Copilot for Edgewell Finance

1. Copilot Foundations

▾

Before we touch any app, let’s get comfortable with the Copilot home base — the chat experience at m365.cloud.microsoft/chat. Everything you’ll see in Outlook, Word, or Excel later is the same brain wearing different hats.

The interface at a glance

🟢 Work vs. Web

Toggle in the top-right. Work grounds answers on Edgewell content. Web uses the open internet only.

📎 Add content

Attach a file, paste a SharePoint link, or reference a meeting as your source of truth.

🎨 Agents

The left rail lists agents you can chat with — including ones we'll build today.

🧠 Memory

Copilot remembers facts about you across conversations — your role, your brands, your preferred format.

Memory — teach Copilot who you are

Memory lets Copilot remember things between chats so you don’t have to re-explain yourself every morning.

In Copilot Chat, click your profile picture (top right) → Settings → Memory & personalization.
Turn Memory on if it isn’t already.
Add a few facts manually, or just chat — Copilot will offer to remember things as they come up.

💬 Try this prompt Please remember the following about me so you can tailor future answers: - I'm on the Edgewell Personal Care Finance team. - I focus on Brand P&L for Schick and Banana Boat, plus retailer profitability for Walmart, Target, and Amazon. - When I ask for analysis, default to a concise executive summary first, then a bullet list of the three most material drivers, then a short table. - Round dollar figures to the nearest hundred thousand and always show variance vs. prior year and vs. plan.

TIP: One-time investment, every future answer gets sharper. Memory works in Copilot Chat and inside Word, Excel, Outlook, and Teams.

Saved Prompts — your personal prompt library

If you find yourself typing the same kind of prompt every Monday, save it once.

Type a prompt in Copilot Chat.
Click the save icon (bookmark) next to the send button — give it a name and an optional description.
Reuse it any time from the Prompts gallery on the right rail.

💬 Saved prompt: "Weekly Brand P&L Pulse" Summarize the most recent emails, Teams messages, and shared files I've received this week related to Schick or Banana Boat brand performance. Group findings by: 1. Volume / shipment trends 2. Trade spend or promotion activity 3. Margin or pricing signals 4. Anything flagged as risk or opportunity Keep each section to 3 bullets max. End with the top 3 follow-ups I should action this week.

2. Outlook — Faster Inbox, Better Replies

▾

Finance inboxes are noisy: retailer chargebacks, accruals questions, AR follow-ups, leadership requests. Copilot in Outlook does two things really well — summarize long threads and draft replies in your voice.

Summarize a long thread

Open any thread in Outlook → click Summary by Copilot at the top of the message.

TIP: Imagine a 14-message thread with the Walmart account team about a $1.2M deduction dispute on Banana Boat SPF 50. Click Summary by Copilot and you’ll get the dispute history, current ask, and the open question — in 30 seconds.

Draft a reply that sounds like you

In any email, click Draft with Copilot in the reply box.

💬 Try this prompt Draft a reply to the Target account team confirming we'll honor the Q2 promotional allowance on the Schick Hydro 5 line at the agreed 8% off-invoice rate, but flag that the $340K incremental display fee they're requesting is outside our trade calendar and needs Brand approval before we can commit. Keep it warm but firm. Sign off with my name.

IMPORTANT: After Copilot drafts, click Adjust → Make it shorter / more formal / more casual. You can also paste in 2–3 of your past emails and ask Copilot to “match my voice” — it picks up on phrasing fast.

Catch up after PTO

💬 Try this prompt I was out Thursday and Friday last week. Summarize the most important emails I received during those two days. Group them by: 1. Things needing my decision or approval 2. FYIs from leadership 3. Retailer or vendor updates I should track Flag anything that mentions Schick, Banana Boat, Walmart, Target, or Amazon as high priority.

3. Teams — Never Miss a Meeting Again

▾

If a meeting was recorded or transcribed, Copilot can recap it in seconds — even ones you didn’t attend.

