As of 13 August 2026, AI can compare this year's business data with last year's.
This still needs a person who signs their name to it.
Can you do it?
5 minutesto a draft.
30 minutesto something you’d act on.
Cost, all in£0
Skill neededchat-fluent
Who has to check ityou
What the alternative costsAkkio is a no-code AI analytics and prediction tool for business data, but the supplied information gives no price for it.
If this goes wrong: you compare periods that are not like for like and make a poor staffing, stock, sales or spending decision.
What to actually do
Hand it to a person
The route this page recommends
A person who owns the outcome does this end to end, worth it when the failure is dear.
Use a tool built for this
Second choiceDo it yourself
The distant thirdA chat interface, chat-fluent skill, and roughly 30 minutes until you can act on the result.
How to actually do it
- Open the reporting, accounting, sales or finance system that contains the figures and export this year's data and last year's comparable data using the same columns, categories, currency and reporting period.
- Rename the files clearly as [CURRENT PERIOD] and [PREVIOUS COMPARABLE PERIOD], then remove unrelated sheets while retaining the original figures and column headings.
- Open an AI data-analysis tool such as Julius and upload both files, stating whether this year's data covers a full period or is still partial.
- Paste the supplied prompt and specify the measures and breakdowns that matter to your business, such as revenue, units sold, gross margin, costs, department or region.
- Check the tool's reported date ranges, currencies, units, row counts and totals against the two original exports before relying on any comparison.
- Recalculate the headline absolute and percentage changes in the source spreadsheet and investigate every flagged mismatch, missing category, duplicate or incomplete period.
- Send the checked table and charts to the relevant colleague or decision-maker with the source files and a note separating confirmed movements from possible explanations.
Prompt
Compare the two attached business data files: [CURRENT PERIOD] and [PREVIOUS COMPARABLE PERIOD]. Treat the current period as [full year or partial period] and make the comparison like for like. Use only figures present in the files and do not invent, estimate or silently correct any values. First inspect the column names, date ranges, currencies, units and missing values. Report any mismatch that could make the comparison unreliable. Then produce: 1) a summary table showing the total and absolute change for each relevant metric, 2) the percentage change only where the denominator is present and meaningful, 3) a breakdown by [department, product, region or other category], 4) the largest increases and decreases, 5) charts that clearly label the periods and units, and 6) a plain-English explanation of the main movements. Distinguish confirmed changes from possible explanations. Do not claim why a number changed unless the data supports it. Flag incomplete periods, duplicate rows, inconsistent categories, missing values and any result that needs a human check. Show the calculation used for every headline change so I can compare it with the source files.
Open it prefilled in ChatGPT or Claude, or copy it into Gemini, which takes no prefill link.
What it gets wrong
- AI cannot know whether two categories, accounting treatments or reporting periods are genuinely comparable unless you tell it.
- AI cannot establish the business reason for a change from figures alone, so its explanations remain hypotheses unless supported by other records.
- AI can miss duplicated rows, changed definitions and partial-period effects while presenting the result in a tidy table.
- AI cannot decide which movement matters commercially or whether the comparison supports a staffing, pricing or investment decision.
- AI cannot replace your source-system controls, finance review or approval process.
Even on a YES, the friction has a name: context depth, judgement under ambiguity and verification cost.
How we scored this
Five axes, each scored nought to two by hand: ten means AI carries the task cleanly, and the thresholds that turn a total into YES, PARTLY or NO are published in the methodology. Each axis name links to its definition.
| Axis | Score (0–2) |
|---|---|
| Output | 2 |
| Inputs | 2 |
| Verification | 1 |
| Liability | 2 |
| Effort delta | 2 |
| Total | 9 / 10 |
The methodology and its thresholds are published in full.
FAQ
- Can ChatGPT compare two years of business data?
- Yes. Upload two clean exports and ask it to align the periods, calculate absolute and percentage changes, identify large movements and show the calculations. Check the totals, definitions and date ranges against the original reports before using the result.
- Can AI compare Excel spreadsheets?
- Yes, provided the spreadsheets use consistent headings, categories, units and periods. AI can produce comparison tables and charts, but it may not recognise that a renamed category or partial period makes the comparison invalid.
- Can AI explain why my business performance changed?
- It can identify patterns and suggest possible explanations from the data. It cannot confirm the cause without supporting information such as pricing changes, customer records, staffing data or operational notes.
- How do I check an AI comparison of business data?
- Compare its totals, row counts, date ranges and categories with the original exports, then recalculate the headline changes in a spreadsheet. Ask a colleague with knowledge of your reporting definitions to check unusual movements before decisions are made.
Nearby answers
Assessed by gpt-5.6-luna (gpt-5.6-luna) on 2026-08-13, second-checked by an independent model. Wrong somewhere? Email [email protected] and it gets re-checked.
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