Mastering Excel Formulas and Tables with ChatGPT

Jun 30, 2025

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🧑‍💼📊 Meet Jov — The Efficiency Champion

Jov had a reputation in his office: the “Excel Wizard.” But lately, with increasing workloads, new data formats, and tight deadlines, even Jov’s fingers on Ctrl+C and Ctrl+V weren’t fast enough.

One evening, while sipping chai and wrestling with a nested IF statement, Jov’s colleague whispered,
“Why not ask ChatGPT?”

1️⃣ Using ChatGPT with Excel Formulas

So Jov opened ChatGPT and typed:
🗣️ “Help me write an Excel formula that calculates a 10% bonus if sales exceed ₹1,00,000, else 0.”

Boom! In a second, ChatGPT replied:

=IF(A2>100000, A2*10%, 0)

Jov’s eyes lit up. Not only was the formula correct, but it also came with an explanation.

He realized: ChatGPT wasn’t just a chatbot — it was his new formula assistant.

Now Jov started doing more:

Extracting first names from full names → =LEFT(A2, FIND(" ", A2)-1)
Finding last day of a month → =EOMONTH(A2, 0)
Creating dropdowns using Data Validation (ChatGPT even explained where to click!)

2️⃣ Ask ChatGPT for a Simple Excel Formula

Jov didn’t overthink. He began typing casually:

🗣️ “Write a formula to calculate total with tax if tax is 18%”

ChatGPT returned:

=A2 * (1 + 18%)

But it also added context:

“This assumes A2 contains the base price. The formula multiplies it by 1.18 to add 18% tax.”

And if Jov asked:
🗣️ “Can you explain this like I’m new to Excel?”

ChatGPT would simplify it:

“Sure! This formula takes your number and increases it by 18%. It’s like saying: ‘Give me the price plus 18% more.’”

That’s when Jov understood — ChatGPT isn’t just a formula writer. It’s a trainer, tutor, and troubleshooter in one.

3️⃣ Using ChatGPT with Excel Tables

One Monday, Jov had a messy table:
Sales data for 10 branches, each with quarterly sales across columns.

He typed:

🗣️ “How do I turn this data into a structured Excel table with filters and totals?”

ChatGPT replied with step-by-step instructions:

Select your data.
Press Ctrl+T to insert a Table.
Use the Table Design tab to enable Total Row.
Use built-in filters for any column.

Jov followed it and was shocked — no formulas, no fuss — just clean, smart data.

Then Jov asked:

🗣️ “How do I write a formula inside a table to calculate growth from Q1 to Q2?”

ChatGPT responded:

=[@Q2]-[@Q1]

“This formula subtracts Q1 from Q2 within the same row. The @ symbol refers to the current row.”

He smiled — structured references were no longer a mystery.

4️⃣ Getting More Advanced + Fixing Errors and Adding Comments

One day, Jov made a mistake. His VLOOKUP returned #N/A.

He typed:

🗣️ “Why is my VLOOKUP showing error?”

ChatGPT analyzed:

“It could be due to:

The lookup value not found in the first column.

The data not being sorted correctly.

Extra spaces in the cell.”

It then suggested:

=IFERROR(VLOOKUP(A2, Sheet2!A:B, 2, FALSE), "Not Found")

💡 Jov also asked:
🗣️ “Can I comment formulas for others to understand?”

ChatGPT suggested using cell comments or structured explanations in adjacent columns like:

="Bonus if sales > 100K: " & IF(A2>100000, "Eligible", "Not eligible")

Or use Excel Notes:

Right-click the cell → Insert Note → Explain the logic

Now Jov not only fixed errors, he also made his sheets understandable for others.

🏁 Final Act — Jov’s Promotion

By now, Jov had:

Reduced reporting time by 40%
Trained teammates using ChatGPT’s plain-English explanations
Automated repetitive reports

One Friday, his manager called him in and said:

“You’ve made the team more efficient than ever. We want you to lead the new automation unit.”

All thanks to ChatGPT + Excel.

✅ Summary of What Jov Learned

Task	ChatGPT Helped With
Basic Formulas	Tax, IF, SUM, AVERAGE
Tables	Structured references, filters, totals
Errors	#N/A, #VALUE!, fixed with IFERROR
Clarity	Commenting, explanations, cell notes
Speed	Fast, natural-language formula creation