[DigitalToday reporter Chi-gyu Hwang (황치규)] Microsoft added three features to Excel Copilot for financial professionals. They are skills, plans and external data integration.

The skills feature lets users define the processes Copilot will carry out in Excel. Tasks include building a discounted cash flow model, preparing variance analysis and updating a monthly reporting model.

Brian Jones, Microsoft vice president for Excel, said, "Instead of always starting from scratch, skills guide Copilot step by step to create outputs that are easy to review and reuse." Users can use a prebuilt financial skills library or create their own skills and save them to OneDrive. Financial software partners such as LSEG, Ramp and Velixo are also developing their own skills. Custom skills are available immediately on the Insider channel and will be released to the public next month.

The plans feature shows a list of tasks Copilot will perform before it touches spreadsheet data. Users can approve or revise actions such as formula changes and ask additional questions.

After the work is completed, a link to the change history is posted in the chat window. Edits made by AI are shown in the change history window alongside edits made by human users.

Copilot can also link with third-party platforms such as Moody's, CB Insights, Morningstar and PitchBook to pull in external data directly. The newly released features will be rolled out sequentially to paid Microsoft 365 Copilot users. Pricing is $30 per user per month for large companies, and the Copilot business plan for small and midsize companies with fewer than 300 employees is $21 per month.