Introducing Microsoft Copilot for Finance: Transforming Modern Finance with AI

Today, we’re thrilled to announce the public preview of Microsoft Copilot for Finance, the latest addition to our Copilot family. Designed specifically for finance professionals, this powerful tool revolutionizes how financial teams approach their daily work within Microsoft 365.

The Role of Finance in Strategic Decision-Making
Finance departments play a critical role in shaping a company’s direction. Yet, despite their strategic importance, finance professionals often find themselves bogged down by repetitive tasks. According to recent surveys, 80% of finance leaders and teams yearn to take on more strategic work beyond their operational duties, while 62% feel trapped in the drudgery of data entry and review cycles.

Copilot for Finance: Empowering Financial Professionals
Copilot for Finance is here to change that narrative. By streamlining financial tasks, automating workflows, and providing insights in the flow of work, it empowers finance professionals to focus on strategic counsel and business insights. Let’s dive into the key features:

Variance Analysis in Excel:
Financial analysts can now conduct variance analysis swiftly using natural language prompts. Copilot for Finance helps them review data sets for anomalies, risks, and unmatched values. Armed with these insights, finance leaders can advise business stakeholders on meeting, exceeding, or falling short of planned financial outcomes.

Simplified Reconciliation in Excel:
The reconciliation process gets a boost with automated data structure comparisons and guided troubleshooting. Moving from insight to action ensures the reliability and accuracy of financial records.

Customer Account Details in Outlook:
Copilot for Finance provides a complete summary of relevant customer account details directly in Outlook. Balance statements, invoices, and other critical information expedite the collections process.

Data Visualization and Reporting:
Transform raw data in Excel into presentation-ready visuals and reports. Share these across Outlook and Teams seamlessly.

Copilot for Microsoft 365: Supercharging Productivity Apps
Copilot for Finance builds upon Copilot for Microsoft 365, enhancing popular applications like Excel and Outlook with specialized insights and workflows tailored for finance experts. It draws context from existing financial data sources, including traditional Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) systems like Microsoft Dynamics 365 and SAP, as well as the Microsoft Graph.

Transforming Business Operations
Our Copilot offerings, including Copilot for Sales and Copilot for Service, address a common challenge: bridging the gap from insights to impact. With Copilot for Finance, financial professionals gain AI-assisted competencies right within the productivity applications they use daily. It’s time to transform modern finance with next-generation AI in Microsoft 365.