AI-assisted financial formulas

How do you ask AI for an Excel formula and check that it calculates your financial indicators correctly?

1250 € per session, excl. VAT

In short

This half-day session of 3 hours offers a guided introduction to using AI to write and explain simple Excel formulas. Working with a fictitious invoice tracker, participants clarify their needs, test suggestions and build an annotated workbook, supported by checks to carry out before any professional use.

Why this training?

A formula can look plausible while adding up the wrong range or treating an empty cell as zero. In financial tracking, these discrepancies distort the view of balances and overdue payments; learning to detect them matters as much as knowing how to obtain a formula. AI can suggest syntax and explain a calculation, but it does not automatically know the workbook's structure or the conventions being used. Describing the columns, specifying the rules and checking the results allows you to retain control over the calculation. Running case study: The fictitious organisation « Dorselle Fournitures » tracks twenty customer invoices in Excel. Its table contains the invoice number, fictitious customer, invoiced amount, amount received and due date. The finance department wants to calculate balances, identify overdue invoices and total the amounts still outstanding, without automatically triggering payment reminders. Transfer to the workplace: After the session, revisit a simple formula from a professional spreadsheet using an anonymised copy. Document the request, compare the results with an independent calculation and have the formula validated by a qualified professional before incorporating it into the file used by the team.

Objectives of this training

  • Describe a calculation requirement, including its columns and rules.
  • Write a request for a formula specifying the language and version of Excel.
  • Insert and copy a formula, checking its references.
  • Compare the results obtained with expected values.
  • Explain a formula and identify the limitations of its use.

Who is it for and what are the prerequisites?

Roles and tasks concerned

  • Administrative and accounting assistants who work with invoice spreadsheets.
  • Finance staff who want to explore AI assistance for simple Excel calculations.

Prior skills

  • No prior AI knowledge required.
  • Be able to open an Excel workbook, enter a value and locate a cell.
  • Understand the concepts of invoiced amount, payment received and balance.

What you will work on

  1. Understand the assistance and define the calculation

    Objective: Distinguish between a suggested formula and a verified result. How an assistant works in general, possible errors, confidentiality and description of the columns. Definition of the outstanding balance.

  2. Obtain and copy simple formulas

    Objective: Produce readable and compatible calculations. Subtraction, SUM, relative and absolute references; separators and function names according to the language of Excel.

  3. Introduce a condition and a targeted total

    Objective: Translate a simple financial rule into a formula. IF and SUMIF; fixed reference date; distinction between an invoice that is overdue, settled or still payable.

  4. Test, correct and document

    Objective: Measure the quality of the formulas obtained. Comparison of expected and actual results, interpretation of errors and caution with formulas that conceal anomalies.

What you take away

  • Fictitious tracking workbook with annotated formulas.
  • Prompt sheet tailored to the workbook's columns.
  • Test grid with expected results, actual results and corrections.
  • Checklist to complete before professional reuse.

Method and assessment

  • Short input sessions followed by immediate practice using the running case study.
  • Individual work followed by work in pairs, with peer review of the outputs.
  • Guided group discussion: what works, what needs correcting and what remains a human decision.
  • Preparation: Have Excel and access to a generative AI assistant authorised by the organisation; note the language and version of Excel. Prepare the supplied fictitious workbook and its reference results; do not share any confidential financial data with the assistant.

Observable criteria: The prompt specifies the columns, the calculation rule and the Excel environment. ; Copied formulas retain the necessary references. ; Results match the reference calculations across the five test cases. ; Empty cells and due dates on the cut-off date are explicitly checked. ; The participant explains a calculation and records any unresolved anomaly..

Frequently asked questions

Is AI integrated into Excel required?

No. The exercises can use a separate authorised assistant, with formulas inserted manually.

Can you use your actual invoice file?

The session uses only fictitious or anonymised data, with no confidential information.

Why does a suggested formula not work?

Check the language, separators, version, references and cell formatting before asking for a correction.

Can the workbook decide on payment reminders?

No. No sensitive decisions are automated; a qualified professional validates the calculations before any operational use.

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