How to use the formula explainer
- Paste a formula into the box. The equals sign is optional, and line breaks are fine.
- Read the breakdown. Each function shows what it does, each argument shows its role, and each reference shows what kind of cell or range it is.
- Read Things to check: the patterns that put wrong prices in quoting workbooks without showing an error.
- For a written explanation, type what the cells hold in the second box, then select Explain with AI.
The breakdown updates as you type. A formula written with semicolons between the arguments, instead of commas, is read too.
What the breakdown shows
- Functions. Each is described from a glossary of 117 functions that quoting and pricing workbooks use, from lookups and rounding to conditional sums, text, and dates.
- Arguments. Each value a function receives is labelled with its role, such as "value to find" or "column number to return" for VLOOKUP.
- References. Cells, ranges, whole columns, defined names, table columns, other sheets, and other workbooks are listed by kind, with the size of each range.
- Checks. The tool flags approximate lookups, errors hidden behind a fixed value, and numbers typed into the formula. It also flags volatile functions, whole-column references, links to other workbooks, and #REF! errors.
The parser is the one the Excel builder map uses to read whole workbooks. It follows Excel's order of operations, so the tree shows which part Excel works out first.
The checks are fixed rules, so the same formula always gets the same flags. Explain with AI reads the formula as a whole. It can point out what the rules miss, such as a division by a cell that can be empty.
A worked example
The example in the box prices one line of a quote:
=IFERROR(VLOOKUP(B4,Prices!$A$2:$D$200,3,FALSE),0)*Qty*(1+Markup)
The breakdown finds 2 functions and 4 references. IFERROR wraps a VLOOKUP that looks for the part number in B4 in the first column of Prices!$A$2:$D$200. That range is 199 rows by 4 columns, and the lookup returns its third column. Qty and Markup are defined names, so their values live elsewhere in the workbook.
It flags one thing to check. IFERROR returns 0 when the lookup fails, so a part missing from the price list prices at zero, and the quote still looks complete. Explain with AI uses the context box to describe each input in your terms, such as the supplier price list and the markup on cost.
See every rule in your quoting workbook written down
Send ThriveAI the Excel workbook your team quotes from. It comes back as a map of every input, rule, lookup table, and gap, at no charge.
See the free workbook mapThings to check in a pricing formula
These patterns can put a wrong price on a quote without showing an error. Check for them in any formula that prices a line:
- VLOOKUP on approximate match. Microsoft's VLOOKUP page says the function uses an approximate match when its last argument is TRUE or left out. The first column must then be sorted, so use FALSE for part numbers.
- MATCH without 0. With no match type, MATCH finds the largest value less than or equal to the one given, and needs the range in ascending order.
- IFERROR around a lookup. IFERROR returns the value you choose whenever its formula gives an error, including the #N/A of a part that is not in the list.
- Numbers typed into formulas. A markup written as *1.35 never shows up as an input, so a change has to be made formula by formula.
- Volatile functions. Microsoft's recalculation guide lists NOW, TODAY, RANDBETWEEN, OFFSET, and INDIRECT as volatile. A quote that reads TODAY can change between two openings.
XLOOKUP looks for an exact match unless told otherwise, so a part number missing from the list returns #N/A instead of a near match.
What Explain with AI sends, and what happens to it
The breakdown runs in your browser and sends nothing. Explain with AI is the one part of the page that sends text:
- It sends the formula and the context box to ThriveAI's server, which passes them on to Anthropic's API. No other text from the page goes with them. Claude, Anthropic's model, writes the explanation.
- ThriveAI's server keeps none of the text. To hold use to 20 explanations an hour, it counts requests per IP address for one hour.
- Anthropic's commercial terms say that Anthropic may not train models on customer content from its services.
- Anthropic's privacy center says API inputs and outputs are deleted within 30 days. The exceptions include content flagged under its usage policy, and content kept to comply with the law.
Leave confidential details out of the context box, such as a customer's name or a contract price. The formula and plain labels are enough for a useful explanation.
When to use Excel's own tools
Excel has its own ways to follow a formula. Evaluate Formula shows the parts of a nested formula evaluated in the order Excel calculates them. The Watch Window keeps chosen cells and their formulas in view while you work elsewhere in a large sheet. To see where a formula's inputs come from across sheets, trace its precedents.
In Microsoft 365 Apps for enterprise and Office Professional Plus, the Inquire add-in adds a Cell Relationship diagram. It draws the links from a cell to other cells, sheets, and workbooks, as many levels deep as you choose.
How AI explains every formula in a quoting workbook
The explainer reads one formula at a time. A quoting workbook can have hundreds of formulas chained across sheets, and the rules behind a price are spread among them. The first step of ThriveAI's AI CPQ offer covers the whole file. Send the workbook your team quotes from, and it comes back as a map of every input, rule, lookup table, and gap, at no charge. The guide to converting an Excel quoting workbook into a web app covers what happens after the map.