Using Regressions for Forecasting 1 CPE

This course prepares participants to make more accurate financial forecasts in standard generally accepted accounting principles (GAAP) format financial statements by using business intelligence (BI). Particular focus is placed on the difference between conventional financial forecasts based on simple growth assumptions, and financial forecasts using growth rates derived from data. The course is intended as an applied primer in forecasting using new techniques resulting from the growth in Big Data and BI techniques.

***Please download and open all supporting materials before starting the course videos.***

Prerequisites

Viewers should be familiar with basic financial and accounting concepts. At this point, participants in this course should be comfortable with gathering data, building databases, and running analyses.

Suggested Prior Coursework: 

Business Intelligence (BI) - The fundamentals of BI; What it does and why it's so essential

Business Intelligence – Collecting, Cleaning, and Merging Data

Business Intelligence - Structuring Data for Business Analysis

Business Intelligence – Fundamentals of Data Analysis

Business Intelligence – Using Data Analysis

Learning Objective

• Discover how to create a basic set of income statement, cash flow, and balance sheet forecasts
• Recognize the linkages between different items across the financial statements
• Identify how changes in growth assumptions impact financial forecasts
• Explore how to use regression analysis to determine forecast growth rates using outside variables (e.g. Gross Domestic Product (GDP) and inflation)

Last updated/reviewed: July 7, 2025