Microsoft Copilot for Finance: what the Finance Agent does now
Microsoft introduced Copilot for Finance in February 2024 as a public preview. Microsoft has since called it Microsoft 365 Copilot for Finance and the Finance solution in Microsoft 365 Copilot, and Microsoft Learn now calls it the Finance Agent. Some parts are generally available and some are still in preview. Here's what Microsoft documents about each, what you need to run it, and how it differs from Copilot in Dynamics 365 Finance.
Key points
- What it is
- Finance features built on Microsoft 365 Copilot that work in Excel, Outlook and Copilot chat and connect to ERPs such as Dynamics 365 Finance, Business Central and SAP.
- What's generally available
- Financial Reconciliation in Excel, since October 2025. Variance analysis, data preparation, collections in Outlook and the Finance Agent in Copilot chat are in preview.
- What it needs
- Microsoft says Finance is a capability included with Microsoft Copilot, and its announcement lists a Microsoft 365 Copilot license as the first prerequisite. Templates and scheduled reconciliations also need a Dataverse environment.
- Not the ERP's Copilot
- It is separate from Copilot in Dynamics 365 Finance, which is built into the ERP and licensed with it.
What Copilot for Finance does, by app
| Where | Capability | What Microsoft says it does | Status |
|---|---|---|---|
| Excel | Financial Reconciliation | Reconciles two tables in a workbook: suggests matching rules and column mappings for you to keep or regenerate, builds a reconciliation report with traceable IDs, and writes an AI summary with suggested next steps | Generally available (October 10, 2025) |
| Excel | Variance analysis | Finds and explains variances against forecasts and budgets, including period-over-period comparisons, and shows the plan it followed | Preview |
| Excel | Data preparation | Recognizes column types, fills missing values and reshapes exported ERP data into analysis-ready tables | Preview |
| Outlook | Collections (customer communications) | Summarizes the customer's ERP record and inbound emails, drafts replies with invoice and payment details, and saves notes and summaries | Preview |
| Copilot chat | Finance Agent | A finance home with company research and briefs, plus questions and some actions on accounts payable and receivable data in your ERP, through the Model Context Protocol | Preview, for organizations in Microsoft's Frontier program (added May 27, 2026) |
Microsoft notes that the Finance Agent's interface and AI-written content are available only in US English for now.
Financial Reconciliation in Excel: what it changes
Reconciliation is the only part Microsoft lists as generally available. It works on data already in Excel, whatever system it came from, rather than on the ledger itself.
- It produces a report, not journal entries
- The agent compares two tables in a workbook and creates a reconciliation report and reconciled copies of the source sheets, linked by aggregation and reconciliation IDs so you can trace each transaction. Microsoft doesn't describe it posting anything back to an ERP.
- You review the rules
- It suggests which columns to match on and how. You keep the suggestions and edit them, or have it suggest a different set. Microsoft's announcement says you review and confirm matches in Excel.
- Assistive or autonomous
- It can help while you reconcile, or run on its own from a saved template, as an AI action on a schedule, with results sent to your inbox. Autonomous use needs a Dataverse environment and the Finance Agent installed from Copilot Studio.
- Investigating breaks
- For unmatched or partly matched rows, it shows the related transactions from both sources and suggests next steps. The summary can be regenerated or saved as a PDF.
Which ERPs it connects to
- Dynamics 365 Finance, version 10.0.38 or later, on a Tier 2 or higher environment with Power Platform Integration enabled. Users have to be in the same tenant as the environment.
- Dynamics 365 Business Central online.
- SAP R/3, ECC and S/4HANA, through a collections template and Microsoft's SAP connector, which can use an on-premises data gateway.
- Other systems through custom connectors. Reconciliation in Excel works with data from any source, including other ERPs and FP&A tools, once it's in the workbook.
What you need to run it
Copilot for Finance prerequisites, from Microsoft's documentation
- A Microsoft 365 Copilot license for the people who will use it. Microsoft's sign-up FAQ says Finance is a capability included with Microsoft Copilot; see the Copilot licensing routes in our Copilot in Excel guide.
- Excel and Outlook from Office 2016 or later, or Microsoft 365 online in a Chromium-based browser, version 120 or later.
- Native Microsoft Entra ID users. Microsoft says external users aren't supported.
- A Dataverse environment for reconciliation templates, autonomous AI actions and collections in Outlook.
- ERP permissions for the users who connect it, such as the Dynamics 365 Finance and Business Central roles Microsoft lists.
