IBM

IBM Financial Planning and Analysis (FP&A) with AI Skills Professional Certificate

IBM

IBM Financial Planning and Analysis (FP&A) with AI Skills Professional Certificate

Become an AI-Powered FP&A Analyst.

Build the budgeting, forecasting, and AI skills modern finance teams need. No experience required.

LearnQuest Network

Instructor: LearnQuest Network

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Earn a career credential that demonstrates your expertise
Beginner level

Recommended experience

4 weeks to complete
at 10 hours a week
Flexible schedule
Learn at your own pace
Earn a career credential that demonstrates your expertise
Beginner level

Recommended experience

4 weeks to complete
at 10 hours a week
Flexible schedule
Learn at your own pace

What you'll learn

  • Build driver-based financial models and run price-volume-mix variance analysis in Excel and IBM Planning Analytics.

  • Apply generative AI to automate data prep, accelerate forecasting, and stress-test scenarios — with governance and human oversight built in.

  • Turn analysis into executive-ready narratives that connect FP&A findings to decisions and hold up under boardroom Q&A.

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Taught in English
Recently updated!

July 2026

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Professional Certificate - 7 course series

Financial Planning & Analysis (FP&A): Foundations

Financial Planning & Analysis (FP&A): Foundations

Course 1, 3 hours

What you'll learn

  • Explain what FP&A teams do and how budgeting, forecasting, and variance analysis structure the finance calendar.

  • Read core financial statements and apply accrual concepts to real business situations.

  • Select and structure KPIs that link daily operations to the financial outcomes leadership tracks.

  • Connect FP&A analysis to organizational strategy and prioritize insights by stakeholder need.

Skills you'll gain

Category: Key Performance Indicators (KPIs)
Category: Profit and Loss (P&L) Management
Category: Financial Planning
Category: Financial Statements
Category: Financial Modeling
Category: Accrual Accounting
Category: Financial Forecasting
Category: Business Reporting
Category: Financial Statement Analysis
Category: Financial Reporting
Category: Management Reporting
Category: Working Capital
Category: Performance Measurement
Category: Financial Services
Category: Financial Analysis
Category: Financial Accounting
Category: Financial Data
Category: Accruals
Category: Financial Acumen
Category: Variance Analysis
Budgeting & Driver-Based Planning

Budgeting & Driver-Based Planning

Course 2, 3 hours

What you'll learn

  • Map the end-to-end budget cycle and diagnose where and why traditional static budgeting stalls under real business conditions.

  • Build driver-based models that link volume, price, and headcount to P&L outcomes, and run sensitivity tests on key assumptions.

  • Design stage-gate approval workflows and run cross-functional reviews that move a budget from first draft to leadership sign-off.

Skills you'll gain

Category: Financial Modeling
Category: Financial Planning
Category: Business Communication
Category: Process Design
Category: Operating Budget
Category: Business Workflow Analysis
Category: Process Improvement
Category: Process Mapping
Category: Business Modeling
Category: Financial Forecasting
Category: Planning
Category: Cross-Functional Collaboration
Category: Influencing
Category: Data Analysis
Category: Budget Management
Category: Microsoft Excel
Category: Business Analysis
Category: Budgeting
Category: Stakeholder Communications
Category: Business Operations
FP&A Modeling: Variance Analysis & Forecasting

FP&A Modeling: Variance Analysis & Forecasting

Course 3, 3 hours

What you'll learn

  • Structure Excel models with separated inputs, calculations, and outputs plus built-in error checks.

  • Calculate budget-to-actual variances and decompose them into price, volume, and mix components.

  • Build variance bridges and waterfall charts that turn the numbers into a story leaders can act on.

  • Produce and validate rolling forecasts using moving averages and error metrics like MAE and MAPE.

