarise, sort, filter and flag outliers.
Module 3
Drafting from numbers
Turning a tab of figures into commentary, a summary or a first-pass memo, and practising exactly where and how to correct what Copilot gets slightly wrong.
Module 4
Copilot in Outlook for finance correspondence
Summarising a long thread with a supplier or auditor, drafting a reply, and preparing for a call using the email history Copilot can already see.
Module 5
Where the boundary is
What Copilot in Excel and Outlook can and can't ground on, so nobody assumes 'ask it about last quarter's numbers' works unless those numbers are actually in the file or mailbox it can see.
Module 6
Checking the work
A practical checklist for verifying a Copilot-drafted number or summary before it leaves the finance team — the habit that matters more than any prompt.
Prompts we practise in the room
Real tasks, not demo tricks.
Variance commentary
Summarise this month's variance commentary from the attached workbook and list three questions the CFO will ask.
Reconciliation check
Compare these two tabs and list every row where the balances don't match.
Supplier email
Summarise this email thread with our supplier about the overdue invoice and draft a firm but polite reply.
Board pack draft
Turn this P&L tab into three paragraphs of plain-English commentary for the board pack.
Licences: what attendees need
Copilot Chat in Outlook can already summarise and draft from a signed-in user's own mail, calendar, meetings and a bounded set of files without a paid Copilot seat. The Copilot pane inside Excel needs a proper look at your licence tier on the day — Microsoft's naming for in-app access (Basic versus a fully licensed seat) has shifted more than once in 2026, so we confirm exactly what your finance team's accounts can do before the session, rather than assume. The old COPILOT Excel formula function is gone as of 14 September 2026 and isn't part of this training.
Under 300 staff? See the free Copilot in 30 trial →FAQ — Copilot for finance & accounting
Before you book this session.
- How many people can go through this together?
- We keep groups small enough to be hands-on — tell us your headcount and we'll suggest cohorts. Payroll, AP/AR and management accounting often work better as separate sessions.
- Can this be customised to our chart of accounts and templates?
- Yes — send us a de-identified workbook or template beforehand and we'll build the hands-on exercises around it instead of a generic budget.
- Do finance staff need a Copilot licence to attend?
- Not for the Outlook parts of the session. The Excel pane exercises work best with a licensed seat — we'll confirm what your team has before the day.
- Can you run this on-site?
- Yes. We have offices in Brisbane, Mackay, Townsville and Adelaide and run on-site sessions at client premises in those cities as standard; elsewhere in Australia on-site is arranged case by case, or we run it live remote.
- What happens after the session?
- The prompt set we used, a short checklist for verifying Copilot-drafted numbers, and a note on anything we flagged about licensing or data access during the day.
Talk to Frontrow
Book this session for your team
No call centre and no discovery-call runaround. Send the form and a senior consultant replies the same business day — with an actual view on your situation, not a brochure.
- Prefer to call?
- 1300 012 466
- What happens next
- A reply the same business day, from the person who would actually run the work — not a sales queue.
Other formats
Copilot training for every role.
- Copilot workshop for all staffAny team that already has, or is about to get, Microsoft 365 Copilot licences and wants staff genuinely using it — not just paying for seats that sit idle.Open →
- Copilot briefing for executives & boardsExecutive teams, boards and directors who need to make a call on Copilot — whether to license it further, how far to take it, and what to ask IT before they commit more spend.Open →
- Copilot for HR & people teamsHR, people and payroll teams who want Copilot to help with job ads, policy drafts and case notes — without it anywhere near a medical certificate, a WHS incident report or a confidential grievance file.Open →
- Copilot for sales & business developmentSales and business development teams who want Copilot to take the admin out of prospecting, meeting prep and proposal drafting, so more of the week goes to actual selling.Open →
- Copilot for EAs & office managersExecutive assistants and office managers who run someone else's inbox, calendar and meetings, and want Copilot to take the repetitive parts of that off their plate.Open →
- Copilot champions / train-the-trainerOrganisations rolling Copilot out past the pilot stage, who want a small group of enthusiastic, credible staff able to answer day-to-day questions and keep momentum going after the initial training is done.Open →
- Build-your-first-agent workshopBusiness owners, operations leads or a nominated 'agent owner' who has a specific, repeatable workflow in mind — not a general Copilot rollout — and wants to see a working agent built, not just talked about.Open →
- Copilot admin & governance training for ITIT administrators and the people accountable for the tenant once Copilot licences are switched on — the ones who own the response when something in Copilot surfaces a file it shouldn't.Open →
Tell us who needs training.
Send your headcount, roles and where your people are. A senior consultant replies the same business day with a suggested set of sessions.