Claude for Excel: Explain and Check Spreadsheet Formulas

Reusable prompt
I use [spreadsheet application and locale]. Columns are A: task, B: owner, C: status. Count rows where owner equals the value in E2 and status is Complete. Explain the conditions, suggest an appropriate formula, and give test cases for blanks and mismatches. Sample rows: [synthetic data].

Review checklist
- The formula checks every required condition.
- References point to the intended rows and columns.
- Known example totals match independently calculated results.

Suggested steps
1. Describe the table structure and the question in plain language. State the application, relevant columns, example values, and the expected answer for a small known dataset.
2. Ask Claude to explain the logic before writing a formula. Confirm which conditions must all be true and how blanks, spelling variations, and duplicate rows should behave.
3. Request a formula suited to your application and locale. Review its ranges and references before pasting it into a copy of the workbook for testing.
4. Test normal and edge cases with manually known answers. Include a wrong owner, different status, blank cells, and any date boundary relevant to the actual question.
5. Document the approved formula and its assumptions. Keep the test rows available so future workbook changes can be checked without rediscovering the original logic.

Source: AI News Pro — Fajad S