Skills you'll gain

Category: Forecasting
Category: Performance Analysis
Category: Analysis
Category: Microsoft Excel
Category: Performance Reporting
Category: Financial Modeling
Category: Management Reporting
Category: Financial Analysis
Category: Budgeting
Category: Financial Forecasting
Category: Financial Controls
Category: Statistical Analysis
Category: Time Series Analysis and Forecasting
Category: Performance Measurement
Category: Variance Analysis
Category: Financial Planning
Category: Operating Budget
Category: Statistical Methods
Category: Financial Data
Category: Revenue Forecasting
AI for FP&A Automation & Modeling

AI for FP&A Automation & Modeling

Course 4, 3 hours

What you'll learn

  • Write structured AI prompts that standardize messy financial data and validate cleaned outputs.

  • Generate financial model logic with AI and audit it for errors and bias before it goes live.

  • Apply AI to anomaly detection and reconciliation with review trails that keep models trustworthy.

  • Build governance habits — prompt guardrails, output logging, audit evidence — that meet finance standards.

Skills you'll gain

Category: General Ledger
Category: Anomaly Detection
Category: Financial Controls
Category: Cyber Governance
Category: Risking
Category: Financial Analysis
Category: Financial Modeling
Category: Auditing
Category: Financial Auditing
Category: Financial Data
Category: Finance
Category: Data Mapping
Category: Audit Planning
Category: Prompt Engineering Tools
Category: Generative AI
Category: Prompt Engineering
Category: Financial Planning
Category: Reconciliation
Category: Financial Forecasting
Category: Responsible AI
Forecasting & Scenario Development with AI

Forecasting & Scenario Development with AI

Course 5, 2 hours

What you'll learn

  • Break a time series into trend, seasonality, and noise and measure forecast quality with MAE and MAPE.

  • Generate AI-assisted forecasts and apply clear rules for when to accept or override them.

  • Build base, best, and worst-case scenarios with probability weights tied to strategic risk.

  • Construct sensitivity tables and use AI to stress-test assumptions for leadership review.

Skills you'll gain

Category: Decision Support Systems
Category: Decision Intelligence
Category: Budgeting
Category: Trend Analysis
Category: Revenue Forecasting
Category: Financial Forecasting
Category: Responsible AI
Category: Financial Data
Category: Financial Modeling
Category: Forecasting
Category: Predictive Analytics
Category: Demand Planning
Category: Advanced Analytics
Category: Data-Driven Decision-Making
Category: Financial Analysis
Category: Prompt Engineering
Category: Contingency Planning
Category: Time Series Analysis and Forecasting
Category: Financial Planning
Category: Performance Stress Testing
Executive Storytelling & Governance

Executive Storytelling & Governance

Course 6, 6 hours

What you'll learn

  • Distill variances and forecasts into clear executive headlines prioritized by stakeholder need.

  • Build a headline-proof-action narrative and match FP&A findings to charts that land in seconds.

  • Map FP&A control points, build a risk register, and set compliant AI-use rules for audit review.

  • Rehearse for high-stakes executive Q&A with concise, data-backed answers that hold under pressure.

Skills you'll gain

Category: Financial Data
Category: Financial Controls
Category: Governance Risk Management and Compliance
Category: Data Presentation
Category: Financial Modeling
Category: Business Communication
Category: Data Storytelling
Category: Risk Management
Category: Financial Forecasting
Category: Stakeholder Management
Category: Data Literacy
Category: Financial Analysis
Category: Communication Strategies
Category: Cash Flow Forecasting
Category: Financial Planning
Category: Management Reporting
Category: Data Visualization
Category: Stakeholder Communications
Category: Executive Presence
Category: Business Reporting
FP&A with AI: Capstone Project

FP&A with AI: Capstone Project

Course 7, 9 hours

What you'll learn

  • Build an end-to-end driver-based financial model with variances, forecasts, and AI-assisted scenarios.

  • Execute the full FP&A lifecycle — budget, variance, forecast, scenario — on a realistic case company.

  • Assemble an executive narrative pack that leads with insight and connects findings to decisions.

  • Embed governance evidence and AI-use documentation that meets finance and audit standards.

Earn a career certificate

Add this credential to your LinkedIn profile, resume, or CV. Share it on social media and in your performance review.

Instructor

LearnQuest Network
217 Courses1,006,330 learners

Offered by

IBM

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