5 CASE STUDIES: HOW BUSINESSES ARE USING AI IN EXCEL FOR FINANCIAL PLANNING

The integration of AI features and specialized add-ins into Excel has transformed the Financial Planning and Analysis (FP&A) function. Companies are moving beyond static spreadsheets to leverage AI for dynamic forecasting, risk mitigation, and automated reporting.

5 Case Studies: How Businesses Are Using AI in Excel for Financial Planning

The Power of Integration: 5 Ways AI is Used in Excel for Better Financial Outcomes:

• ACCELERATED FINANCIAL CLOSE AND REPORTING

  Case Study: A global manufacturing firm used AI-powered reconciliation engines integrated with their core financial data (which ultimately feeds their Excel reports).

  AI Use: The AI automatically scanned invoices, bank statements, and internal GL records (often stored in or exported to Excel) to match transactions and identify variances. Result: The firm cut its monthly financial close cycle from 8 days to 4 days. The AI handled the tedious data matching, freeing analysts to focus on investigating the significant variances reported in their summary Excel files.

  
  

• DYNAMIC FORECASTING AND SCENARIO MODELING

  Case Study: Corporate FP&A teams are integrating Generative AI tools (like Copilot for Finance) into their Excel-based rolling forecasts.

  AI Use: Instead of manually adjusting thousands of cell assumptions, analysts use natural language prompts to model scenarios: "Show the profit forecast if raw material costs increase by 12% globally, and we realize a 5% price increase in the North American region."Result: The AI instantaneously recalculates the complex forecast model and generates a new set of projections and a narrative report. This allows the firm to test five scenarios in the time it used to take to test one, leading to more agile capital allocation.

  
  

• AI-DRIVEN CAPITAL ALLOCATION OPTIMIZATION

  Case Study: A large asset management firm uses machine learning (ML) models—built and refined using advanced data in Excel—to optimize portfolio and project spending.

  AI Use: The ML model analyzes historical project returns, risk profiles, and resource constraints. It then uses optimization algorithms to recommend the best combination of projects to fund to maximize ROI without exceeding the annual budget. Result: The firm achieved a 10–15% improvement in free cash flow by ensuring capital was directed only toward initiatives with the highest predicted return, replacing subjective decision-making with data-driven strategy.

  
  

• FRAUD AND ANOMALY DETECTION

  Case Study: Retail and e-commerce companies use AI to monitor transaction data, much of which is summarized in Excel for weekly review.

  AI Use: The AI continuously monitors spending patterns, flagging expense reports or vendor invoices that deviate from established norms. The system learns historical fraud patterns (e.g., sequential invoice numbers, vendor names that don't match standard databases). Result: This leads to proactive fraud detection before payments are made, significantly reducing financial leakage. The AI-flagged transactions are automatically populated into a summary Excel sheet for human review.

  
  

• AUTOMATED NARRATIVE REPORTING

  Case Study: Finance teams often spend significant time writing commentary to explain forecast variances for executive reports.

  AI Use: Generative AI is used to automatically draft the written narrative based on the data in an Excel variance report. The analyst prompts: "Write a 300-word executive summary explaining why the Q3 profit was 8% below forecast, citing the increase in COGS and the marketing campaign overrun." Result: The AI rapidly produces a polished first draft, allowing the FP&A team to focus their time on strategic analysis and validation rather than manually drafting reports.

AI is fundamentally shifting the role of the finance professional from data reporter to strategic advisor. By automating the most time-consuming tasks—reconciliation, data modeling, and narrative writing—AI tools in Excel enable businesses to create dynamic, accurate, and rapid financial plans that respond instantly to market changes.