DATA ANALYSIS COURSE 1
Course Title: Introduction to Data Analysis for Business
Target Audience: Beginners with little or no background in data
analysis or business
Duration: 2 weeks (2-3 hours per week)
Goal: Equip learners with foundational skills to analyze business data such as
balance sheets, sales reports, and profit forecasts using tools like
Excel/Google Sheets.
Course Structure
Week 1: Introduction to Business Data and Analysis
What is data analysis?
Importance of data in business decision-making
Types of business data:
Financial (e.g. balance sheet)
Sales
Customer
Inventory
Introduction to Excel or Google Sheets (basics)
Activities:
Simple spreadsheet practice (entering sales data)
Understanding and Organizing Business Data
Rows, columns, cells
Formatting tables
Basic data types: text, number, date, currency
Sorting and filtering data
Activities:
Sort and filter a product sales list
Introduction to Balance Sheets
What is a balance sheet?
Key components:
Assets
Liabilities
Equity
Reading a simple balance sheet
Activities:
Analyze a sample balance sheet
Identify total assets, liabilities, and equity
Understanding Profit and Loss (Income Statement)
What is a profit and loss statement?
Key components:
Revenue
Cost of Goods Sold (COGS)
Gross profit
Operating expenses
Net profit
Activities:
Build a simple profit and loss statement in Excel
Calculate gross and net profit
Week 2: Basic Calculations and Formulas in Excel
Sum, average, percentage
Basic formulas: =SUM(), =AVERAGE(), =A-B, =A/B
Cell referencing
Activities:
Calculate total revenue, average sales, and profit margin using Excel
formulas
Sales Forecasting and Budgeting Basics
What is forecasting?
Simple trend analysis using past sales data
Making a sales projection
Introduction to budgeting
Activities:
Use historical sales data to create a monthly sales forecast
Create a simple business budget in Excel
Charts and Visuals for Business Reports
Types of charts:
Column
Line
Pie
When to use which chart
Creating charts in Excel
Activities:
Make a sales trend line chart
Create a pie chart for business expenses
Final Project – Business Report
Combine skills from Weeks 1–2
Analyze a sample business:
Read and interpret balance sheet
Create profit/loss statement
Make profit forecast
Create visual charts
Final Project Submission:
A short Excel-based report on a small retail shop including:
Income Statement
Balance Sheet
Sales Forecast
One chart
Tools Required
Laptop/phone with Excel or Google Sheets
Access to sample business data (provided in course)
Internet for tutorials or video guides
Learning Outcome
By the end of the course, you should be able to:
Understand basic financial documents
Perform simple business calculations
Use Excel/Sheets to organize and visualize data
Create a basic business report with insights