If you own a forecast or a budget, this is the layer where your assumptions stop being buried in cell B47.
Who delivers this: I’ve delivered classroom, virtual, and onsite training across North America since 2004 — twenty-two years. MA Candidate, Learning and Technology, Royal Roads.
Excel 302 is the modelling and audit day for staff who have moved past summarizing data into using it for decisions. It teaches reference discipline, what-if scenarios, Solver-based optimization, and the auditing skills you need to trust any spreadsheet — including ones you’ve inherited.
Who this is for
- Fit. Finance staff, analysts, operations leads, and managers who own a forecast, budget, allocation, or pricing model.
- Fit. Anyone who has inherited a multi-tab workbook from a predecessor and needs to trust it.
- Not fit. Staff still building comfort with named ranges or basic lookups — 201 and 301 are the right ground first.
Prerequisites: 201-fluent at a minimum, 301 ideally. Comfortable with named ranges, structured references, and the difference between absolute and relative references.
What you’ll be able to do after
- Build models with reference discipline that survive insertions, deletions, and copy-paste.
- Run multiple what-if scenarios, compare them, and produce scenario reports.
- Project figures with Goal Seek and Data Tables (one- and two-variable).
- Set up Solver problems with constraints and read the resulting reports.
- Audit any inherited workbook — trace precedents, evaluate formulas, fix errors, watch critical cells.
Curriculum, in five themed blocks
- Reference discipline. Absolute, mixed, named, and structured references. Why models break, how to spot the cell that did it, how to design models that don’t.
- What-if scenarios. Scenario Manager, comparing scenarios, generating scenario reports for evidence-based decisions.
- Projection tools. Goal Seek for single-input targets. Data Tables (one- and two-variable) for sensitivity analysis. When to use which.
- Solver for optimization. Defining objective cells, setting constraints, choosing the right solving method, reading Solver reports, refining the model.
- Auditing workbooks. Tracing precedents and dependents, evaluating formulas step by step, locating and correcting errors, the Watch Window for critical cells.
Real examples we’ll work through
- A pricing model with 5%, 10%, and 15% margin scenarios — same workbook, three named scenarios, one comparison report.
- A warehouse allocation problem solved with Solver: 6 sources, 4 destinations, supply and demand constraints.
- An audit of an inherited 30-tab budget workbook — finding the broken precedent on day one.
Format, duration, and pricing
302 runs as a full-day class, or as a two-day onsite workshop when an inherited workbook is the working example — the extra day pays for itself in audit findings. Many teams pair 302 with 301 (analysis) for a back-to-back two-day block. Pricing is uniform across all five Excel levels.
| Format | Day rate | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| Full-day class (6 hr) | from $2,250 | Up to 3 participants; $175 each additional (maximum 10) |
| Two-day onsite workshop | from $4,500 | Up to 3 participants; $175 each additional (maximum 10) |
CAD. Travel within 50 km of Fort Erie included; beyond 50 km, travel and accommodation are billed at cost. Final scope and quote confirmed on the discovery call.
Where this fits in the Microsoft Excel ladder
Shaped for: Forecast and budget owners working with financial modelling, scenarios, and formula auditing.
Most learners come here from: Microsoft Excel Training 201.
This is the top of the Excel ladder. From here the natural next move is into adjacent territory rather than a higher number — Power BI, Tableau, or moving the workflow into a database.
The full training catalogue shows how the Microsoft Office courses sit alongside the WordPress training track.
