- Microsoft has launched a public preview of Copilot for Finance, an AI-powered, role-based workflow automation tool.
- Copilot for Finance can help finance professionals automate time-consuming aspects of their jobs, such as data entry and review.
- Microsoft’s Copilot for Finance is part of the company’s Copilot Studio, which also includes a sales tool as well as a tool for contact centers.
This week, Microsoft launched a public preview of Copilot for Finance, a new offering that extends Microsoft Copilot for Microsoft 365 to help finance teams work more efficiently.
Copilot for Finance offers an AI-powered, role-based workflow automation that offers recommendations and guided actions. The new tool streamlines financial tasks, automates previously manual workflows, and offers insights into the flow of work.
The launch comes after a 2023 Microsoft study revealed that 80% of finance leaders and teams face challenges to take on more strategic work outside the scope of their roles. And another study found that 62% of finance professionals say they are stuck in data entry and review cycles. Offering an AI-powered workflow, Copilot for Finance can save finance professionals time and allow them to focus more on strategy.
Here are some of the specific tasks the new tool can help finance professionals accomplish:
- Helps financial analysts conduct a variance analysis in Excel using natural language prompts, allowing them to quickly review data sets for anomalies, risks, and unmatched values.
- Simplifies the reconciliation process in Excel with automated data structure comparisons. The tool also offers guided troubleshooting to help users know where to take action.
- Helps expedite the collections process by summarizing relevant customer account details in Outlook, such as balance statements and invoices.
- Enables customers to turn raw data in Excel into visuals and reports that they can share across Outlook and Teams.
Copilot for Finance is part of Microsoft’s Copilot Studio, a suite of services that also includes Copilot for Service (for contact centers) and Copilot for Sales, which already counts more than 30,000 clients, including Northern Trust, Schneider Electric, and Visa.
Microsoft has been testing Copilot for Finance inside its own organization. “Our finance organization is just like any other – looking for technology to help us do our work in a more efficient and impactful way – and we’re excited to track our journey as customer zero of Microsoft Copilot for Finance” said Microsoft Modern Finance Lead Cory Hrncirik.