IntermediateAI-FIN-M365-001
AI for Finance in Microsoft 365
Safe agentic Copilot deployment for Australian finance teams under CPS 230 and ASIC scrutiny
Accelerate month-end close, variance analysis, and client comms with Microsoft 365 Copilot — deployed safely under APRA CPS 230, ASIC, and Privacy Act obligations.
12 hours
New course
Certificate Included
At a Glance
Who it's for
- CFOs and financial controllers planning a defensible Copilot for Finance rollout
- FP&A analysts using Power BI Copilot and Excel Copilot for variance commentary and forecasting
- Treasury and accounts receivable teams adopting the Collections agent in Outlook
- Audit, risk, and compliance leads evidencing human-in-the-loop controls over AI outputs
Course Details
Duration:12 hours
Format:12-hour applied programme (virtual cohort)
Next intake:September 2026 — register your interest at educ4te.com
Alignment:Aligned to Microsoft Learn Copilot for Finance and Finance agents learning paths; mapped to APRA CPS 230 and ASIC AI governance expectations for Australian financial services
Course Overview
AI for Finance in Microsoft 365 is a 12-hour applied programme that takes Australian finance teams from "should we use Copilot?" to an operating model that holds up under APRA, ASIC, and audit scrutiny. You will map real finance processes — month-end close, budgeting, forecasting, reconciliations, client communications, and compliance reporting — to the Copilot for Finance agents that reached general availability in October 2025 (Financial Reconciliation agent, Collections agent in Outlook) and to Microsoft 365 Copilot in Word, Outlook, Teams, Excel, and Power BI. The programme is grounded in Microsoft Learn guidance for Copilot for Finance and Finance agents, the APRA CPS 230 Operational Risk Management standard commencing 1 July 2026, APRA's 30 April 2026 letter on AI risk management, ASIC's "Beware the Gap" report and AFS/credit licensee oversight expectations, and the Privacy Act 1988 Tranche 1 reforms including the December 2026 automated decision-making (ADM) disclosure obligation. Throughout, the course enforces finance-specific red-lines — no real account numbers, no client names, no unreleased financials, no audit workpapers — and provides sandbox prompts, checklists, and human-in-the-loop sign-off patterns that finance teams can adopt on day one.
What You'll Learn
Map month-end close, budgeting, forecasting, reconciliations, client communications, and compliance reporting to Microsoft 365 Copilot and Copilot for Finance agent capabilities
Apply the Financial Reconciliation agent and the Collections agent in Outlook (GA October 2025) to real finance workflows with appropriate human review gates
Use Power BI Copilot and Excel Copilot to generate variance commentary on anonymised or aggregated data without leaking confidential figures
Draft prompts for finance tasks that never expose real account numbers, client names, tax identifiers, or unreleased financials
Build reusable finance copilots in Copilot Studio (for example the Financial Insights template) with Teams-based review channels and human sign-off
Operate sensitivity labels, Adaptive Protection, and acceptable-use guardrails over general ledger, forecast, and M&A content
Evidence alignment to APRA CPS 230, the APRA 30 April 2026 AI letter, ASIC AI governance expectations, and Privacy Act 1988 obligations including the December 2026 ADM disclosure
Build a finance AI rollout plan with role-based awareness, sandbox prompts, and incident response patterns informed by recent Copilot security incidents
Course Curriculum
Module 1: Finance processes and AI opportunities
120 min- Mapping the finance operating rhythm — month-end close, budgeting, forecasting, reconciliations, client communications, and compliance reporting — to candidate AI use cases
- Where Copilot for Finance adds value today: the Financial Reconciliation agent and the Collections agent in Outlook (GA October 2025) and Power BI Copilot variance commentary
- Where AI does not belong: judgement calls, audit conclusions, statutory sign-offs, and anything requiring directors' attestations
- A simple value-versus-risk grid to triage candidate use cases before any tenant configuration begins
- Reference: Microsoft Learn — Welcome to Finance agents (Copilot for Finance, October 2025 GA) and Copilot for Finance overview pages
Module 2: Beginner — AI for day-to-day finance tasks
120 min- Using Microsoft 365 Copilot in Word, Outlook, Teams, and Excel for drafting, summarising, and explaining — without sharing confidential figures
- Prompting fundamentals for finance: role, goal, context, constraints, and the "anonymise before you prompt" pattern
- Drafting client emails about variances, meeting summaries from finance reviews, and plain-language explanations of accounting treatments
- Core rule reinforced throughout the module: never paste real account numbers, real client names, internal budget detail, or unreleased financials into prompts
- Building a personal template library for repeat workflows so prompts are reviewed once and reused safely
Module 3: Medium — AI for analysis, reporting, and controls
140 min- Power BI Copilot for variance commentary on anonymised or aggregated datasets — patterns that produce useful narrative without exposing line-level detail
- Excel Copilot data analysis prompts for trend, ratio, and outlier detection, with a review checklist before any number reaches a board pack
- Controls awareness: sensitivity labels on general ledger exports, forecasts, and M&A folders, plus Microsoft Purview Adaptive Protection to limit Copilot grounding over high-risk content