Recap a meeting you missed

Open the meeting from your Teams calendar (or chat).
Click the Recap tab.
Use the Copilot panel on the right — it’s pre-loaded with the transcript.

💬 Try this prompt I missed today's S&OP review. Give me: - A 4-sentence executive summary - Decisions made (with who owns each) - Open questions that didn't get resolved - Anything specifically said about Schick razor inventory or Banana Boat seasonal build for summer Then list any action items assigned to Finance.

Catch up on a busy chat

In a chat or channel, click the Copilot icon at the top.

💬 Try this prompt Summarize what's been discussed in this channel over the past 7 days. Highlight anything related to month-end close, retailer deductions, or trade spend variance. List unanswered questions at the bottom.

IMPORTANT: Recap requires transcription. If a meeting wasn’t recorded or transcribed, Copilot can’t recap it. Encourage organizers to enable transcription for finance reviews.

4. Word — Draft a Memo in 30 Seconds

▾

Finance writing is often structured: situation → analysis → recommendation. Copilot in Word is great at giving you a strong first draft you can polish.

Draft from a blank doc

In Word, start a new document → click Draft with Copilot.

💬 Try this prompt Draft a 1-page Finance memo to the Edgewell North America leadership team on the following topic: "Q1 Banana Boat margin compression — drivers and proposed actions" Use this structure: 1. Executive Summary (3 sentences) 2. What happened (bullet list with illustrative numbers — gross margin down 220 bps vs. plan, driven by SPF aerosol propellant cost +18% YoY and unfavorable mix toward club channel) 3. Root causes (3 bullets) 4. Recommended actions (3 bullets, each with an owner placeholder) 5. Asks of leadership Tone: confident, data-driven, no jargon. Length: under 400 words.

Reference your own files

Type / in the Copilot box and reference an existing file — Copilot will ground the draft on it.

💬 Try this prompt / [reference: "FY26 Banana Boat Brand Plan.pptx"] Draft a finance commentary memo summarizing the FY26 plan for Banana Boat. Pull the brand's revenue, gross margin, and trade spend targets directly from the deck. Add a section on the top three financial risks and how we'll monitor them.

5. Excel — Talk to Your Data

▾

This is the section your team will reach for daily. Copilot in Excel can analyze, summarize, suggest formulas, and build charts — all in plain English.

TIP: Copilot works best when your data is in a formatted Excel Table (Ctrl+T or Insert → Table). Header row, no merged cells, no blank rows. Two minutes of cleanup unlocks 10× better answers.

Our illustrative dataset

Imagine an Excel workbook called Edgewell_Brand_Retailer_P&L.xlsx with this data:

Brand	Retailer	Net Sales	COGS	Trade Spend	Gross Margin %
Schick	Walmart	$48.2M	$22.4M	$6.1M	41.5%
Schick	Target	$22.7M	$10.8M	$3.4M	40.1%
Schick	Amazon	$31.4M	$15.9M	$2.2M	42.7%
Banana Boat	Walmart	$54.6M	$28.9M	$8.3M	32.0%
Banana Boat	Target	$19.8M	$10.2M	$3.1M	33.8%
Banana Boat	Amazon	$26.5M	$13.8M	$1.6M	41.5%

TIP: Want to follow along? Type these numbers into a fresh sheet, format as a table, then keep this guide open beside Excel.

Prompt 1 — Quick analytical summary

💬 Try this prompt Looking at this brand-by-retailer P&L, give me: 1. The top 3 takeaways an executive should know 2. Which brand-retailer combination has the highest gross margin %, and which has the lowest 3. A theory on why Banana Boat margins at Amazon are so much higher than at Walmart 4. Two follow-up questions I should investigate

Prompt 2 — Add a calculated column

💬 Try this prompt Add a new column called "Net Contribution" calculated as Net Sales – COGS – Trade Spend. Show me the formula you used so I can verify it.

