AI training for finance teams

AI training for finance teams. Month-end close, reconciliations and board packs.

AI training for finance teams, for CFOs, finance directors and financial controllers. Hands-on sessions on month-end close, reconciliations, management accounts and board packs, in Claude, Copilot or Excel. In London, across the UK or virtual.

450+ executives trained. 100+ sessions run.

By Ollie Ayton, founder of Practical AI, London. Last updated

Book a free 30-minute discovery call →Read the FAQ

The facts

Who it's for
CFOs, finance directors, financial controllers and their teams.
What we work on
Month-end, reconciliations, management accounts, board packs, and cash and debtor reports.
Price
Half day £3,500 + VAT. Full day £6,500 + VAT. Partnership from £3,500 a month. Builds from £7,500.
Where
In person in London or across the UK, or virtual.
Afterwards
A shortlist of what to change first, and a 30-day review call.

The problem

Most finance teams know exactly where the time goes. Month-end close. Reconciliations, including bank reconciliations, matched line by line. Management accounts and the board pack, rebuilt from exports.

The work ends up in Excel. That's where AI helps: the first pass, the matching and the exception list.

The numbers have to be right. So we start with the checks: what must tie, what gets flagged, and who signs off.

What we cover

For a finance team, a session could cover these, depending on who's in the room. Bring last month's close, a real reconciliation and the latest board pack.

Month-end close

  • A month-end tracker
  • What's outstanding, and who owns it

Bank reconciliations

  • Matched line by line
  • Exception lists, so you check what matters

Management accounts

  • Commentary drafted from the numbers
  • Variances in plain English

Board packs

  • A first draft from your exports
  • Checked for consistency across the pack

Cash and debtors

  • Cash reports
  • Debtor reports and chasers

Your systems

  • Excel, Xero or QuickBooks
  • Exports from an older ERP with no connector
  • Totals that must tie before anyone signs off

Finance teams we've trained

Finance teams tend to value discretion, which is why we don't name clients.

Commodity trading house, about 12 staff

Trading, operations, trade finance and treasury, and accounts desks. A virtual foundations session for the whole team, then trade finance, treasury and accounts in person. Now weekly drop-ins on a six-month retainer.

  • Debtors The debtors list. A skill that runs every Monday at 8am.
  • Financing A financing file. A live dashboard. It showed margin decay was a funding-duration problem, not a pricing problem.
  • Invoicing 7 to 8 days, across several ports. A plan for cutting it.
  • Tools Claude, Excel and Outlook. Plus a meeting transcriber and voice dictation.

How it works

Claude for finance teams

Every session starts with setting up Claude properly, using our Practical AI plugin, which maps the person and the business to build the best structure for them. Copilot for finance works if the firm has approved it. AI for CFOs starts with month-end close. For in-house teams, not accountancy practices. See family office finance teams.

  1. Discovery first. A free call, or a short form for everyone attending.
  2. The right room. The CFO or finance director first, then the controller and the team. Small groups (typically up to 5) or 1:1.
  3. Your own material. Real exports and last month's workings, anonymised where that's the right call.
  4. Ways of working. Ways of thinking, problem framing, context engineering and tool selection, so the skills keep working as the tools change. We're Claude-first, not tied to one vendor. Most of the training is in Claude, but we work with ChatGPT and Microsoft Copilot too.
  5. Afterwards. A 30-day review call.

Pricing

Half day

£3,500 + VAT

Full day

£6,500 + VAT

Usually split across two teams, for example Finance and Ops in the morning and another team in the afternoon.

Ongoing partnership

from £3,500 a month

Sessions on live work, office hours and priority WhatsApp support.

Builds

from £7,500

For example, a month-end pack built from your system exports.

Larger groups and team rollouts are priced in your proposal.

FAQ

FAQs

How can finance teams use AI?
On the work around the numbers: a month-end tracker, reconciliations into exception lists, management accounts commentary, board packs, and cash and debtor reports.
Will it work with Excel, Xero, QuickBooks or our ERP?
Yes. Most of the work happens in Excel. If your system has no connector, we work from its exports and turn them into import-ready files.
Can we trust the numbers?
Only once you've checked them. We build the checks in: totals that must tie, exceptions listed, and nothing posted until a person signs it off.
Is our financial data safe?
With the right setup, yes: a business account that doesn't train on your data, and clear rules on what never goes in. We don't give accounting or tax advice.
Who should be in the room?
The CFO or finance director first, then the controller and the team. A full day is usually split across two teams, for example Finance and Ops in the morning and another team in the afternoon.
Which AI is best for finance teams?
Claude or Copilot, set up properly. A business account, checks on the numbers, and a person who signs off.
We use Microsoft Copilot. Can you train us on that?
Yes. What we teach works in Copilot. If your firm has approved it, we train on that.
Can AI help with month-end close?
It can draft the tracker, the exception list and the commentary. A person signs off the numbers.
Is this an AI course for finance professionals?
No. It's in person, on your own files, not a course you watch alone.
How much does the training cost?
Half day £3,500 + VAT. Full day £6,500 + VAT. From £3,500 a month, and builds from £7,500. The discovery call is free.

Less time building the pack. More time on the numbers.

Book a free 30-minute discovery call. We'll look at your close, your reconciliations and your board pack, and what's worth fixing first.

Book a free 30-minute discovery call →