Financial Co-Pilot: Budgeting and Excel Formulas

“I’m bad with money.” “I hate math.” “Excel scares me.”

These are limiting beliefs. You don’t need to be a CFO to manage your budget anymore. You just need to know how to ask the AI to be your CFO.

In this guide, we will conquer the spreadsheet using Formula Generation.

1. The Excel Wizard

You have a column of expenses and you want to sum them by category. * The Prompt: “I have a spreadsheet with Column A (Date), Column B (Category), and Column C (Amount). Write an Excel formula to sum all amounts where the Category is ‘Groceries’.” * The Result: =SUMIF(B:B, "Groceries", C:C) * The Shift: You don’t need to memorize the syntax; you just need to describe the goal.

2. The Budget Auditor

• The Prompt: “I make $4,000 a month. My rent is $1,500. Help me create a 50/30/20 budget plan. How much can I spend on fun?”
• The Result: A precise breakdown: Needs ($2000), Wants ($1200), Savings ($800).

3. The Jargon Translator

“What is an ETF?” “What does APR mean?” * The Prompt: “Explain ‘Compound Interest’ to me like I’m a teenager. Show me the math if I invest $100 today.”

4. Visualizing the Data

Look at the Spreadsheet Wizard on the right.

You speak in English (“Sum the groceries”). The AI translates it into Code (=SUMIF). It bridges the gap between natural language and mathematical logic.

Level Up Your Logic

You’ve mastered the practical side. Now, let’s look under the hood. How does the AI actually read your prompt? Find out in: The Tokenizer.