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- 🧠 How to Build a 12-Month Rolling Forecast in Seconds With ChatGPT and Excel
🧠 How to Build a 12-Month Rolling Forecast in Seconds With ChatGPT and Excel
Use These AI Prompts to Automate Revenue Forecasting, Spot Trends, and Model Scenarios — No Formulas Required 🧾⚡
☕ Morning! Welcome to The AI+ newsletter that helps you work smarter, faster with more impact, and more importantly stay in the game. 💪
Forecasts used to take hours. Now? Minutes. Upload your historical data (CSV/Excel), and prompt ChatGPT to generate a rolling 12-month forecast, scenario models, or even flag variance issues before your controller does. 💥
Need help getting started?
👉 Grab the AI Prompt Cheatsheet for Forecasting, Budgeting & Variance Analysis (at the end of the newsletter) — your new secret weapon. 💼⚡
Here’s what we have cooked up for you today:
⚡ 1 AI Hack building rolling forecasts models in seconds
🛠️ 3 Free AI Tools for forecasting and budgeting
🧠 1 News Byte What is Bitcoin reserve?
And more…
Let’s break it down 👇
⚡ 1 AI Hack: Forecast in Seconds: Let ChatGPT Handle the Heavy Lifting
Use Case: You’ve got messy Excel data and a CFO who wants a forecast yesterday. You need fast insights, clean charts, and a scenario or two for that budget meeting.
Result: A 12-month rolling forecast (base, best-case, and worst-case) — generated in minutes, not hours — complete with trend analysis and clear next steps..
🧰 What You’ll Need:
Historical data in Excel or CSV (monthly revenue/expenses, ideally 12–24 months)
ChatGPT Pro with Advanced Data Analysis (Code Interpreter)
A few 🔥 prompts (which we’re giving you)
📝 Step-by-Step:
Prepare Your Data:
Ensure your historical financial data is organized in a spreadsheet (Excel or CSV format), covering at least 12–24 months of revenue and expenses.
Access ChatGPT with Advanced Data Analysis:
Use ChatGPT Pro and enable the Advanced Data Analysis (Code Interpreter) feature.Upload Your Data:
Upload your spreadsheet directly into the ChatGPT interface.Prompt ChatGPT
Example prompt below. Just tell ChatGPT as you will with a staff. The more details you provide the more specific the output from ChatGPT is. Ask ChatGPT if it has any additional questions before outputting.
Example Prompt:
Using this monthly revenue data, generate a 12-month rolling forecast with trend and seasonality factored in.
Build a best-case and worst-case forecast based on this historical expense data
Review and Refine:
ChatGPT will provide forecasts, charts, and may even point out anomalies. Review the output and ask follow-up questions or request additional analyses as needed.
🔥Why It’s Awesome:
This hack is great for monthly budget review, board decks, or cash flow planning without the guesswork.
Be sure to download AI Cheatsheet for Forecasting, Budgeting & Variance Analysis at the end of the newsletter 👇️
🛠️ 3 Free AI Tools
What it is: A forecasting-friendly tool with AI-driven modeling.
Why it helps: Build financial scenarios, budget vs. actuals, and visualizations—without complex Excel formulas..
What it is: A free Google Sheets add-on that provides real-time budget forecasts.Why it helps: Simply enter your OpenAI API key, and the add-on processes your data to deliver accurate forecasts.
ChatGPT + Code Interpreter (Advanced Data Analysis)
What it is: Load in your spreadsheet, and ChatGPT will analyze, forecast, chart, and even catch mistakes.Why it helps: Works great with CSVs.
📰 News Byte (Bitcoin Reserve - What is that?)
Have you been reading or hearing all the buzz about Bitcoin Reserve? What the heck is that? And how does it affect you finance pros? 😅
Below is a quick summary you want to know if you haven’t:
What’s a Bitcoin Reserve? 🤔
It’s basically a stash of Bitcoin that governments or companies hold onto as a secret weapon. Why? Here’s the scoop:
Inflation guard 🛡️ — Bitcoin is like digital gold because there’s only so much of it.
Mix it up 🎨 — some folks keep Bitcoin alongside gold and foreign cash to spread out risk.
Money independence 💪 — less relying on traditional fiat currencies.
For example, the U.S. just kicked off a Strategic Bitcoin Reserve using Bitcoin from seizures. Meanwhile, Pakistan is powering up its own reserve with energy for mining and AI data centers. Cool, right?
