Lesson 6 · 10 min

Get a first draft of a report from your data

By the end

A first draft that answers one real question from your data, with every number traced to a cell.

1Learn
2Try it
3Human check
4Quick check

Learn · 4 min

Start with a question, not a spreadsheet

“Summarize my sales data” gets you a tour of the columns. A question gets you an answer, and tells you when the draft is done.

A good report question names the measure, the period and the comparison, and it’s one somebody actually asked, so you know who the draft is for. If nobody asked, start from the decision it should help someone make. For example:

How did last month’s wholesale orders compare with the month before?
Which five products sold most this quarter, and how does that compare with last quarter?
Are customers paying invoices faster than they did a year ago?

The sheet does the math, the AI does the words

Language models write well about numbers but are less reliable at calculating across many rows. They can misread a column or slip a digit, and the answer looks just as confident. Some assistants run calculations as code, which helps, but you still want every number somewhere you can check it.

Work out the numbers first, with formulas in a new tab of a copy, so the original data stays untouched. Give each number its own labeled cell. Most report math is a total, count or average with a condition (SUMIFS, COUNTIFS, AVERAGEIFS) or a pivot table. Stuck? Ask the AI for the formula, not the answer.

Then hand it that small table instead of the raw export. It’s far less to share than every customer row, and it leaves much less to misread. Before you do, check the date range and any filters: a classic report error isn’t the arithmetic at all, but a formula pointed at the wrong month.

Every number points to a cell

Ask the draft to put a cell reference after every number, like “Wholesale orders rose to 214 (Report!B4).” Checking then takes a few seconds per number: click the cell, compare, move on. Any number without a reference gets traced or cut, including percentages the AI worked out itself.

The data can show what changed. It can’t show why. If the draft blames a dip on the weather or a new competitor, that’s a guess until someone who knows the business confirms it, so ask for possible reasons in a separate list, marked [CHECK].

Ask for the answer first, then the numbers behind it. And if your spreadsheet has an assistant that drafts reports straight from a question, the same rule applies: every number should point to a cell you can check.

In one sentence

Let the sheet do the math and the AI do the words, and make every number point to a cell.

Try it on your business

6 min

Use a question someone actually asked you this month, and the spreadsheet that holds the answer.

1
Write the question in one sentence: the measure, the period and the comparison.
2
In a copy of the data, add a tab called “Report” and work out the three to five numbers that answer it, one labeled cell each.
3
Paste each label, value and cell reference into the prompt and run it.
4
Click through every cell reference in the draft and compare. Trace or cut any number without one.
5
Take the [CHECK] reasons to whoever knows the business before the draft goes anywhere.

I’m writing a short report for [who will read it] that answers this question: [your question].
Here are the numbers, worked out in my spreadsheet, each with a label and its cell reference:
[paste each label, value and cell]
Write a first draft of about [200] words, in plain English:
1. Answer the question in the first sentence.
2. After every number, put its cell reference in parentheses, like (Report!B4).
3. Use only these numbers. Don’t calculate new ones; if you need one I haven’t given you, tell me what formula to add.
4. Don’t explain causes the numbers can’t show. List possible reasons separately, each marked [CHECK].
Mark anything else you’re unsure about with [CHECK].

Open ChatGPT Open Claude Open Gemini

Human check: before you use it

Check every number against the cell it points to, and trace or cut any number without one, including percentages the AI worked out itself.
Check each formula covers the right dates and rows by confirming one total another way, such as with a filter.
Confirm any reason for a change with someone who knows, or cut it.
Keep the original data untouched, and read the whole draft before anyone makes a decision with it.

Quick check · question 1 of 2No grades

Why work out the numbers in the spreadsheet instead of asking the AI to calculate them from the raw export?

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