Short answer: Yes — as of October 2026, Claude writes Google Sheets formulas natively from the Claude sidebar inside Sheets. You describe what you want in plain English, Claude writes the formula and places it. Works for simple arithmetic, nested IFs, pivot tables, native charts, and even data cleaning in Python. All paid Claude plans.
Short version: Claude now lives inside Google Sheets as a sidebar (launched 6 October 2026 as part of Claude for Google Workspace). You describe the formula you want in plain English, Claude writes it and places it in the right cell. No formula syntax required.
This guide walks through what Claude can do in Sheets, how to install it, and seven real UK business formulas you can copy and paste as prompts right now.
What Claude can do in Google Sheets
- Write formulas from plain English — and place them in the right cells
- Build pivot tables — describe the view, Claude configures it
- Create native Sheets charts — bar, line, pie, scatter, with the formatting right
- Add new tabs for dashboards, summaries, or filtered views
- Clean messy data in Python — standardise dates, deduplicate, trim whitespace, normalise names
- Answer questions about your data — "what's the pattern in column G over the last 6 months?"
How to install it
- Open any Google Sheet
- Extensions menu → Add-ons → Get add-ons → search "Claude"
- Install, sign in with your paid Claude account
- Open the sidebar: Extensions → Claude → Open
One install covers Docs, Sheets, and Slides. Needs a paid Claude plan (Pro, Team, or Enterprise).
7 real UK business formulas Claude writes well
1. Tiered commission calculation
Prompt: "In column G, write a formula that applies this commission structure to the deal value in column F: 5% on the first £5,000, 7.5% on the next £5,000, 10% above that. Return the total commission."
2. VAT reconciliation
Prompt: "In column H, calculate the VAT amount at 20% from the gross figure in column G (figure is VAT-inclusive). In column I, show the net figure after VAT. Format both as currency."
3. Days-overdue flag
Prompt: "In column F, write a formula that returns 'Chase' if the invoice date in column C is more than 30 days ago AND the status in column E is 'Open'. Otherwise return 'OK'."
4. Property yield calculation
Prompt: "In column G, calculate gross rental yield: (monthly rent in column D × 12) / property value in column E. Format as percentage with 2 decimal places."
5. Pivot table of sales by rep by month
Prompt: "Add a new tab called 'Rep Summary'. Build a pivot table with sales reps as rows, months as columns, and total deal value as the metric. Add a totals row and column."
6. Variance analysis against budget
Prompt: "In column H, calculate the % variance of actual (column F) vs budget (column G). In column I, return 'Over' if variance exceeds +10%, 'Under' if less than -10%, otherwise 'On track'. Format column H as a percentage with conditional red formatting for negatives."
7. Clean a messy data import
Prompt: "Columns A through D have messy supplier data. Clean it: dates to DD/MM/YYYY format, company names to Title Case, trim whitespace throughout, remove exact-match duplicate rows. Put the cleaned data in a new tab called 'Clean'."
What Claude's good at vs where you still need to double-check
Claude is excellent at: standard formula logic, nested IFs, VLOOKUP/INDEX-MATCH, pivot table setup, chart configuration, date arithmetic, text manipulation, basic financial calculations.
Where to double-check Claude: complex array formulas, very long chained logic, anything involving absolute vs relative cell references in a tricky way, formulas that will be dragged across hundreds of rows (test on one row first).
Non-negotiable rule: for anything that affects money (commission, pricing, invoicing, management accounts) — always test the formula on a known-answer case before trusting it across the whole sheet. Claude is good; it's not infallible.
Which Claude plans include this?
All paid plans — Claude Pro (£16/mo), Team, and Enterprise. The free tier doesn’t include the Workspace integration. If you’re currently on free Claude and spending hours in Sheets, upgrading to Pro pays back in week one.
How does this compare to just writing formulas yourself or Googling them?
Faster than Googling: you don’t have to translate "I want X" into search terms, then interpret five Stack Overflow answers. You describe the outcome; Claude writes the formula.
Faster than writing them yourself: especially for nested IFs, pivot setup, or anything involving multiple columns and conditions.
What Claude doesn’t replace: understanding what the formula is doing. For a one-off calculation, trust Claude and move on. For a formula that will live in your sheet for years and drive important decisions, read what Claude wrote and make sure it does what you expected.