Microsoft Copilot training for finance & accounting teams in Singapore
Microsoft Copilot training for finance teams in Singapore: one hands-on day, onsite, on your own files. Analysis and reconciliation. Reporting and commentary.
Microsoft Copilot for finance & accounting teams
Finance teams live in Excel and Outlook, which is exactly where Copilot sits. This programme keeps every exercise inside the workbook and the mailbox rather than moving finance work into a separate chat window — and spends as much time on checking the output as on producing it.
Where the work happens
- Excel
- Outlook
- Word
- Teams
- PowerPoint
Sessions run inside the Microsoft 365 apps your team already has open all day, on your own files and your own tenant permissions.
Who this programme is for
Finance teams, controllers and FP&A leads. Teams licensed for Microsoft 365.
- Controllers and finance managers responsible for the accuracy of what gets reported
- FP&A analysts who build variance commentary, budgets and forecasts
- Accountants and finance operations staff running reconciliation and month-end close
- Finance leaders deciding where AI is allowed in the reporting chain and where it is not
Not the right fit
- Teams looking for a vendor demo rather than hands-on practice
- Anyone expecting AI to post entries or approve transactions without human review
- Data science teams building models — this is applied assistant training, not ML engineering
What the day covers
Module 1: Analysis and reconciliation
The reconciliation exercise runs in Excel alongside your own ledger extract, with each figure traced back to the source rows before it is accepted.
Exercise. Work through a sample ledger, identify exceptions and validate calculations against the source.
What you leave with. A reviewed analysis worksheet and reconciliation checklist.
Module 2: Reporting and commentary
Variance commentary is drafted against the workbook that produced the numbers, then reviewed for claims the sheet does not actually support.
Exercise. Turn verified results into variance commentary, management reports and a board briefing.
What you leave with. A reporting template with source references and review checkpoints.
Module 3: Close and planning
The close checklist and budget-movement explanations are built in Word and circulated through Outlook, the way your close already runs.
Exercise. Draft a close checklist, explain budget movements and prepare follow-up questions for budget owners.
What you leave with. A repeatable month-end workflow and planning brief.
A worked example: Month-end bank reconciliation in Excel
One exercise from the day, as it runs on your own material in Microsoft Copilot.
- What goes in
- One month of bank statement export and the general ledger cash account, side by side in a single workbook.
- What is asked
- List every item in the bank that is not in the ledger and every ledger entry not in the bank, grouped by likely cause, with the row each one came from.
- What comes out
- An unmatched-items table that separates timing differences, missing postings and probable duplicates.
- What the reviewer checks
- Each unmatched item is traced to its source row, and the closing balances are tied out with a worksheet formula rather than the assistant's own arithmetic.
Singapore rules the exercises respect
Finance work in Singapore runs against local standards and regulators, and the exercises are set up with that in mind.
- SFRS(I) treatment, such as lease classification under SFRS(I) 16, is a judgement. The assistant can surface the clauses; the accountant makes the call.
- Figures that feed GST F5 returns to IRAS or ACRA filings keep a named human preparer and reviewer.
- For MAS-regulated firms, assistant use sits within your technology risk management and outsourcing assessments. We work inside what your risk team has already approved.
- Customer and counterparty data stays subject to the PDPA, so exercises use anonymised extracts unless your data protection officer has cleared otherwise.
What this day does not cover
Scope is agreed before the session so the day stays hands-on.
- Building Power Automate flows, Copilot Studio agents or custom connectors — this is a day on using the assistant, not on developing with it.
- Tenant configuration, licence assignment or admin policy. We work inside whatever your administrators have already enabled.
- Migrating files into SharePoint or OneDrive. Copilot reaches the content your team can already reach, and that scope is a discussion for your IT team, not a training exercise.
Before the session
- A licensed Microsoft Copilot seat for each participant
- Working knowledge of Excel or Google Sheets and your own close or reporting process
- Anonymised or sample working files — ledger extracts, a variance pack, a close checklist
- No coding background required
Format and schedule
- Delivery
- On site in Singapore or remote, delivered live. Cohorts are kept small enough that every participant works on their own files rather than watching a screen share.
- Duration
- Typically one full day, or two half-days scheduled around close. Module order is adjusted to your calendar and tool stack.
- How each module runs
- Each module follows the same pattern: a short walkthrough of the technique, a hands-on exercise on your own data, then a review of what the assistant got wrong and how to catch it.
- Afterwards
- Participants leave with the prompt patterns, templates and review checklists produced during the session, so the work continues after the training day.
How your data is handled
- Exercises run inside your own tenant and your own licences, so your data does not leave your environment for the training.
- Files shared with the trainer in advance are anonymised extracts; live production data stays inside your own tenant and licences.
- Every module includes verification: tracing a figure back to source, checking totals independently, and identifying what the assistant omitted.
- Approval and posting stay with your people. The programme teaches AI-assisted preparation and review, never unattended financial action.
Who runs the session
Abhijit Ghosh
Founder, Eagentix · Data & Generative AI Practitioner · Singapore
The programme is delivered by Abhijit Ghosh, who has spent 25 years in data and AI, including roles at Accenture, IBM, Deloitte, Cloudera, Tibco and Wipro. Sessions are run by the practitioner, not handed to a junior facilitator.
Questions about Microsoft Copilot for finance & accounting
Can Copilot close our books?
No, and the programme is explicit about it. It prepares reconciliations, drafts commentary and builds checklists inside Excel and Word. Tracing figures to source and approving entries stays with your team, and the checks that catch a confident, wrong number are taught alongside the technique that produces it.
Do we need Copilot licences before the session?
Yes. The programme is hands-on inside your own tenant, so every participant needs an assigned seat on the day. If licences are still being rolled out, we schedule around the rollout rather than demonstrating on a screen share.
Why does Copilot give our team different answers to the same question?
Because it can only reach the files each person has permission to open, so two people asking the same question are often asking against different content. Recognising that is part of the first module, and it is the reason every exercise ends by checking the answer against the source.
Is this suitable for MAS-regulated finance teams?
Yes, provided assistant use has been approved under your technology risk and outsourcing assessments. The session works inside that approval and does not extend it. Every exercise keeps a human preparer and reviewer, which is what those frameworks expect for material outputs.
Can we use real ledger data in the session?
Inside your own tenant and licences, yes. Anything shared with the trainer beforehand is an anonymised extract. Counterparty and customer details are removed unless your data protection officer has cleared their use.