Microsoft 365 Copilot: New accounting capabilities in Excel and Cowork

Microsoft 365 Copilot introduces new accounting features in Excel and Cowork for finance professionals to reconcile accounts, prepare journal entries, analyze performance, and support budgeting and compliance. Available from late October 2026 (preview) and November 13, 2026 (general availability), it requires Copilot licenses and respects data permissions. New accounting capabilities in Copilot in Excel and Cowork help finance professionals complete common accounting tasks in the tools they already use. Users can reconcile accounts, prepare journal entries, analyze financial performance and variances, and prepare financial reports. Additional capabilities support budgeting, forecasting, audit, tax, compliance, and training. Copilot prepares the work while users retain control of review, approval, and posting. Nothing is posted automatically to an ERP or system of record without approval. Rollout schedule Public Preview: We will begin rolling out in late October 2026 and expect to complete by mid-November 2026 General Availability (Worldwide): We will begin rolling out on November 13, 2026, and expect to complete by late November 2026 Impact on your organization Who is affected Accountants, AP/AR specialists, controllers, and other finance professionals with a Microsoft Copilot licenses Platforms and services Microsoft Copilot Microsoft Excel Cowork What will happen Users can reconcile accounts by comparing balances and transactions, identifying discrepancies, and preparing reconciling items for review. Users can draft journal entries, including accruals, reclassifications, allocations, reversals, and recurring entries, with checks for required inputs and balanced entries. Users can analyze financial performance against plan, identify key drivers, and prepare financial reporting and variance analysis. Additional capabilities support budgeting, forecasting, audit, tax, compliance, and training. In Excel and Cowork, finance professionals can choose to capture an audit trail when they invoke an accounting capability. When selected, a record of what Copilot changed and why is created in their chat history. Audit trails are currently available in Excel and are planned for Cowork. Copilot works only with content each user can access, respects existing permissions and sensitivity labels, and stays within the Microsoft 365 service boundary. Nothing is posted automatically to an ERP or system of record without user approval. Accounting capabilities can use connectors as separate sources, including […]

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