There are 3 countries officially established a Strategic Bitcoin Reserve: El Salvador in 2021 with 6,105 BTC, Bhutan with 13,029 BTC and United States in March 2025 with 207,000 BTC. There are more countries proposing or debating Strategic Bitcoin Reserves.
📊Here’s a summary overview:
Country | Status | Estimated BTC Holdings | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
United States | Established | ~207,000 BTC | Formed from seized assets; formal reserve established. |
El Salvador | Established | ~6,105 BTC | Integrated into national financial system. |
Bhutan | Established | ~13,029 BTC | Accumulated via state-run mining operations. |
Brazil | Proposed | N/A | Bill under legislative review. |
Russia | Proposed | N/A | Legislative discussions ongoing. |
Japan | Proposed | N/A | Parliamentary discussions initiated. |
Poland | Proposed | N/A | Political advocacy in progress. |
Switzerland | Proposed | N/A | Citizen initiative underway. |
Meanwhile, what’s happening on the corporate front?
🏢 Bitcoin on Corporate Balance Sheets – Who's Holding?
As of May 2025, corporations are warming up to Bitcoin—not just as a bet, but as a strategic treasury reserve. Here's a breakdown of how it's playing out:
Category | Insight |
|---|---|
🧠 Leading Company | Strategy, Inc. (formerly MicroStrategy) – over 580,000 BTC held |
💰 Total Corporate BTC | Estimated ~1 million BTC held globally by corporations |
🌍 Notable Regions | U.S. dominates; others include Canada, Germany, and El Salvador |
📈 Fast Movers | GameStop, Semler Scientific – recent additions (2024–2025) |
⚙️ Common Sectors | Tech, Crypto, Mining, Retail, Medical Devices |
🧾 Accounting Treatment | U.S. GAAP = intangible asset (see our “Accounting Corner” below 👇) |
🔮 Trend to Watch | More S&P 500 entries + FASB’s fair value rules starting 2025–2026 |
🔊 Quick Take:
Corporate Bitcoin adoption is no longer just a MicroStrategy meme. From Tesla to GameStop to Coinbase, companies are starting to treat BTC like a digital gold reserve—despite awkward accounting rules (which are finally changing, thank Satoshi).
Expect to see more CFOs testing the waters as regulatory clarity improves and inflation fears persist.
Time to level up your knowledge and lead the conversation. 😀
💼 Accounting for Bitcoin on the Balance Sheet
(a.k.a. why your BTC gains are invisible)
Under current U.S. GAAP, Bitcoin is classified as an intangible asset with an indefinite life—not cash, not inventory, and definitely not marked-to-market. Here's how it plays out:
📊 What Happens | 🧾 Accounting Treatment |
|---|---|
You buy BTC | Record it at cost |
Price drops 📉 | Impairment loss hits the income statement (no forgiveness!) |
Price goes back up 📈 | No write-up allowed—you’re stuck unless you sell |
You sell BTC | Realized gain finally hits your books |
In short: You can lose on paper, but you can’t win—until you sell. Brutal.
💡 BUT... big change coming:
Starting in 2025 (or 2026 depending on adoption), FASB's new rules will allow fair value accounting. That means unrealized gains will show up on the income statement. Finally. 🎉
📰 What’s Happening
📉 Why Forecasts Often Miss the Mark
An analysis of why economic forecasts, including those by the Fed, have been off, emphasizing the need for adaptable models.
Read on MarketWatch
🤖 AI’s Role in the Future of FP&A
This Gartner breakdown explores how AI is changing forecasting, budgeting, and decision-making.
Explore here
📊 Financial Modeling Best Practices (2025 Edition)
A modern guide with tips for blending Excel, AI tools, and real-world strategy.
Check it out here
Meme Corner 😂
Glad that you’re with me this far. 😄
AI isn't replacing your finance brain — it’s supercharging it. Forecasting, budgeting, variance analysis? You still run the show. AI just sharpens your tools, kills your busywork, and makes you look like a wizard in meetings.
Plus, we drop quick news byte so you stay sharp and ahead of the game! 💪
🔥 Want the prompts that do the heavy lifting?
Download the free AI Cheat sheet here. 👇️
💌 Know a finance pro who’d love this? Forward it their way — AI’s better with friends.
Until next week —
Keep automating smart. 😄
Chief Nerd
P.S.💡 Want 100+ categorized prompts for budgeting, saving, and investing with AI?
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