- For the Finance Agent in Copilot chat: enrollment in Microsoft's Frontier preview program, including the admin account.
Either a business user or a tenant admin can install the Excel and Outlook add-ins. Microsoft lists Microsoft 365 Copilot business prices of $30 per user per month for enterprise plans or $21 for the Copilot Business add-on, paid yearly; details are in Copilot in Excel.
What Microsoft says about your data
Microsoft's data-handling page for the Finance Agent says financial data stays in the connected Dynamics 365 Finance instance, while non-financial data, such as notes, emails and email summaries, is stored in Dataverse.
Microsoft's October 2025 announcement says the Finance solution honors existing role-based access, data-loss-prevention and audit controls, so users see only data they're authorized to view. The data-handling page doesn't address model training. For Microsoft 365 Copilot generally, Microsoft says prompts, responses and data accessed through Microsoft Graph aren't used to train foundation models.
Copilot for Finance vs Copilot in Dynamics 365 Finance
| Copilot for Finance (Finance Agent) | Copilot in Dynamics 365 Finance | |
|---|---|---|
| Where it runs | Excel, Outlook and Copilot chat | Inside the Dynamics 365 Finance ERP |
| Works with | Dynamics 365 Finance, Business Central, SAP and data brought into Excel | Dynamics 365 Finance only |
| Licensed with | Microsoft 365 Copilot | Dynamics 365 Finance; prebuilt agents use Copilot Credits |
| Reconciliation | Financial Reconciliation agent compares two tables in Excel and produces a report | Account Reconciliation Agent flags subledger-to-ledger differences and recommends fixes in the ERP |
More on the ERP side is in Copilot in Dynamics 365 Finance. For other AI tools that work in spreadsheets, see Best AI for Excel.
Copilot for Finance: questions
- What happened to Microsoft Copilot for Finance?
- Microsoft introduced it as a public preview in February 2024, has since renamed it more than once, and announced the Finance solution in Microsoft 365 Copilot as generally available in October 2025. Microsoft Learn now calls it the Finance Agent. Financial Reconciliation is generally available; variance analysis, data preparation and collections in Outlook are in preview.
- Is Copilot for Finance free?
- Not on its own. Microsoft's sign-up FAQ says Finance is a capability included with Microsoft Copilot, and its announcement lists a Microsoft 365 Copilot license as the first prerequisite. Microsoft lists Microsoft 365 Copilot at $30 per user per month for enterprise plans, paid yearly.
- Does Copilot for Finance work with SAP?
- Yes, for collections in Outlook. Microsoft lists SAP R/3, ECC and S/4HANA as supported, through a collections template and its SAP connector. Reconciliation in Excel works with data from SAP or any other system once it's in a workbook.
- Does the Financial Reconciliation agent post entries to the ledger?
- Microsoft doesn't describe it doing so. It reconciles two tables in Excel and produces a report, reconciled copies of the source sheets and an AI summary with suggested next steps. Fixing the differences in your ERP is still your team's job.
- Is Copilot for Finance the same as Copilot in Dynamics 365 Finance?
- No. Copilot for Finance, now the Finance Agent, works in Excel, Outlook and Copilot chat and is licensed with Microsoft 365 Copilot. Copilot in Dynamics 365 Finance is built into the ERP and licensed with it.
- What languages does Copilot for Finance support?
- Microsoft says the Finance Agent's interface and AI-generated content are currently available only in US English, with more languages and regions planned.
Sources
Official documents read on October 22, 2026. Vendor facts are sourced on each listing.
- Microsoft Learn: Welcome to Finance Agent
- Microsoft Learn: Deployment guide for Finance Agent
- Microsoft Learn: Finance Agent sign-up FAQ
- Microsoft Learn: Data handling in Finance Agent
- Microsoft Learn: Reconcile data with the Financial Reconciliation agent
- Microsoft Learn: Finance Agent in Outlook overview (preview)
- Microsoft Learn: Finance Agent overview (Frontier)
- Microsoft Learn: What's new in Finance Agent, October 2025
- Microsoft Learn: What's new in Finance agents, May 2026
- Microsoft: Finance in Microsoft 365 Copilot is now generally available (Oct 20, 2025)
- Microsoft: Introducing Microsoft Copilot for Finance (Feb 29, 2024)
- Microsoft Learn: Data, privacy and security for Microsoft 365 Copilot
- Microsoft: Microsoft 365 Copilot business pricing