Excel Formula Helper

Get the right Excel formula explained step by step for any calculation you need

🧪 Tested by a human Beginner 👤 Finance 👤 Manager 👤 Hr 👤 It Admin 👤 Marketing
I need an Excel formula to [DESCRIBE WHAT YOU WANT TO CALCULATE]. My data is structured as: [DESCRIBE YOUR COLUMNS/LAYOUT]. Please provide: (1) The exact formula I should use, (2) A step-by-step explanation of how the formula works, (3) Where to place it in my spreadsheet, (4) Any helper columns needed, (5) Common errors to watch for, (6) An alternative formula approach if there is one. If the task is complex, break it into multiple simpler formulas rather than one giant nested formula.

Works on

⭐ M365 Copilot (Best) 🟢 ChatGPT 🟠 Claude 🔵 Gemini

Copy & Open in

🟢 ChatGPT 🟠 Claude 🔵 Gemini

Prompt is copied to your clipboard when you click

Tips for Best Results

  • In Excel, Copilot can write and insert the formula directly
  • Be specific about your data layout: “Column A has dates, Column B has sales amounts”
  • Common requests: VLOOKUP/XLOOKUP, SUMIFS, conditional formatting, pivot table setup
  • Follow up with “Now create a chart from the results”

📎 More Prompts

Budget Variance Analysis

●●
Analyse this budget data comparing actual spend versus budgeted amounts. For each line item: (1) Calculate the variance (actual minus budget) and variance percentage, (2) Flag any variances greater than 10% as significant, (3) Categorise variances as Favourable or Unfavourable, (4) Suggest possible reasons for the top 5 largest variances, (5) Provide a summary with total budget utilisation percentage. Format as a table with colour-coded indicators.
⭐ M365 🟢 GPT 🔵 Gemini

Correlation Finder

●●●
Analyse for correlations between [VARIABLES]. For each significant one: (1) State the relationship, (2) Strength, (3) Direction, (4) Possible explanations, (5) Caveats. Create a correlation matrix.
⭐ M365 🟢 GPT

Dashboard Metrics Design

●●
Define metrics for a [PURPOSE] dashboard. For each metric: name, definition, data source, calculation, target, frequency, owner, and why it matters. Limit to 8-10 KPIs.
⭐ M365 🟢 GPT 🟠 Claude
💬