Financial Benchmarking Training Program

Learn to analyse budget data, identify spending patterns, and create actionable benchmarks that actually help organisations make smarter financial decisions. Our winter 2026 cohort starts June.

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What You'll Actually Learn

This isn't your typical finance course. We focus on the practical skills you need to work with real budget data—messy spreadsheets, incomplete records, and all the chaos that comes with actual financial information.

You'll spend time cleaning datasets, building comparison frameworks, and learning how to spot the meaningful patterns buried in numbers. Most importantly, you'll understand how to communicate your findings to people who aren't finance specialists.

Our program runs for 14 weeks with a mix of online sessions and hands-on projects. We keep groups small—around 15 participants—so everyone gets proper attention and feedback on their work.

Students working through financial data analysis exercises during hands-on training session

Program Structure

Six core modules that build on each other, plus two weeks for your final project

1

Data Fundamentals

Start with the basics of financial data structures and learn how to identify common issues that throw off analysis. We cover Australian budget formats specifically.

2

Building Benchmarks

Create meaningful comparison frameworks that account for organisation size, sector differences, and regional variations across Australia.

3

Pattern Recognition

Train your eye to spot spending anomalies, seasonal trends, and areas where organisations typically overspend or underinvest.

4

Report Creation

Learn to present complex financial comparisons in clear, visual formats that non-specialists can actually use for decision-making.

5

Client Communication

Practice explaining findings, handling questions about methodology, and building trust with stakeholders who need to act on your analysis.

6

Applied Project

Work with a real dataset from an Australian organisation and complete a full benchmarking analysis from initial data review to final presentation.

Your Instructors

Portrait of Siobhan Kelleher, budget analysis instructor

Siobhan Kelleher

Budget Analysis & Data Strategy

Spent the last twelve years working with mid-sized organisations across Sydney and Melbourne. Started as a financial analyst and gradually moved into teaching because she got tired of seeing the same preventable mistakes.

Portrait of Linnea Bergström, financial reporting specialist

Linnea Bergström

Financial Reporting & Visualisation

Moved to Brisbane from Stockholm in 2019 and now helps organisations turn their financial data into something people can actually understand. She's particularly good at making complex information accessible.

Portrait of Vesna Pavlović, sector benchmarking expert

Vesna Pavlović

Sector Benchmarking & Comparative Analysis

Works with government departments and not-for-profits around Perth. She's developed most of the curriculum around Australian-specific budget structures and regional cost variations.

Portrait of Elif Yıldırım, data quality consultant

Elif Yıldırım

Data Quality & Validation Methods

Based in Adelaide and specialises in cleaning up messy financial records. If you've got incomplete data or weird formatting issues, she's seen worse and knows how to handle it.

Practical Information

Duration 14 weeks (12 instructional + 2 project weeks)
Format Tuesday and Thursday evenings, 6:30–9:00 PM AEST, plus optional Saturday workshops
Start Date June 3, 2026
Location Online with recorded sessions available for review
Group Size Maximum 15 participants per cohort
Prerequisites Basic Excel skills and comfort working with numbers

We recommend having at least a year of experience working with financial information in some capacity—whether that's bookkeeping, reporting, or general administration. You don't need a finance degree, but you should be comfortable opening a spreadsheet without panicking.

What's Included

  • Access to all live sessions and recordings
  • Sample datasets from real organisations
  • Templates for common benchmark reports
  • Weekly feedback on your assignments
  • Certificate upon completion
  • Three months of alumni support
Apply for June 2026