Variance analysis in Excel overview (preview)

[This article is prerelease documentation and is subject to change.]

This article describes the Variance analysis feature of the finance solution in Microsoft 365 Copilot.

The finance solution in Microsoft 365 Copilot provides process-specific workflows that help revolutionize how finance professionals approach their work. The finance solution combines the power of AI with user-friendly functionality to maximize productivity, enhance accuracy, and reduce the time spent on manual processes.

Assistive and autonomous

• Assistive: the Variance analysis feature assists users "in the moment" as they actively analyze variances in financial data.
• Autonomous: set the feature to perform the analysis autonomously as an AI Action, creating even greater efficiency.

Effortless financial analysis

• The Variance analysis feature lets users effortlessly and efficiently analyze data in an Excel workbook and prepare executive summaries that include details and insights.
• Users can create analyses that they save as templates for future use.
• AI actions support autonomous use by allowing variance analyses to be prepared autonomously, reducing the time and effort needed to get insightful analyses.

Intuitive user interface

• Access the add-in through the finance solution in Microsoft 365 Copilot sidecar in Excel, which provides a user-friendly interface.
• Use natural language to describe the multiple criteria you need to produce an effective analysis.

AI-aided analysis

• Quickly highlight critical variances, key contributors, and trends based on advanced AI technology that interprets analysis criteria.
• Provide structured narrative and executive summaries that explain key insights, allowing for more efficient and accurate analysis.

Comprehensive executive summary

• The Variance Analysis feature provides users with a report containing both detailed results and an AI-provided summarization of all of the findings.
• The AI provides key findings, details, and actionable insights.

Generative AI summarization

• Generative AI provides informative summaries for each of the analysis results.
• Through analysis of each finding, generative AI provides structured executive summaries.