Use Excel's AI to Analyze Client Trial Balance Changes

What This Does

Excel Copilot lets you ask questions about your spreadsheet data in plain English — so instead of building a dozen formulas to identify which accounts changed the most year-over-year, you just ask, and Excel shows you.

Before You Start

• You have Excel open (Microsoft 365 — not standalone Excel 2019 or older)
• Your firm has a Microsoft 365 Business Standard/Premium license with Copilot enabled
• You have the client's trial balance in Excel with at least two columns: current year and prior year balances
• Time needed: 10–15 minutes
• Cost: Included in Microsoft 365 Copilot license (your firm likely has this)

Steps

1. Get your trial balance into Excel

Format the data as an Excel Table (click anywhere in your data, then Insert > Table). Copilot works best with structured tables. Make sure columns have clear headers: Account Number, Account Name, Current Year, Prior Year.

What you should see: A formatted table with blue header row and alternating row colors.

2. Open Copilot

Click the Copilot button in the Home ribbon (looks like a sparkle/star icon on the right side), or press Alt+M to open the Copilot pane on the right side of your screen.

What you should see: A chat pane opens on the right side with a text input box at the bottom.

Troubleshooting: If you don't see the Copilot icon, your firm may not have the Copilot license enabled. Contact your IT team or check Settings > Microsoft 365 Account.

3. Ask your first question

Type in the chat pane: "What are the 10 accounts with the largest dollar change between current year and prior year?"

What you should see: Copilot either highlights the rows directly in your table or produces a new summary chart or table showing the answer.

4. Follow up with a percentage analysis

Type: "Show me all accounts where current year balance changed more than 20% from prior year. Exclude accounts where prior year balance is zero."

5. Generate a variance summary chart

Type: "Create a bar chart showing the top 10 accounts by absolute dollar change, comparing current year to prior year."

What you should see: A chart object is inserted into your workbook. Right-click > Move Chart to put it on its own sheet if you want it as a workpaper exhibit.

Real Example

Scenario: You receive a 180-line trial balance for a manufacturing client. You need to identify which accounts warrant explanations for the audit file.

What you type: "Identify accounts with changes greater than $50,000 or 25% from prior year and summarize what changed most"

What you get: A filtered table with 12 accounts highlighted, sorted by dollar change — instantly showing you where to focus your audit procedures or ask client questions.

Tips

• Always review Copilot's output — it can misinterpret column headers if they're ambiguous (e.g., if "2025" and "2024" are your headers, rename them to "CurrentYear" and "PriorYear" first)
• Use Copilot for the analysis starting point, then document your own professional conclusions in the workpaper narrative
• You can ask follow-up questions in the same session: "Now sort by percentage change instead of dollar change"

Tool interfaces change — if the Copilot button has moved, look for the AI or Copilot option in the Home tab ribbon.