April 2026: Microsoft Quietly Upgraded Excel. Here's What AP Teams Should Know.

Microsoft has been quietly rolling out updates to Excel that can meaningfully reduce manual work for AP professionals.  For teams not yet exploring these features, now is a great time to take stock of what's available. 

New AI-powered functions within Excel can help clean, digest and analyze data; generate reports; flag discrepancies; and more. AI can now flag and fix data inconsistencies automatically, and reports can refresh when underlying data changes. By utilizing what’s available in Excel, you can improve workflows to save yourself time and support the shift from AP as a transaction processor to AP as a financial operations partner — bringing you closer to the business and more focused on outcomes than inputs. 

This Month’s Quick Take: Microsoft Copilot 

• Earlier this year, Microsoft rolled out broader Copilot access across Excel along with multi-step task automation. AP teams can use the newly available agent-style behavior to automate repetitive workflows like invoice categorization.  
• Copilot can now propose complete formulas based on column headers and context. Just type an “equal” sign and accept the suggestion.  
• Power Query's AI-powered upgrades are useful for reconciling vendor names and cleaning inconsistent data when combining invoice or payment records from multiple sources in Excel. 
• Explore Excel’s newest functions to unlock improvement and efficiency. You are likely to discover something that will transform manual work into insights or strengthen your processes. 

The Future of Excel: Modern Tools and AI Integrations 

Excel's mid-2000s workflows are officially obsolete. Learn how Power Query, Power Pivot, dynamic array functions, and AI-powered Copilot are transforming the way finance teams handle, analyze, and report on data and how to put them to work for you. 

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Advanced Excel Techniques for Effective Cash Flow Management

Accurate AP forecasting is critical to cash flow management, but most software is costly, complex, and hard to scale. Watch this on-demand webinar to discover powerful Excel techniques you can start using right away. 

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The New AI in Excel Stack for Finance Professionals

AI is reshaping Excel and finance teams are at the center. Watch Excel MVP George Mount in this Member-only webinar to see how Microsoft's AI-powered Excel stack can streamline AP, AR, and FP&A reporting, reduce manual work, and surface insights faster. 

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Tools & Insights from IOFM

Did You Know? IOFM Has a Master Class Track for Excel!

IOFM's Excel Master Class Track is built specifically for AP professionals who want to work faster, reduce errors, and get more out of the tools already on their desk. From formulas to pivot tables to the newest automations, this track covers the skills that make a real difference in your day-to-day. Ready to sharpen your skills?

Explore Our Excel Master Classes here