Finance scenario: Reconcile financial data to accelerate period closing
Download scenario guideAvailable with: Microsoft 365 Copilot for Finance and Copilot Studio Scenario level:
KPIs impacted
Time to close
Reduce spending
Value benefit
Reduce costs
Using Copilot to reconcile financial data to accelerate period closing
1. Generate formulas to clean data
Aggregate sales invoice and payment data into an Excel spreadsheet, then use Copilot for guidance on how to standardize the data formatting.
Copilot in Excel
Example prompt: Suggest formulas to standardize the data formatting, including removing trailing spaces and correcting capitalization.
2. Reconcile accounts
Use Copilot for Finance in Excel to streamline the reconciliation of accounts across customers and suppliers.
Copilot in Excel
Copilot for Finance (Preview)
Action: Open Copilot for Finance in Excel and select Reconcile data. Define the reconciliation vectors.
3. Review discrepancies
Review the Reconciliation Report transactions for any discrepancies.
Copilot in Excel
Copilot for Finance (Preview)
Example prompt: What are my top 3 product categories, by revenue, over the last 3 years?
4. Generate report
Copilot in Finance in Excel analyzes the reconciliation results and provides insights and suggestions for addressing inconsistencies in the report summary.
Copilot in Excel
Copilot for Finance (Preview)
Action: Select Include the summary in the report and click Save as PDF to save a downloadable version of the report summary.
5. Create knowledge agent
Create a custom AI agent based on the reconciliation reports and financial statements for the period closing so that you can query to understand any discrepancies based on the latest status reports.
Copilot Studio
From Copilot Studio, create a new Copilot. Under the knowledge section, add the reconciliation report PDF from SharePoint.
6. Share with the team
Share the custom copilot in Teams so team members can ask the agent questions about the report.
Copilot in Teams
Action: Open the configuration pan for the Microsoft Teams channel, select Open copilot, then add the custom agent as an app in Teams. Share the agent via a link with team members.
1Access Copilot at copilot.microsoft.com or the Microsoft Copilot mobile app and set toggle to “Web”.
2Access Business Chat at copilot.microsoft.com or the Microsoft Copilot mobile app and set toggle to “Web”.
3Copilot agents allow Microsoft 365 Copilot to access your company-specific apps. In the past, this would have required an API call to get data from a system of record. The content in this example scenario is for demonstration purposes only. You should evaluate how Copilot aligns with your organization’s business processes, regulatory requirements, and responsible AI principles.
The content in this example scenario is for demonstration purposes only. You should evaluate how Copilot aligns with your organization’s business processes, regulatory requirements, and responsible AI principles.
