Live Replay WebinarBasic level

Connect, Transform, and Analyze Data Like a Pro with Power Query

In today's data-driven environment, financial professionals are expected not only to analyze numbers but to transform them into actionable insights. This course offers a deep dive into the practical applications of Power Query in both Excel and Power BI, tailored for those who already have a foothold in financial data analysis. Participants will learn how to streamline their data preparation process, saving time and reducing errors by automating the tedious tasks of connecting to various data sources, combining datasets, and cleaning up data for more efficient analysis. As the backbone of any insightful report or dashboard, clean and well-structured data is a must. This course goes beyond the basics, equipping attendees with the skills to create custom columns and perform advanced data transformations that lead to more meaningful financial reports. By the end of the sessions, participants will not only have sharpened their analytical capabilities but will also carry the confidence to tackle complex data challenges with ease. Don't miss the opportunity to refine your data skills and bring new levels of proficiency to your financial analysis.

CPE Credits4

Field of Study Specialized Knowledge

Instructor Stephen Yoss

PublishedFeb 8, 2024

NASBA sponsor ID167619

Ways to save

Bundle & save $45.00

Get this course and 2 more in the Data & Power Query Bundle: 12 credits for $420.00, instead of $465.00 separately.

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Save $61.12 with a credit pass

At the 40-Credit Pass rate ($22.22 a credit with the bonus), this 4-credit course comes to about $88.88: $61.12 less than buying it on its own.

Or start smaller: the 10-Credit Pass ($275.00) pays for it and leaves you 6 credits for more.

Year-end bonus: up to 5 free credits through Dec 31.

Certain conditions apply: not valid for the Federal Tax Update. Pass terms

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What's included

Every registration comes with the course materials — yours to keep.

Course handout PDF
Additional course files PDF, ZIP

Course details

Recommended CPE credit: 4
Field of study: Specialized Knowledge
Program level: Basic
Delivery method: Group Internet Based
Prerequisites: None
Advance preparation: None
Course number: 24c00966

CPE Today (Devmatics, LLC) is registered with the National Association of State Boards of Accountancy (NASBA) as a sponsor of continuing professional education on the National Registry of CPE Sponsors (Sponsor ID 167619). State boards of accountancy have final authority on the acceptance of individual courses for CPE credit. Complaints regarding registered sponsors may be submitted to the National Registry of CPE Sponsors through its website, nasbaregistry.org. For information about our refund, complaint, and program cancellation policies, see Company Policies or contact [email protected].

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Your instructor

Stephen Yoss

Speaker & Author · CPE Today · ★ 4.7 instructor rating

Stephen M. Yoss, Jr., CPA, MS, is a certified public accountant, partner and CEO of Devmatics, LLC, a continuing education instructor for financial professionals, and a licensed pyrotechnician. While his interests and skills are varied, they all share a common thread—his love for and skill in finding technology-based solutions. In 2017, Stephen and Alex White formed Devmatics, LLC, a company focused on helping...

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Common questions

Is this course going to teach me things I can actually use immediately in my job, or is it mostly theoretical?

You'll walk through real-world examples throughout the course—cleaning messy bank statements, merging data from multiple sources, pulling live foreign exchange rates from the web, and combining twelve months of credit card statements into one consolidated report. By the end, you'll be able to go back to your own data sources the same day and build a refreshable report that updates automatically instead of requiring manual work every period.

Do I need to know Excel really well already, or will this teach me what I need to know?

No prior Excel knowledge is required. The course starts by explaining tables—the foundation Power Query uses—and then builds from there. You'll see every feature demonstrated live on screen, from simple tasks like splitting an address field into separate columns, right through to merging budget and actual data side by side and creating custom calculated columns.

What if my data is messy or spread across multiple files and folders?

That's exactly what Power Query excels at. The course shows you how to connect to an entire folder and automatically combine twelve months of bank statements into one dataset, how to remove blank rows and clean inconsistent formatting, and how to merge data from different sources (like budget in one table and actual sales in another) into a single consolidated view. Once you set it up, hitting refresh pulls in any new files you add to that folder.

Will I need special software, database access, or tools beyond Excel?

Power Query is built into Excel (Excel 365 subscription is strongly recommended), and the course uses Excel with sample CSV files and web data to teach you. The course does show you how to connect to databases and pull from APIs, but these advanced options are optional—you can accomplish most tasks with just the data sources you already have access to in your business.

I manage financial data from several different systems—accounting, payroll, inventory. Can Power Query actually pull from all of that?

Yes. The course demonstrates pulling data from websites, CSV files, and databases using ODBC, as well as connecting to APIs. More importantly, it shows you how to take data from multiple systems, clean each one separately, then merge them together in Power Query. An example in the course builds a consolidated ledger that combines data from different sources into one table for reporting.