The problem
Before taking a deal to a lender, the broker needs to understand the client's numbers: is turnover rising, are margins holding, how long do customers take to pay, can the business afford the repayments. If a broker prepares 8 applications a month and working through 12 months of management accounts in Excel takes 1.5 hours each, that's 12 hours a month.
What the AI does
Copilot in Excel analyzes workbook data, applies formulas across multiple sheets and shows charts, trends and outliers. The broker opens the client's management accounts and aged debtors in Excel and asks Copilot for monthly turnover and gross margin trends, debtor days, the largest customers and any unusual months, with a chart for each. The broker checks the figures against the accounts, asks the client about anything odd and writes the lender summary. Copilot runs within the Microsoft 365 service boundary under Microsoft's data protection addendum, and prompts aren't used to train the models.
A worked example
A one-broker commercial finance firm in Reading arranges asset finance and business loans, with about 8 applications a month. The broker already pays for Microsoft 365 Business Standard and adds one Copilot Business license.
Before
1.5 hours working through the accounts for each of 8 applications: 12 hours a month
After
About 45 minutes each, including checking Copilot's figures: 6 hours a month
What it's worth
About $399£300€357A$576C$564 a month in broker time saved, against $21£16€19A$31C$30 for one Copilot Business license paid yearly. 45 minutes saved on each of 8 applications is 6 hours, at an assumed $67£50€60A$96C$94 an hour.
How to set it up
- Buy one Copilot Business license, $21.41£16.10€19.16A$30.91C$30.27 a month paid yearly or $25.70£19.32€22.99A$37.09C$36.32 monthly, excluding VAT, on top of the existing Microsoft 365 plan.
- Ask the client for management accounts and aged debtors in Excel, or exported from their accounting software.
- Ask Copilot for turnover and gross margin by month, debtor days, the largest customers and unusual months, with a chart for each.
- Check every figure against the accounts and ask the client to explain anything unusual.
- Write the lender summary yourself and keep the workbook on the client file.
What goes wrong
- Copilot can misread a layout with merged cells or subtotals and give a wrong total. Check each figure against the accounts.
- Management accounts are unaudited. A neat chart doesn't make the numbers right, and lenders will test them against bank statements.
- Whether free Copilot Chat works inside Excel depends on licensing; analysis in the workbook needs the Copilot license, charged per user.
- Some lending, such as to sole traders and small partnerships, is regulated by the FCA. Stay within the firm's permissions when describing options to the client.