I’m always on the lookout for tools that can streamline financial analysis and provide valuable insights. One such tool that has caught my attention is ChatGPT’s data analysis features. In this blog post, I’ll explore how these features can be applied in day-to-day financial analysis and provide a comparison with PowerQuery’s data cleaning capabilities.

Data Cleaning with ChatGPT

Data cleaning is a crucial step in any analysis, as it ensures the accuracy and consistency of the data. ChatGPT’s data cleaning feature is a powerful tool that can save significant time and effort. To clean a dataset, you can provide the following prompt:

Here is my dataset [upload or paste dataset]. Please perform the following data cleaning tasks:

• Remove any duplicate rows
• Handle missing values (e.g., replace with mean, median, or drop rows)
• Ensure consistent formatting (e.g., date formats, capitalization)
• Identify and correct any obvious errors or inconsistencies

ChatGPT will then analyze the dataset and provide a cleaned version, along with a summary of the actions taken. This cleaned dataset can be downloaded and used for further analysis.

In comparison, PowerQuery’s data cleaning capabilities are also robust, but they require more manual effort. You need to create a series of steps to transform the data, such as removing duplicates, handling missing values, and formatting columns. While this provides more control over the cleaning process, it can be time-consuming, especially for large datasets. One other big advantage of PowerQuery is the ability to create a standardized process for a workflow that you repeat frequently using a standardized input of data that always needs the same reformatting. Quickbooks reports are a good example of a situation where you might create a permanent solution with PowerQuery.

Data Visualization with ChatGPT

Once the data is cleaned, ChatGPT can generate various visualizations to help identify trends and patterns. For example, to create a line chart showing revenue over time, you can use the following prompt:

Create a line chart showcasing the revenue for each month in the dataset.

ChatGPT will generate an interactive line chart that you can download or embed in your analysis. You can also request additional visualizations, such as scatter plots or bar charts, by modifying the prompt accordingly.

Example: Analyzing Social Media Impact on Revenue

Let’s consider a scenario where you want to analyze the impact of social media posts on revenue for a company. You have a dataset containing monthly revenue figures and the number of social media posts.

To clean the data, you can use the following prompt:

Here is my dataset [upload or paste dataset]. Please perform the following data cleaning tasks:

• Ensure consistent capitalization for column names
• Convert revenue values to a consistent currency format
• Handle any missing values by replacing them with the median value

After cleaning the data, you can create a dual-axis line chart to visualize the relationship between revenue and social media posts:

Create a dual-axis line chart with revenue on the primary y-axis and social media posts on the secondary y-axis. Plot both lines on the same chart to visualize any potential correlation.

This visualization can help identify patterns, such as periods where an increase in social media posts coincided with higher revenue, or vice versa.

ChatGPT’s data analysis features offer a powerful and efficient way to clean and visualize financial data. By leveraging these capabilities, you can streamline your analysis process and gain valuable insights into your organization’s financial performance. I have used this mainly for ad hoc analysis where I need some quick answers that I can snip and drop in an email or a chat application. For more sophisticated reporting, I try to create permanent workflows that I can use over and over again as I described above or better yet leverage a 3rd party application that does the work perfectly.

About me
As a CFO, I’ve navigated complex financial landscapes to drive growth and maximize shareholder value for companies. My expertise in analytics and data science enables me to deliver actionable insights that shape strategic decision-making. Connect with me on LinkedIn to discuss how my Fractional CFO expertise can support your company’s growth trajectory with CFO PRO+Analytics.