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Copilot (licence) - Initiate a project budget tracking table with Copilot Tutorial

Unlock the secret to efficient project budget management with our tutorial on 'Initiate a Project Budget Tracking Table with Copilot.' This engaging video guides you through creating a structured budget tracking table in Excel, utilizing generative AI to automate budget allocation. Ideal for intermediate users, discover how to streamline your budgeting process and leverage powerful tools to stay organized and efficient.

02:54
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Available in AI - Artificial Intelligence

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and it naturally requires the creation of a dedicated tracking table.

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Assigning amounts to action items and tracking expenses can be complex.

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Since Microsoft Planner doesn't include built-in budget tracking,

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how can we quickly get started with a structured table to meet this need?

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That's exactly what we'll cover in this tutorial,

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starting from planner.

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By clicking on the title of my plan,

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I can export it to Excel,

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generating a summary of my project's progress.

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The resulting file is rather raw.

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So I convert it into a structured table format

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to improve readability of key information,

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such as tasks,

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timelines,

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priorities,

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and time spent.

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My initial goal is to use this file to organize

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the budget allocation based on the actions in my plan.

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I also want to build a basic Excel budget tracking sheet.

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As always,

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the quality of the prompt plays a key role in getting a useful outcome.

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To do this,

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I use co-pilot chat to help build a budget based on the exported planner file.

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I write a clear and detailed prompt explaining that

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I need to generate a budget tracking table,

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keeping in mind my total available budget

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and allocating specific amounts to certain tasks.

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In this example,

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I asked co-pilot to distribute the amounts across all the key steps of the project,

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taking into account progress so far in any budget already consumed.

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Of course,

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in a real world scenario,

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these decisions would require my own input and judgment,

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but here it helps illustrate what copilot can do in just a few minutes.

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I also specify in my request that I want the table to categorize tasks by theme.

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To give context,

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I include the Excel export from Planner.

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Co-pilot then suggests a draft that fits my expectations.

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I now have a solid base.

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From here,

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I asked co-pilot to generate an Excel version of the table.

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Using the co-pilot pane in Excel,

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I ask it to perform additional calculations.

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Such as the remaining budget by category.

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A chart with a linked pivot table can be inserted into a dedicated worksheet.

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If my request becomes more complex,

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such as asking co-pilot to identify potential budget overruns,

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it may respond that some data is insufficient.

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In that case,

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I review the suggestions manually or prompt again with adjustments.

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The result is an effective editable base for tracking my project's budget.

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In the end,

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I rely on this generated table to help manage my budget in a clear and efficient way,

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while making manual refinements along the way.

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