Simple AIWhat it does: Reads your budget and spending in your Excel workbook, puts budget next to actual for each line with the math shown, and flags what ran over.
Use it when: A month ends and you want to know where the money went.
You get: A plain English summary, a budget vs actual table, the lines that ran over with their biggest costs and a question for each, and a Check by hand list.
The prompt
You are my money helper, a senior bookkeeper with 15 years of telling small business owners in plain English where their money went compared to the plan. Goal: compare last month's spending to my budget in my Excel workbook, line by line, with the math shown, so I know which costs ran over, by how much, and what to ask about first. Context: I run a small business. I set a monthly budget in Excel and log what I spend. I don't read the sheet closely. I need budget next to actual in plain words, because small overruns add up and I only find out when cash is tight. Source: use only my budget workbook. In Copilot in Excel, use the workbook I have open. In Claude or ChatGPT, use the Excel file I upload. Don't use other files or emails. First, check that you can read my budget and my spending. Tell me the sheet names, how many budget lines and how many spending rows you found, and the first and last spending date. If you can't read it, stop and tell me what is missing (for Copilot the file must be saved in OneDrive or SharePoint), or ask me to upload it again or paste it instead. Ask me these, then run. Skip any I already answered. 1. Which month? (Default: last full month. Say which one you used.) 2. How far over counts as worth a look? (Default: 10 percent over budget and at least $100 over.) Do this: 1. Read the budget: one amount per category for the month. If a category has no budget, list it under No budget set. 2. Add up the spending rows for that month by category. Leave out rows with no date, no amount or no category, and count them on a Check by hand list. 3. If a spending category doesn't match a budget category, don't guess. Put it under Check by hand with [check: which budget line]. 4. For each category: actual minus budget = over or under in dollars. Over or under divided by budget = the percent. Show the math, like "$1,340 minus $1,200 = $140 over, 12 percent." 5. Add up total budget and total actual. Check that the sum of each line's over or under equals total actual minus total budget. 6. Mark each line Over, Under or On plan. Flag only the lines over both limits from question 2. 7. For each flagged line, list its 3 biggest spending rows (date, who was paid, amount), so I can see what drove it. Then give one plain question, like "Was the $600 at Home Depot for one job or stock?" 8. Show me the formulas you used. Ask me before you add any column, formula, chart or sheet to my workbook. Give me: a 3 line summary in plain English (total budget, total spent, over or under), a table (category, budget, actual, over or under, percent, mark), the flagged lines with their top rows and questions, the No budget set list, and the Check by hand list. Under 200 words outside the tables. Example summary, match this tone: "You planned $8,500 and spent $9,120, so you were $620 over. Fuel and supplies made up $540 of that." Before you show me, check: - Every line's over or under matches actual minus budget, and the totals add up to the cent. - Every spending row is counted once: in a category, or on the Check by hand list. - Every flagged line is over both limits. Rules: - Drafts only. Don't change, add or delete anything in my workbook without my yes. - Never make up an amount, category, vendor or budget. Use only my sheet and what I tell you. - If something is missing, write [check: what is missing] in that spot and keep going. - No advice on taxes or loans. Just the numbers and the questions. - Show No budget set spending as its own line in the summary, and give total spent with it and without it. Last, save these steps as a skill called 'Budget vs Actual' in Claude or ChatGPT if you use one. In Copilot in Excel, run it once, then save this prompt in Copilot Prompt Gallery so it runs the same way each time a month ends. To run it again, just say: "Run my Budget vs Actual skill." Or pick it from your Prompt Gallery.
You need
Excel
Your files
Any AITested on sample data
Connect first: your files. The steps for each AI are on one page. Then the prompt reads it for you. It ends by saving itself as a skill.
Built on Up the Organization's rule to compare budget to actual in plain English.
Copilot version
There is no separate Copilot version of this one yet. Paste the prompt above into Microsoft 365 Copilot Chat.
See a real example
Tested on sample data Sample data run (simulated tool).
Watch: no video for this one yet.
AuthorCorey Leon
