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

Make sure your columns have clear headers: Account Number, Account Name, Current Year, Prior Year. Copilot no longer requires a formatted table (it reads plain ranges too, as long as there is one header row and no merged cells, subtotals, or blank rows), but converting to a table (click anywhere in your data, then Insert > Table) is still worth it because it keeps references stable as rows are added.

What you should see: A clean data range or formatted table with one clear header row.

2. Open Copilot

Click the Copilot icon in the lower-right corner of the Excel window. Microsoft moved this button off the Home ribbon in 2026; press F6 to reach it from the keyboard, or right-click it and choose Move to ribbon if you prefer the old placement. The Copilot pane opens 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 Copilot icon in the lower-right corner of the Excel window or a similar AI option nearby.