Finance scenario: Build a business case
Available with: Microsoft 365 Copilot for Finance Scenario level:
KPIs impacted
Reduce spend
Risk management
Value benefit
Cost savings
Revenue growth
Using Copilot to build a business case
1. Define investment opportunity
Ask Copilot to create a project brief including data from emails, competitive research, and financial records pulled from Copilot Studio agents. Copy the brief into Word and further edit using Copilot in Word.
Copilot Studio Agent
Benefit: Streamline the review process and quickly understand key issues to be addressed with the potential investment.
2. Gather project information
Meet with the business development team to learn about the various options available and gather financial information. Use Copilot in Teams to suggest questions and summarize the meeting.
Copilot in Teams
Benefit: Ensure a productive meeting by using Copilot in Teams to suggest questions and clarify what people said. Use the recap for a summary and action items.
3. Gather financial data
Analyze financial data with Copilot in Excel. Use Copilot for Finance to pull in ERP system insights. The use Copilot in Excel to make suggestions and provide guidance like how to use the FORECAST function.
Copilot in Excel
Copilot for Finance (Preview)
Benefit: Eliminate time spent searching for data and information from across complex systems.
4. Produce forecast trends
Prompt Copilot to get the latest sales forecasts from your email. Use Copilot in Excel to filter the information and produce trend charts. Update the project brief in Word with the latest charts and tables.
Business Chat2
Copilot in Excel
Benefit: Collaborate effectively across teams and
functions (e.g., legal, transportation) in a secure way. Use data for decision making in meetings and discussion.
5. Produce summary report
Once the business case analysis is complete, use Copilot in PowerPoint to turn the project brief into a set of slides for the executive presentation.
Copilot in PowerPoint
Benefit: Save time by using Copilot in PowerPoint to revise content and organize the slides.
6. Test the business case
After the business case has been implemented for six months, use Copilot for Finance to conduct a variance analysis and capture project KPIs.
Copilot in Excel
Copilot for Finance (Preview)
Benefit: Speed analysis by using Copilot for Finance to accelerate variance analyses.
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 organization-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.