- Reference: 2026 Release Wave 1 finance agents on Microsoft Learn, and ASIC's "Beware the Gap" report on AI governance in financial services
- Reviewer's checklist: source data, sample reconciliation, plain-language sense check, and named human accountable for the output
Module 4: Advanced — Copilots, workflows, and ecosystem integration
120 min- Building reusable finance agents in Copilot Studio using the Financial Insights template as a starting point
- Teams-based review channels so every AI-produced artefact has a visible reviewer, comment trail, and approval before it leaves finance
- Light integration patterns with ERP exports from Dynamics 365 Finance, SAP, and Oracle — staying on the safe side of master data
- Human-in-the-loop sign-off patterns: who reviews, what they check, and how the approval is recorded for audit
- Reference: Microsoft Learn — Financial Insights Copilot Studio template and Finance agents documentation
Module 5: Governance, ethics, and data safety — Finance red-lines
220 min- APRA CPS 230 Operational Risk Management commenced 1 July 2026 and now applies — treating Microsoft as a material service provider, maintaining the service provider register, BCP and tolerance levels, and exit/portability terms
- APRA's 30 April 2026 letter on AI risk management for regulated entities and how Copilot for Finance fits within the existing CPS 220, CPS 230, and CPS 234 framework
- ASIC oversight of AFS and credit licensees: directors and licensees remain accountable for AI-assisted outputs, with human-in-the-loop expected for material decisions
- Privacy Act 1988 Tranche 1 — statutory tort for serious invasions of privacy, and the December 2026 automated decision-making (ADM) disclosure obligation in privacy policies
- Real incidents to learn from: the September 2025 Microsoft 365 Copilot confidential-email exposure, and the January 2026 ASCII-smuggling exfiltration research against Copilot connectors
- Finance red-lines (non-negotiable): no real account numbers, no tax file numbers or ABN-linked client identifiers, no unreleased financials, no audit workpapers, no live M&A or strategy documents in prompts or grounding sources
- Checklists and sandbox prompts: a safe-prompt library, a "do not paste" list, a rollout readiness checklist, and a simple incident-response runbook
- Role-based awareness: tailored guardrails for CFO, financial controller, FP&A analyst, treasury, and audit/risk roles, with a clear path from sandbox to production use
Who Should Attend
- CFOs and finance directors accountable for AI governance over finance data
- Financial controllers running month-end close, reconciliations, and statutory reporting
- FP&A analysts producing budgets, forecasts, and variance commentary
- Treasury and accounts receivable leads automating collections and cash management
- Internal audit, risk, and compliance leads evidencing APRA CPS 230 and ASIC obligations
Prerequisites
Before enrolling, please ensure you meet these requirements:
- • Practical Microsoft 365 experience (Excel, Outlook, Teams)
- • Familiarity with a typical Australian finance operating rhythm (month-end, quarter-end, year-end)
- • Awareness of your organisation's data classification and acceptable-use policy
- • Access to a Microsoft 365 tenant with Copilot enabled for the hands-on segments
- • No prior experience with Copilot Studio, Power BI Copilot, or agentic AI is assumed
Delivery, Format and Logistics
Delivery Mode
12-hour applied programme (virtual cohort)
Small cohort — virtual delivery with finance scenario labs and live Q&A
What You'll Need
- Working knowledge of Microsoft 365 (Excel, Outlook, Teams, SharePoint)
- Familiarity with a typical month-end close, budgeting, and forecasting cycle
- Access to a Microsoft 365 tenant with Copilot (and ideally Copilot for Finance) for labs
- Awareness of your organisation's data classification and acceptable-use policies
- No prior experience with Copilot Studio or Power BI Copilot is assumed
What You'll Receive
- 12 hours of instructor-led training across structured sessions with finance scenario labs
- Sandbox prompt library and safe-prompt templates for month-end, FP&A, treasury, and AR
- Variance commentary review checklist for Power BI Copilot and Excel Copilot outputs
- Copilot Studio Financial Insights agent walkthrough with Teams review channel pattern
- CPS 230 and ASIC mapping worksheet plus a Privacy Act 1988 ADM disclosure starter
- Certificate of completion suitable for CPD claims with CA ANZ, CPA Australia, and FINSIA
Frequently Asked Questions
Not Ready to Enrol?
Join our mailing list to receive updates about courses, resources, and cybersecurity insights tailored for Australian organisations.
$999AUD
$1299EARLY BIRD
Early-bird rate — apply your promo code at checkout.
1
Secure payment via Stripe · Promo codes accepted
Next Intake
September 2026 — register your interest at educ4te.com
Format
12-hour applied programme (virtual cohort)
Group & Enterprise Options
Discounted rates available for teams of 3+ delegates. Contact us for in-house delivery options.
What's Included
- 12 hours of instructor-led training across structured sessions with finance scenario labs
- Sandbox prompt library and safe-prompt templates for month-end, FP&A, treasury, and AR
- Variance commentary review checklist for Power BI Copilot and Excel Copilot outputs
- Copilot Studio Financial Insights agent walkthrough with Teams review channel pattern
- CPS 230 and ASIC mapping worksheet plus a Privacy Act 1988 ADM disclosure starter
- Certificate of completion suitable for CPD claims with CA ANZ, CPA Australia, and FINSIA
Have questions about this course?