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Data

Resources covering data analytics and big data, data handling, data protection and GDPR, and data presentation.

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A woman working at a desk with a large monitor and a tablet displaying colorful bar charts, pie charts, and line graphs labeled “Analytics,” indicating data analysis or business reporting.
Iain Murray, Director of Public Financial Management, CIPFA
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Data Protection and Privacy

Data protection and privacy

All organisations that collect, store or process personal information on living and identifiable people must comply with the Data Protection Act 2018. Additional resources can be found on the GDPR (now the Data Protection Act 2018 in the UK).
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Data Analytics Community

Data Analytics Community

As data analytics plays an increasingly pivotal role in supporting audit, assurance and business decision-making, this ICAEW community will help finance professionals develop the advanced data analytics and visualisation skills needed to succeed in this insight-driven era.
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Insights

Leading data-led decision making in local government

Finance professionals are pivotal in ensuring local authority decisions on service delivery are grounded in robust data analysis. CIPFA’s Iain Murray outlines the role of finance teams in ensuring data-led decision-making and the skills required for success.
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Insights

In the nick of time: EU grants UK data protection adequacy decision

With the 30 June deadline approaching, the EU has agreed an adequacy decision for the UK, allowing the free flow of personal data from the EU to the UK to continue.
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Data analytics

Get advanced data analysis, from number crunching and spreadsheets to decision-support and strategy, including access to useful and practical Excel guidance. Plus, find out how big data is used and can benefit the accountancy profession.


How hospitality teams are embracing real-time analytics
  • Article
  • 17 Apr 2026
With so many cost pressures facing hospitality businesses, the ability to analyse data in real time has never been more important for cost management.
Three new roles finance teams might expect within the next five years
  • Article
  • 07 Apr 2026
Increasing automation over the past two decades has gradually been transforming finance teams. Since then, AI has taken the world by storm and businesses have been quick to leverage its capabilities, creating potential for new roles within the next five years.
Exclusive Audit and tech – where are we now?
  • Article
  • 27 Mar 2026
Technology is rapidly transforming the audit and assurance landscape. What have regulators, standard-setters, professional bodies and others been doing to keep pace? And what can we expect from 2026?
Companies House data glitch: how to respond
  • Article
  • 20 Mar 2026
The Companies House WebFiling service was suspended last weekend after a user found a potentially serious security flaw. Here’s what happened, and what can be learned from it.
Critical Skills series AI and Python in Excel and beyond
  • Event
  • 14 Jan 2026
Four questions to ask when implementing cloud software
  • Article
  • 09 Dec 2025
As ICAEW issues a software adoption checklist for accounting firms and finance teams, here are some of the critical questions you need to ask of software vendors.
Foreign and AI threats grow
  • Article
  • 28 Nov 2025
Cyber espionage and foreign threats were a big topic this month, as the UK continues to focus on beefing up its national security and the resilience of critical infrastructure, operations and services.
16 17 18 November 2026 Generative AI in finance smarter operations and sharper decisions virt
  • Event
  • 07 Nov 2025
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Data protection and privacy

Cyber round-up: March 2024
  • Article
  • 27 Mar 2024
This month we look at what can be learned from state-sponsored cyber attacks, how to avoid falling victim to increasingly sophisticated account takeover scams, and the ICO guidance on levels of fines for data breaches.
Accountability: building trust and ethics in the digital age
  • Article
  • 05 Mar 2024
New technologies are a force for good – they fuel innovation, improve efficiencies, enhance communication, and increase productivity – but they also raise new challenges that can be harmful. We’ve witnessed in recent years how technology has had undesirable consequences, with data breaches and online surveillance resulting in widespread concerns over privacy, security, and the spread of disinformation. This has eroded trust in businesses and institutions, while simultaneously knocking the confidence of businesses to fully embrace technological change.
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Join the Excel Community

Do you use Excel in your organisation? Are you using it to its maximum potential? Develop your skills and minimise spreadsheet risk with our Excel resources. Membership is free to ICAEW members. Non-ICAEW members are also welcome to join. 

Find out more Already a member? login here
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Excel community

The Excel Community provides a 'one-stop shop' for accountants who want to use Excel.
A day in the life of an AI-assisted accountant
  • Article
  • 15 Apr 2026
Head of Finance Jenny Blewett shares a behind-the-scenes view of using artificial intelligence technologies every day to save time and accomplish more.
Agents, context and the data foundation – part 2
  • Article
  • 14 Apr 2026
Following on from a webinar exploring the use of agents in automating financial processes, Rishi Sapra, ICAEW Member and Microsoft MVP, returns to outline a five-step framework to follow when trying to build an agent for automating a finance process using Microsoft’s tools. In part 2 of this series, he covers the design, build and testing phases of the framework.
Agents, context and the data foundation – part 1
  • Article
  • 14 Apr 2026
Following on from a webinar exploring the use of agents in automating financial processes, Rishi Sapra, ICAEW Member and Microsoft MVP, returns to outline a five-step framework to follow when trying to build an agent for automating a finance process using Microsoft’s tools. In part 1 of this series, he covers data transformation, structure, and storage considerations.
How to build macros in Copilot for Excel
  • Article
  • 13 Apr 2026
Copilot can potentially make macro building a whole lot easier by generating the code needed very quickly. Here’s where to start when creating macros with Copilot and examples of how to use them.
Exclusive Allocating Term Dates
  • Article
  • 24 Mar 2026
This month, we consider allocating days across monthly periods, where some dates are outside the forecast period and others straddle the (monthly) reporting periods.
Introducing Excel on the Road: Who Are We and What on Earth Are We Doing?
  • Article
  • 24 Mar 2026
Welcome to the first of a regular series of articles from Giles Male and Fay Bordbar, Excel experts and founders of ‘Excel on the Road’. Whether you're an Excel enthusiast, a financial modelling professional, an early adopter of AI or someone looking to follow along on the journey in the name of learning, there's something here for you.
Exclusive The Universal SUMIFS Solution
  • Article
  • 16 Mar 2026
In this creator level post, Mark Proctor returns to look at the issues with SUMIFS in Excel and how to overcome them using a combination of filter and aggregation.
Exclusive AI slop will eat itself
  • Article
  • 11 Mar 2026
Some of the Excel Community’s most popular recent articles and events have looked at how AI is changing the way in which we use spreadsheets. However, AI is affecting all areas of our life and is also being used for deeply malicious purposes. It’s possible that any general backlash against AI in general might have negative consequences for our readiness to accept its use in more specific applications. This article considers ways in which we could deal with that threat.
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