Claude for Excel: what Anthropic's add-in does for finance and accounting work
Claude for Excel puts Anthropic's assistant in a sidebar inside your workbook. It reads the model you have open, answers with links to the cells it relied on, changes inputs without breaking formulas, and builds or fills in models. This guide covers what Anthropic documents about it, which plans include it, how your data is handled and where it stops, from Anthropic's own pages read on November 5, 2026.
Key points
- What it is
- An Excel add-in from Anthropic, installed from Microsoft's marketplace as part of Claude for Microsoft 365 and signed in with a Claude account. It also works alongside Claude's PowerPoint, Word and Outlook add-ins.
- Who gets it
- Generally available on Claude Pro, Max, Team and Enterprise. The Free plan doesn't include it. Pro starts at $17 a month billed annually or $20 monthly.
- Your data
- Anthropic says add-in inputs and outputs are deleted from its back end within 30 days, with exceptions, and chat history stays in your browser. It doesn't follow an organization's custom retention settings.
- Where it stops
- No data tables, macros or VBA. Anthropic advises against using it for final client deliverables without human review or for audit-critical calculations without verification.
What Claude for Excel does
Anthropic's documentation (opens in a new tab) lists these capabilities:
- Explains a model
- Answers questions about the open workbook, such as how a revenue figure is calculated or which assumptions drive a forecast, with cell-level citations you can click to jump to the cell.
- Changes inputs safely
- Updates values such as a discount or growth rate while keeping formula relationships intact, so dependent cells recalculate.
- Builds and fills in models
- Populates an existing template or creates a new model from a description. One of Anthropic's own example prompts is "Build a three-statement model from this trial balance."
- Finds errors
- Traces the root cause of errors such as #REF! or #DIV/0! and suggests fixes.
- Does ordinary Excel work
- Sorts, filters, edits PivotTables, applies conditional formatting and creates data validation dropdowns, across multi-tab workbooks.
- Brings in outside data
- Pulls external context through connectors. Anthropic names S&P Global, LSEG and Daloopa for financial data, plus any custom connectors your organization enables (Anthropic (opens in a new tab)).
Two protections are built in: Claude warns before overwriting existing data, and asks you to confirm operations it considers risky. Long conversations are compacted automatically so they don't run out of context.
Which Claude plans include Claude for Excel, and what they cost
| Plan | Price | Claude for Excel | Training on your content |
|---|---|---|---|
| Free | $0 | Not included | May be used unless you opt out |
| Pro | $17 a month billed annually ($200 up front), or $20 monthly | Included | May be used unless you opt out |
| Max | $100 a month, billed monthly | Included, with 5x Pro usage | May be used unless you opt out |
| Ultra | $200 a month, billed monthly | Included, with 10x Pro weekly usage | May be used unless you opt out |
| Team, Standard seat | $20 per seat per month billed annually, $25 monthly | Included; teams of 2 to 150 | Not used by default |
| Team, Premium seat | $100 per seat per month billed annually, $125 monthly | Included, with 5x Standard usage | Not used by default |
| Enterprise | $20 per seat per month billed annually, 20-seat minimum, plus usage at API rates | Included | Not used by default |
Anthropic says use of the add-in is tied to your Claude account and subject to the same usage limits (Anthropic (opens in a new tab)). Organizations that send AI traffic through Amazon Bedrock, Google Cloud Vertex AI, Azure AI Foundry or an LLM gateway can deploy the add-in without individual Claude accounts, though connectors, Skills and the cross-app features may not be available that way.
How to install it
Check your Excel version
Anthropic supports Excel on the web, Excel for Windows with a Microsoft 365 subscription (build 16.0.13127.20296 or later), and Excel for Mac 16.46 or later. It doesn't run on Excel 2016 or 2019 perpetual licenses, iPad or Android.
Install the add-in
Open the Claude for Microsoft 365 listing on Microsoft AppSource, choose Get it now, then open Excel, activate the add-in and sign in with your Claude account.
Or have IT deploy it
Microsoft 365 admins can deploy it to the organization, or to specific users and groups, from Integrated apps in the Microsoft 365 admin center. Where Office Store access is turned off, Anthropic provides a manifest file for a custom deployment.
Set standing instructions
Under Settings in the sidebar, the Instructions field holds preferences for each Excel conversation, such as number formats, currency and locale, or standing context about your work. They apply to Excel only.
Claude for Excel can share context with Claude's PowerPoint, Word and Outlook add-ins, so one conversation can pull figures from a model into a memo or a deck. That needs the "Let Claude work across files" setting, which Anthropic says is on by default for Pro and Max and off by default for Team and Enterprise (Anthropic (opens in a new tab)).
Claude for Excel in finance and accounting work
The add-in is aimed at model-heavy work, and Anthropic's examples are mostly from corporate finance: valuation models, LBO templates, scenario changes. For accountants, the documented features map to a few everyday jobs:
- Understanding an inherited workbook. Ask how a schedule is built and follow the cell citations, before you roll it forward.
- Rolling a model forward. Change dates, rates or volumes and let dependent formulas recalculate, then check what moved.
- Fixing broken formulas. Trace #REF! and #DIV/0! errors back to their source.
