Phase: CreatingAction Day45 minutes

Day 12: Spreadsheets That Calculate

Claude Code creates spreadsheets with working formulas, not just numbers. This means your spreadsheets actually calculate things - add new data and the totals update automatically.

Today's Tasks

  1. 1Ask Claude Code to create an expense tracker
  2. 2Include: Date, Description, Category, Amount columns
  3. 3Add formulas: Total, Category subtotals
  4. 4Open it and verify the formulas work

Prompt to Use

Create an expense tracker spreadsheet (.xlsx) with columns for Date, Description, Category, and Amount. Add 5 sample expenses. Include formulas that calculate the total and show spending by category. Make sure the formulas actually work - I'll test them.

Expected Outcome

A working expense tracker with live formulas.

New Terms

.xlsxFormulaSUMSUMIF

Pro Tip

Ask for "formulas" not "totals". Claude Code will calculate a total for you, but a formula recalculates when you add new data.

Coming Tomorrow

We'll generate PDFs.