TL;DR
What did @Cliffinkent use Microsoft Copilot for?
Before sending a budget report, a worker asked Copilot in Excel for a list of checks to run; the figures held up, a duplicate contractor invoice was zeroed out, and the corrected total matched the raw export. The figures held up. A duplicate contractor invoice was zeroed out, and the corrected contractor total agreed with the raw export. One annoyance: Copilot placed its checklist behind the chart on the sheet.
What they did
They asked Copilot in Excel for the checks to run before sending a budget report, ran through them, then compared the contractor total against the raw export.
How it went
The figures held up. A duplicate contractor invoice was zeroed out, and the corrected contractor total agreed with the raw export. One annoyance: Copilot placed its checklist behind the chart on the sheet.
Worth knowing
- Always reconcile against the raw export yourself, as they did. Copilot may drop its output in an awkward spot on the sheet, so look for it before assuming nothing came back.
- Price check: Microsoft Copilot: free plan; Microsoft 365 Personal: US$9.99/month, or US$8.33/month on a yearly plan (US$99.99/year) (checked Oct 30, 2026).
Try it yourself
Paste this into a chatbot, then add your own details underneath.
I'm about to send this budget report. List the checks I should run before sending it: duplicate invoices, totals that don't match the source data, missing months, wrong signs and formula errors. Then run each check on this sheet and show me any rows that fail.
Original post
See @Cliffinkent's original post on X → (Oct 5, 2026)
Sources
- @Cliffinkent on X, Oct 5, 2026 — the original post
- Microsoft Copilot pricing — checked Oct 30, 2026