You’re in Excel, and you need to extract the year and quarter from a date column.

So now you are opening a new tab.

Googling "Excel formula year quarter", and clicking through Stack Overflow links.

Finally, you find something that looks right, copy it, paste it into your cell

Then you get an error.

And now you are back in Google wasting more time.

I used to do this all the time (and I'm really good at Excel).

My friend David Fortin put this perfectly when he showed me this new feature.

He said that even though we're both really good at Excel, writing a formula like this from scratch would take him 20 minutes.

And this is assuming it works on the first try, (which it never does).

But Microsoft just changed this completely. And I think most finance pros have no idea it exists yet.

​

​
The Google Dependency Problem

You end up with Excel in one tab and your AI tool or search engine in the other, constantly switching between them.

And the time isn't even the real cost. You're breaking your concentration every time you leave the spreadsheet.

You were analyzing data, in the middle of a super important thought about what the numbers meant. But now you're fixing syntax.

And, by the time you get back to your analysis, you've lost the thread of your thinking.

Have you ever had this moment when you finally got the formula working, and then couldn't remember what insight you were working on in the first place?

This should not happen again.

​

​
Staying in the Excel Flow

Excel now has two features that solve this problem. And they both keep you inside your spreadsheet.

You stay in flow, and are able to find more insight, without switching applications.

Note - Before I show you how they work, a quick note on licensing. These features require Microsoft 365 Copilot. This is a paid add-on license to your existing Microsoft 365 subscription. You might already have it (so check with your IT team) if not, request a license and try it out.

Now, the two features.

Feature 1: Formula Prediction

This one blew my mind when David showed it to me.

You add a column with a descriptive header (like "Year_Quarter" next to your date column), you type "=" in the first cell, and Copilot predicts what you're trying to do based on the column title.

You click once to accept, then double-click the corner to fill down the rest of the column.

Feature 2: The =COPILOT() Function

If the prediction doesn't work (or if you need something more specific), you have a second option.

You type =COPILOT() directly into a cell, open the parenthesis, write what you want in plain English, and then reference the cell you want to transform.

David showed me an example where he typed: =COPILOT("transform this date into Y-Q", A2)

He pressed enter, it loaded for a moment, and then it showed the result. You can then drag the formula down to fill the rest of the column.

There's another example we saw from Leila Gerani (if you don't know her, she has excellent Excel content on YouTube).

She had a column with messy text like "I paid $300" and needed to extract just the number. The formula was something like: =COPILOT("extract the number that is written as a text and write it as a number", A2)

And it worked!

Just be aware, results generated by =COPILOT() are probabilistic. This means they will NOT always be the same (even if you ask exactly the same question).

So, use the function, then check it, then hard-code it once it's working to switch it to a deterministic output (same results every time).

​

​
How to Start Using This Today

Here's the process I'd recommend.

Step 1: Try Prediction First

Add a helper column next to your data. Give it a clear, descriptive header that explains what you want (like "Days_Overdue" or "Fiscal_Quarter" or "Customer_Name_Only").

Source | Microsoft Tech Community​

Type "=" in the first cell and wait a couple of seconds. Excel might auto-suggest the formula based on your header.

If the suggestion looks right, press Tab to accept it. If nothing appears or the suggestion is wrong, move to Step 2.

Step 2: Use =COPILOT() Instead

Type "=COPILOT(" and then describe what you want in plain English, reference the cell you want to transform and then close the parenthesis ")".

For example:

• =COPILOT("transform this date into year-quarter format", A2)
• =COPILOT("extract the company name before the comma", B2)
• =COPILOT("categorize this in one of these category: travel, accomodation, meal, gift, others, C2)

Step 3: Verify the First Result

Always check the first output to make sure it understood what you wanted. This is the same as checking work from a junior analyst. The AI did the work, but you're responsible for validating it.

Step 4: Fill Down

Once you've verified the first result, drag the formula down to fill the rest of the column.

The one thing to remember

Even though you’re good at Excel. Writing complex formulas from scratch takes 20 minutes (or longer) and probably won’t work on the first try. But, now with a bit of help, you can do it in seconds instead (with much less errors).

So, next time you need a formula you don't know, skip Google and ChatGPT. Just type "=" or "=COPILOT(" and describe what you want.

You stay inside your spreadsheet, inside your analysis, and you don't lose the thread of your thinking.

Become a finance pro, in finance flow, working more efficiently than ever.

​

Best,

Your AI Finance Expert,

Nicolas

​

P.S. What did you think of this one? Was it useful? Hit reply and let me know (I read all replies).

P.P.S - If you want to see David walk through this live, check out our video "BEST Way to Use Copilot as a Finance Pro in 2026" on my YouTube channel.

He shows the formula prediction and =COPILOT() function in action, plus a few other Copilot features that I think most finance teams are missing - You can watch it here​

​