Prompt 3 — Build a chart

💬 Try this prompt Create a clustered column chart comparing Net Sales and Trade Spend for each Brand-Retailer combination. Title it "Brand-Retailer Net Sales vs. Trade Spend". Use a Schick razor red and a Banana Boat orange so it's easy to read.

Prompt 4 — Highlight outliers

💬 Try this prompt Conditionally format the Gross Margin % column so anything below 35% is highlighted red, 35–40% is amber, and above 40% is green.

Prompt 5 — Insight, not just numbers

💬 Try this prompt If I want to lift Banana Boat's overall gross margin by 200 basis points next year, which retailer should I focus on first based on this data, and what specifically would you investigate to build the case? Walk me through your reasoning.

IMPORTANT: Always verify formulas. Copilot is a brilliant assistant, not an auditor. For anything that touches the actuals, double-check formulas before pasting into a real model.

6. PowerPoint — From Memo to Deck in 60 Seconds

▾

Take that Word memo from Section 4 and turn it into a leadership-ready deck.

Generate a deck from a Word doc

Open PowerPoint → New blank presentation.
Click the Copilot icon → Create presentation from file.
Pick the Word memo we drafted earlier.

💬 Try this prompt Create a 6-slide executive presentation from this Word memo on Q1 Banana Boat margin compression. Include: - Title slide with the topic and "Edgewell Finance | Q1 Review" - Executive summary slide (3 takeaways) - A slide showing margin walk drivers with a placeholder for a chart - A slide on root causes - A slide on recommended actions with owners - A closing "Asks of leadership" slide Keep text minimal — at most 4 bullets per slide.

Refine slide by slide

💬 Try this prompt For slide 3, replace the placeholder with a column chart showing margin drivers in this order: Propellant cost (+220 bps drag), Channel mix (+90 bps drag), Pricing actions (-110 bps benefit), Net change (-220 bps).

TIP: Apply your team’s PowerPoint template before generating slides — Copilot will respect your fonts, colors, and slide masters.

7. Loop & Pages — Collaborate, Don't Email

▾

Copilot Pages (in Copilot Chat) and Loop (in Teams) let multiple people co-author with Copilot in real time. Perfect for finance reviews where you’re working through numbers together.

Pages — promote a great answer into a working doc

After Copilot gives you a useful response in chat, click Edit in Pages at the bottom of the response.

💬 Try this prompt Build a Page titled "Schick vs. Banana Boat — Retailer Margin Comparison". Include: 1. A short executive summary 2. A side-by-side table of gross margin % by retailer for both brands 3. A "What we know" section and a "What we need to investigate" section 4. A list of follow-ups with placeholders for owner and due date Make it ready for me to share with the brand finance leads.

Loop — for the live review meeting

In Teams, paste a Loop component (table, task list, or paragraph) into a chat. Everyone edits at once, and Copilot lives right inside it.

TIP: During a brand finance review, share a Loop table with the action items. As the meeting progresses, owners and due dates get filled in by the team in real time — no follow-up email needed.

8. Agent Builder — Your First AI Agent

▾

This is the finale. We’re going to build a Finance Policy Q&A agent — a private assistant trained on your finance policies (T&E, approvals, close calendar, capital request thresholds) that anyone on the team can ask questions of.

TIP: Policy Q&A is the single highest-ROI, lowest-risk first agent for a Finance team. It deflects the same 20 repeat questions (“what’s the T&E limit for client meals?” / “who approves a $50K capex?”) and frees the team for real analysis.

What we’ll build

📥 Inputs

A SharePoint folder with your finance policy PDFs and SOPs.

🧠 Brain

Copilot grounded on those documents, with a clear persona and guardrails.

📤 Output

A chat agent your team can pin in Copilot Chat or share via a link.

Screenshot placeholder — Agent Builder home, "Create new agent" highlighted

Step-by-step build

In Copilot Chat, open the Agents rail on the left → + Create agent.
Click Skip and go to configure (we’ll fill in the structured form ourselves).
Fill in Name, Description, and Instructions (see prompts below).
Under Knowledge, add the SharePoint site or folder containing your finance policies.
Add Starter prompts — the example questions users see when they open the agent.
Test in the right-side preview panel.
Create → share with selected colleagues, or with the whole Finance team.

