Financial professionals are frequently tasked with creating effective models that are accurate and dynamic. The power of a financial model comes from the ability to change the inputs and analyze the impact on outputs — factors that can benefit significantly from the greater data processing scale and deeper analytics offered by artificial intelligence (AI) tools such as Microsoft Copilot and ChatGPT.

This three-part course, offered in partnership with the Association for Financial Professionals (AFP), will equip finance practitioners in the foodservice equipment and supplies industry with the knowledge and skills needed to implement best practices for financial modeling, lead in analytics, harness AI technologies, and drive sustainable organizational change. Once they’ve mastered the tools and techniques, the course will guide participants on how to put their newfound expertise into action to build from-scratch financial models that produce baseline and dynamic outputs in response to changes in real-world scenarios.

Available at no cost to FEDA members. Individuals who participate in the live webinar may earn 2.4 CPE credits for each session.

Learning Objectives:
• Streamline workflows using modern Excel features to process and analyze financial data.
• Apply AI tools to generate formulas, debug models, and enhance productivity across financial planning and analysis tasks.
• Build advanced financial models incorporating sensitivity, scenario, optimization, and simulation techniques.
• Critically evaluate AI-driven recommendations within financial forecasting, planning, and performance management contexts.
• Design and present insights through interactive dashboards, PivotTables, and AI-assisted visualizations tailored to decision-makers.
• Automate and extend Excel using macros, AI-generated Visual Basic for Applications (VBA), and Python integration for large-scale financial analysis.
• Translate data and AI insights into actionable strategies that advance organizational goals and long-term value creation.

This course is designed for experienced finance professionals and has a strong focus on the application of finance data and insights to improve business performance. The webinar will discuss fundamentals of predictive analytics, regression models, fundamentals of AI (artificial intelligence) and ML (machine learning), key characteristics of ML models, supervised and unsupervised ML algorithms, ensemble models, and generative AI (ChatGPT/Gemini) and RAG models. The course will review a number of real-world case studies to help members explore how organizations use advanced analytics to achieve various business goals.

This two-part education series provides finance professionals with a practical understanding of how data analytics can be used to support better business decisions and improve organizational performance. Participants will explore both foundational and advanced analytical techniques, learning how organizations use data to identify trends, uncover insights, forecast outcomes, and drive strategic decision-making.

Through expert instruction and real-world case studies, the series examines the growing role of analytics, machine learning, and artificial intelligence in modern finance and business operations.

FEDA has partnered with The Association for Finance Professionals (AFP) for a second consecutive year to deliver customized finance education courses to members. Finance professionals who attend the live virtual webinars and complete the survey at the end of each course will be eligible to earn 1.8 CPE credits for their participation. The webinars are open to all members and there is no cost to participate.

The Special Guest Presentation at the FEDA Executive Leadership Conference featured Kevin Warsh, monetary policy expert and Shepard Family distinguished visiting fellow in economics for the Hoover Institution. Warsh reflected on his work to help guide the United States out of the 2008 financial crisis and covered the lessons from that period that can be applied to the permacrises facing businesses today. As a former member of the Fed Board, he provided an analysis of the Fed’s current policies, particularly regarding inflation, and explained how the board’s actions are impacting businesses. Finally, he decoded what business leaders can expect in both the short and long term and laid out a roadmap for how companies can spur economic growth and foster stability amid turbulent financial markets.

This two-part webinar series, presented in partnership with the Association for Finance Professionals (AFP), provides finance professionals with practical tools and techniques to improve business performance through effective financial planning, modeling, and analytics. Participants will learn how to build stronger decision-making frameworks, identify business opportunities, and leverage financial data to support organizational goals.

Through expert-led instruction and real-world applications, the series explores foundational business modeling concepts and the growing role of data analytics in finance.

Courses Included

Business Modeling and Best Practices
Explore common structures, processes, and best practices for sustainable business modeling. Participants will learn how effective modeling supports forecasting, planning, and decision-making while avoiding common pitfalls that lead to inefficiencies and rework. The course provides practical techniques that can be immediately applied within an organization.

Finance Data Analytics
Learn how finance data and analytics can be applied to real-world business challenges. This course examines the fundamentals of finance analytics, including identifying business opportunities, measuring organizational performance, and understanding the key building blocks of data-driven decision-making. Participants will gain practical insights into using financial data to support strategic and operational objectives.