FP&A reporting in Excel
Bring financial statements, actuals, budget and variance into your reporting workbook with the Précis Excel add-in. Refresh the figures from your Précis instance when you need them. Keep your analysis and commentary in Excel, with governed definitions behind the numbers you retrieve.
Monthly management reporting
Before
You copy actuals into the pack, apply account and BU mappings, and compare the figures with budget. Has the lookup picked up the new account? Did you copy the right gross-margin formula? Before explaining the variance, you have to check how the numbers came together.
With Précis
Statements and metrics arrive using the mappings and financial definitions configured in your Précis reporting model. Choose the period and budget comparison, refresh the figures, and review the movements. Finance maintains the shared definitions and adds the explanation to the management pack.
Live worksheet functions
For a monthly P&L, choose the reporting period and actuals-versus-budget columns in a statement formula. Précis returns the comparison table into Excel. Next month, change the period and refresh; review the movements and update your commentary alongside the figures.
The functions return tables into neighbouring cells — Excel's dynamic spills. Use Format to apply statement formatting and Refresh to retrieve the current figures and member lists from Précis. Refresh is on demand; it does not mean the underlying source systems update continuously.
Read the Excel function reference →PRECIS.STATEMENTPrepare the P&L. Returns a financial statement for the period you choose, with actuals, budget, variance or prior-year comparisons.PRECIS.METRICInvestigate a movement. Retrieves metrics such as revenue by cost centre, using the breakdowns available in your reporting model.PRECIS.SCENARIOSChoose the comparison. Lists the actual, plan and forecast scenarios and comparisons available to you.PRECIS.KPISFind the right KPI. Lists the defined metrics and their available breakdowns, so you can see what the workbook can retrieve.PRECIS.HIERARCHYKeep filter lists current. Returns hierarchy members, such as departments and cost centres, for live workbook drop-downs.Governed finance data
When two workbooks calculate gross margin differently, the meeting becomes a discussion about the calculation. Précis gives retrieved statements and metrics the same governed definitions used elsewhere in the platform.
Those definitions are configured in your Précis reporting model. Précis calculates the results and the add-in retrieves them within your access permissions. Your own Excel calculations and commentary remain yours to review.
How to prepare monthly management reporting without replacing Excel →Getting started
The add-in requires a configured Précis instance, with the data, financial definitions and user access needed for your reports. Installing the add-in alone does not connect an ERP or prepare a reporting model.
01
Once your instance is ready, install its Excel add-in using the supplied Office manifest.
02
Use the sign-in configured for your Précis instance. The same data access permissions apply in Excel.
03
Add a statement or metric formula with the reporting period, comparison and filters you need.
04
Retrieve updated results when the data in Précis changes.
The add-in works in supported desktop Excel and Excel on the web. Sign-in credentials are not saved in the workbook.
Read-only Excel functions
Excel write-back and round-trip workflows are separate from the read-only add-in described here.
Questions finance teams ask
Yes. You can add Précis functions to an existing workbook, leaving room for the tables they return. The add-in does not automatically convert existing formulas or replace every data link. Start with one statement or metric table that you currently refresh by hand.
Yes. The add-in reads from a configured Précis instance. Your source data, reporting definitions and access permissions need to be set up there first. The Excel add-in is one way to use those figures.
Yes, using the scenarios available in your Précis model. Statement and metric functions can return comparison columns, including signed and percentage variances. You choose the reporting period and comparison in the formula.
Refresh retrieves the current results for the Précis functions and member lists in your workbook. It reads the data available in Précis; it does not initiate a new import from your ERP or other source systems.
Yes, in supported desktop Excel clients and Excel on the web. Installation uses the Office manifest supplied by your Précis instance. The Excel documentation covers setup and compatibility requirements.
You sign in through the identity provider configured for your Précis instance. The same permissions apply to data retrieved in Excel. Sign-in credentials are not stored in the workbook. Retrieved figures are worksheet content, so your normal workbook-sharing controls still matter.
No. These worksheet functions are read-only. Editing cells does not write changes back to the plan or create a scenario.
Contact us with the systems you use and one report you want to refresh. Ask about the data preparation, reporting definitions, deployment and commercial scope needed for that workflow.
Bring a recurring P&L, budget comparison or KPI report to the conversation. We will review where the figures come from, which definitions you need, and how the Précis Excel add-in could fit your reporting cycle.