Screenshot placeholder — Agent Builder configure pane

Field 1 — Name & Description

💬 Name Edgewell Finance Policy Buddy

💬 Description Answers questions about Edgewell finance policies — travel & expense, approval thresholds, the close calendar, capex requests, and procurement guidelines. Always cites the source policy and section.

Field 2 — Instructions (the system prompt)

💬 Instructions You are the Edgewell Finance Policy Buddy — a friendly, precise assistant for the Edgewell Personal Care Finance team. YOUR JOB - Answer policy and process questions using ONLY the documents in your knowledge source. - Always cite the specific policy name and section number you used. - If a question is not covered in your knowledge, say so clearly and suggest who the user should contact (e.g., "This isn't covered in the policies I have access to — please reach out to the Controller's office."). STYLE - Direct, plain-language, no jargon. - Lead with the answer in 1–2 sentences, then the supporting detail. - Use bullet points when listing thresholds or steps. GUARDRAILS - Never invent policy details, dollar amounts, or approval flows. - Never give tax, legal, or audit opinions — direct those to the relevant function. - If a user asks about confidential financial results, decline politely and remind them this agent is for policy questions only. TONE - Helpful, calm, occasionally warm. Think "the Finance colleague everyone wants to sit next to."

Field 3 — Starter prompts

💬 Starter prompts to add 1. What's the T&E limit for client meals in North America? 2. Who approves a capital request between $50K and $250K? 3. When does the FY26 close calendar lock the GL for month-end? 4. What's our policy on accepting gifts from suppliers? 5. How do I submit a vendor onboarding request?

Field 4 — Knowledge sources

TIP: Start narrow. Point the agent at one well-curated SharePoint folder of approved finance policies. Don’t dump the whole Finance site in there on day one — quality of sources directly drives quality of answers.

Suggested sources to add:

📁 SharePoint: /Finance/Policies/T&E 📁 SharePoint: /Finance/Policies/Approvals 📁 SharePoint: /Finance/Close/CloseCalendar.xlsx 📁 SharePoint: /Finance/Policies/Procurement

Test it before you ship

In the preview pane on the right, try the starter prompts plus a few edge cases:

💬 Test cases to run 1. A clear, in-scope question: "What's the daily T&E limit for client dinners in the US?" 2. A question on the edge of policy: "If I take a $400K project to my VP, do I still need CFO approval?" 3. An out-of-scope question (should politely decline): "What was Schick's gross margin last quarter?" 4. A trick question (should not invent an answer): "What's the policy on accepting NFTs as supplier gifts?"

IMPORTANT: Pilot before broadcasting. Share with 3–5 colleagues for a week. Collect their feedback inside the agent’s chat history. Refine the instructions and knowledge sources before opening it up to the whole team.

Where this can go next

🧾 Variance Commentary Helper

Drafts month-end variance narratives in your team's voice and format.

📋 Retailer Deduction Triage

Classifies incoming retailer deductions and routes to the right analyst.

📅 Close Calendar Concierge

Knows every deadline, every owner, every dependency in your monthly close.

9. Wrap-up & Next Steps

▾

Three things to do this week

Set up Memory. 5 minutes. Pays back forever. Use the prompt in Section 1.
Save 2 prompts you’ll reuse — one for inbox triage, one for Excel analysis.
Pilot the Finance Policy Buddy agent with 3 colleagues before sharing broadly.

What’s coming in the deeper sessions

📊 Variance analysis deep-dive 🏷️ Trade spend & promo ROI 🤖 Building your second & third agents 🔐 Governance & responsible AI

Resources

🎓 Microsoft Copilot Learning Hub
📚 Prompt Library — official starter prompts
🛠️ Agent Builder docs
📝 Erik’s prior demo guides:

Back to Index

🪒 Copilot for Edgewell Finance