- Building a first draft. Turn a trial balance into a starting set of statements, or fill in a firm template, for a person to review.
Skills enabled in your Claude settings apply in the add-in too. Anthropic's open-source financial services repository (opens in a new tab) includes skills such as one that populates three-statement model templates and an Excel model audit that traces formulas, detects hardcoded numbers and checks that balances tie. Firms can adapt them to their own conventions.
For the wider picture, including Anthropic's Finance plugin for journal entries and reconciliations, see Claude for accounting and finance. For accounting tools that already work inside Excel with their own controls, such as DataSnipper for audit evidence, see Copilot in Excel.
What Anthropic says about your data
- Back-end retention
- Inputs and outputs are deleted from Anthropic's back end within 30 days of receipt or generation, except in the cases Anthropic sets out for organizations (Anthropic (opens in a new tab)). Data is cached for some hours after deletion so recently closed workbooks keep their context.
- Chat history
- Stored locally in your browser, not on Anthropic's servers, and not synced across devices. You can clear it from Settings.
- Organization controls
- The add-in doesn't inherit custom data retention settings, and its activity isn't in Enterprise audit logs. For Enterprise organizations using the Compliance API, Anthropic says add-in sessions are included, in public beta.
- Model training
- On Team and Enterprise, Anthropic says it won't use your inputs or outputs to train its models by default, except feedback you explicitly submit, such as a thumbs up or down (Anthropic (opens in a new tab)). On Free, Pro, Max and Ultra, Anthropic's pricing page lists model training as opt-out, so check the privacy setting on personal accounts.
For client files, that makes the plan the first decision: a firm's Team or Enterprise workspace, not a personal Pro account.
Limits and risks
| Anthropic's documentation | |
|---|---|
| Not supported | Data tables; macros and VBA operations |
| Not recommended | Final client deliverables without human review; audit-critical calculations without verification; models with highly sensitive or regulated data without proper controls |
| Doesn't run on | Excel 2016 and 2019 perpetual or volume licenses, Excel for iPad, Excel for Android, and older Microsoft 365 builds |
| Cross-app limits | Works only with files and emails that are open; can't open, close or switch files itself |
Claude for Excel vs Copilot and ChatGPT
Microsoft's Copilot is built into Excel and licensed through Microsoft 365; OpenAI's ChatGPT for Excel is another add-in, available on all ChatGPT plans including Free with limits. Claude for Excel requires a paid Claude plan. The three are compared side by side, including what each company says about your data, in Best AI for Excel. For the two general assistants beyond Excel, see Copilot vs ChatGPT.
Before you use it on client work
Claude for Excel: checks before client work
- Use a Team or Enterprise account for client workbooks, and confirm the model-training setting on any personal account.
- Decide how the add-in fits your firm's retention policy, since it doesn't follow custom retention settings.
- Work on a copy of the workbook until you trust the add-in on that kind of file.
- Treat workbooks from clients and vendors as untrusted, and read each confirmation before Claude changes data.
- Review the cells Claude changed, and the formulas behind them, before the file goes to a client or into the ledger.
- Keep macros and data tables out of Claude's hands; it doesn't support them.
For a written policy to adapt, see the AI acceptable use policy template.
Claude for Excel: questions
- Is Claude for Excel free?
- No. Anthropic makes Claude for Excel available on its paid plans: Pro, Max, Team and Enterprise. The Free plan doesn't include Claude for Microsoft 365. Pro costs $17 a month billed annually or $20 billed monthly.
- How do I get Claude in Excel?
- Install the Claude for Microsoft 365 add-in from Microsoft AppSource, open Excel, activate the add-in and sign in with a Claude account on a paid plan. Microsoft 365 admins can also deploy it to the organization from the admin center.
- Does Claude for Excel work on a Mac?
- Yes. Anthropic supports Excel for Mac version 16.46 or later, Excel for Windows with a Microsoft 365 subscription, and Excel on the web. It doesn't run on Excel for iPad or Android, or on Excel 2016 and 2019 perpetual licenses.
- Can Claude for Excel write macros or VBA?
- Anthropic lists macros and VBA operations as unsupported, along with data tables.
- Does Anthropic train on my Excel data?
- On Team and Enterprise plans, Anthropic says inputs and outputs aren't used for training by default, apart from feedback you explicitly submit. On Free, Pro, Max and Ultra plans, Anthropic's pricing page lists model training as opt-out, so check the privacy setting. Add-in inputs and outputs are deleted from Anthropic's back end within 30 days, with exceptions.
- Is Claude for Excel safe for client data?
- That depends on the plan and your controls. Anthropic advises against using it without proper controls on highly sensitive or regulated data, and warns that files from outside sources can contain hidden instructions. Use a business plan, work on copies, and review changes before relying on them.
Sources
Official documents read on November 5, 2026. Vendor facts are sourced on each listing.
- Anthropic: Use Claude for Excel
- Anthropic: Connectors and Skills (Claude for Microsoft 365)
- Anthropic: Work across Microsoft 365 apps
- Anthropic: Claude plans and pricing
- Anthropic Privacy Center: Is my data used for model training? (commercial products, Aug 18, 2026)
- Anthropic Privacy Center: How long do you store my organization's data?
- Anthropic on GitHub: financial-services plugins, agents and skills