Spreadsheet Formula Helper

Generate and explain spreadsheet formulas for Excel and Google Sheets.

spreadsheetformulasexcelgoogle-sheets

Spreadsheet Formula Helper

Spreadsheet formulas are one of the most universally useful tools in business — and one of the most consistently misunderstood. A formula that works perfectly in Excel can silently produce wrong results in Google Sheets. An array formula that calculates correctly for 100 rows breaks when the dataset grows to 10,000. A VLOOKUP that seemed fine for years turns out to have been returning the wrong column all along.

The Spreadsheet Formula Helper generates formulas tailored to your specific layout, explains what each part does in plain language, and flags platform-specific differences before they cause problems. You describe what you want to calculate; the skill writes the formula and tells you exactly how to use it.

What it does

  • Formula generation from plain-language descriptions: You describe the calculation in everyday terms (“find the total sales for each region, but only for orders marked as Closed Won”), and the skill produces the correct formula syntax for your target platform — Excel or Google Sheets.
  • Cross-platform translation: Converts formulas between Excel and Google Sheets, noting where functions differ. For example, XLOOKUP (Excel 365) becomes VLOOKUP or INDEX/MATCH in older Excel versions, and ARRAYFORMULA wraps are needed in Google Sheets where Excel uses Ctrl+Shift+Enter array entry.
  • Formula explanation: Breaks down an existing formula you paste in, explaining each argument and nested function in plain English. Useful for inheriting a spreadsheet full of undocumented formulas.
  • Error diagnosis: Takes a formula that’s returning #VALUE!, #REF!, #N/A, or #DIV/0! and explains the most likely cause, with a corrected version.
  • Circular reference detection: Identifies when a formula references its own cell (directly or through a chain) and suggests how to restructure the calculation to break the cycle.

Best for

  • Business analysts who need to aggregate data across multiple sheets or workbooks without writing macros.
  • Accountants building financial models where formula correctness is critical and errors have real consequences.
  • Students learning spreadsheet skills who want to understand why a formula works, not just copy-paste it.
  • Anyone inheriting a spreadsheet they didn’t build, who needs to understand what the existing formulas are doing before modifying them.

This skill requires no special permissions — it generates formula text that you paste into your spreadsheet. It can optionally read a spreadsheet file if you want it to reference your actual column layout, but it works just as well from a description.

How to use (example)

Scenario: Building a commission calculator with tiered rates

Your spreadsheet layout:

  • Column A: Salesperson name
  • Column B: Monthly revenue (numeric)
  • Column C: Commission rate (you want this calculated automatically)
  • Column D: Commission amount

Commission tiers:

  • Under $10,000: 5%
  • $10,000–$49,999: 8%
  • $50,000 and above: 12%

Prompt to the skill:

Platform: Excel 365
I need a formula for column C that returns the commission rate based on the value in column B.
Tiers: <$10,000 = 5%, $10,000-$49,999 = 8%, $50,000+ = 12%
Then a formula for column D that multiplies B by C.

Output:

FORMULA FOR C2 (commission rate):
=IFS(B2<10000, 5%, B2<50000, 8%, TRUE, 12%)

Explanation:
IFS checks conditions in order and returns the value for the first TRUE condition.
- B2<10000 → 5% (0.05)
- B2<50000 → 8% (0.08) — this only runs if the first condition was FALSE, so it means $10,000–$49,999
- TRUE → 12% (0.12) — the catch-all for anything $50,000 and above

FORMULA FOR D2 (commission amount):
=B2*C2

GOOGLE SHEETS EQUIVALENT FOR C2:
=IFS(B2<10000, 0.05, B2<50000, 0.08, TRUE, 0.12)
Note: Google Sheets doesn't accept percentage literals (5%) in IFS — use decimals (0.05).

OLDER EXCEL (pre-2019) EQUIVALENT FOR C2:
=IF(B2<10000, 5%, IF(B2<50000, 8%, 12%))

CIRCULAR REFERENCE CHECK: None detected.
ARRAY FORMULA NEEDED: No — these are single-cell formulas, copy down column C and D normally.

This output is ready to paste directly into your spreadsheet. The platform notes prevent the most common cross-compatibility mistake.

Permissions & Risks

Required permissions: None (or Files if you share your spreadsheet for layout reference)
Risk level: Low

The skill generates formula text — it doesn’t modify your spreadsheet. The main risks are:

  • Pasting into the wrong cell: A formula designed for C2 that references B2 will produce wrong results if pasted into a different row without adjusting references. The skill uses relative references by default; ask for absolute references ($B$2) if you need the formula to always point to a specific cell.
  • Platform mismatch: Using an Excel formula in Google Sheets (or vice versa) without checking compatibility. Always specify your target platform. The skill will flag functions that don’t exist in your target environment.
  • Circular references: If you ask for a formula that references the cell it’s being placed in, the skill will warn you. Circular references cause Excel to either error or enter an infinite calculation loop depending on your iterative calculation settings.

Troubleshooting

  1. Formula returns #NAME?
    This means Excel or Sheets doesn’t recognize a function name. Common causes: using an Excel 365 function (XLOOKUP, IFS, FILTER) in an older Excel version, or using an Excel function name in Google Sheets. Specify your exact platform version (e.g., “Excel 2016”, “Google Sheets”, “Excel 365”) so the skill generates compatible syntax.

  2. Formula returns #REF! after copying down
    A cell reference in the formula is pointing outside the valid range — usually because a relative reference shifted when you copied the formula. Check whether any references should be absolute ($A$1) rather than relative (A1). Ask the skill to “use absolute references for the lookup table range.”

  3. Array formula only works for the first row
    In Google Sheets, formulas that need to expand across multiple rows require ARRAYFORMULA() wrapping. In Excel, older versions require Ctrl+Shift+Enter instead of just Enter. Specify “I need this to auto-expand for all rows” and the skill will add the appropriate wrapper.

  4. VLOOKUP is returning the wrong value
    The most common VLOOKUP mistake is using TRUE (approximate match) when you need FALSE (exact match). Approximate match requires the lookup column to be sorted ascending — if it isn’t, results are unpredictable. Always use FALSE as the fourth argument unless you specifically need range lookup behavior.

  5. Circular reference warning appears when I enter the formula
    Your formula references its own cell, either directly or through a chain of other cells. The skill can help you restructure the calculation — describe what you’re trying to compute and it will suggest an approach that avoids the cycle.

  6. Formula works in Excel but shows #ERROR! in Google Sheets
    Some Excel functions have no direct equivalent in Google Sheets (IFERROR works in both, but IFNA syntax differs). Paste the formula and the error message into the skill and specify “translate this to Google Sheets.”

Alternatives

  • Excel’s built-in formula suggestions: Excel 365 has an autocomplete that suggests function names and shows argument tooltips as you type. Useful for simple formulas but doesn’t explain why to use one function over another, and doesn’t handle cross-platform translation.
  • FormulaBot: A dedicated AI tool for generating spreadsheet formulas from natural language. Similar capability to this skill for formula generation specifically, with a web interface. Doesn’t provide the broader context of explaining existing formulas or diagnosing errors in your workflow.
  • Microsoft and Google documentation: The official function reference pages (support.microsoft.com and support.google.com) are authoritative and comprehensive. The tradeoff is that they describe what each function does in isolation — they don’t help you figure out which function to use for your specific problem or how to combine them.

Source

See provider documentation for installation and configuration details.

Skills:

  • Data Cleaning — clean and normalize data before building formulas on top of it
  • Competitor Research — build comparison tables and scoring matrices in spreadsheets

Guides:

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