Build financial models with AI in GridOS

Learn how to build DCF, budget, and revenue models in GridOS by chatting with the AI finance agent — no formulas to write by hand.

GridOS routes financial prompts to a dedicated Senior Financial Analyst agent that understands multi-section models, COGS percentages, growth rates, and discounting. You describe the model you want, the agent declares a plan, and then fills each section one step at a time — either interactively (click Apply after each preview) or hands-free using Chain Mode.

Start your model

You have two entry points:

Hero prompt on the landing page

1. Open the landing page

   Navigate to the GridOS landing page at http://127.0.0.1:8000.

2. Describe your model

   Type your model description into the hero prompt field. Be specific — include the time periods, drivers, and growth rates you want.

   Build a 4-quarter revenue forecast with 10% QoQ growth starting from 100
   

   Create a simple DCF model with 5-year projections and a 10% discount rate
   
3. Submit

   Press Enter or click the arrow button. GridOS clears the kernel, opens a fresh workbook, and auto-submits your prompt — you land on a sheet that’s already building.

Open a template

1. Browse templates

   On the landing page, select one of the built-in starters: Simple DCF, Monthly Budget, Break-Even Analysis, Loan Amortization, or Income Statement.

2. Open and extend

   The template pre-populates a structured workbook. Open the chat panel and ask the agent to add or adjust sections:

   Add a sensitivity table showing NPV at discount rates from 8% to 14%
   

How the finance agent plans your model

When you ask for a multi-section build — a DCF, budget, 3-statement model, or any forecast — the agent declares a plan on the first turn before writing any cells. The plan shows you every section it intends to fill, the target cell range, and brief notes.

Create an operating model: revenue, COGS at 40%, gross profit, OpEx, and EBITDA across 4 quarters

The agent responds with a plan like:

Section	Target range	Notes
Header row	B2:F2	Metric, Q1–Q4
Revenue	B3:F3	100 in Q1, 10% QoQ growth
COGS	B4:F4	=MULTIPLY(revenue, 0.4)
Gross Profit	B5:F5	=MINUS(revenue, COGS)
OpEx	B6:F6	Fixed 20 per quarter
EBITDA	B7:F7	=MINUS(gross_profit, OpEx)

On that same first turn it writes the header row. Subsequent turns fill one section at a time. Click Apply after each preview, or use Chain Mode to apply every step automatically.

Column alignment — the most important rule

GridOS models use a labelled layout: the first column holds row labels (text), and data starts one column to the right. The agent enforces this, but it helps to understand why.

Formulas written in the wrong column produce silent errors. A formula like =MULTIPLY(B3, 0.4) in column C of a COGS row references the label cell (“Revenue”), not Q1 revenue, and returns 0.

For a model anchored at column B:

Column	Content
B	Row labels — text, not data
C	Q1 data
D	Q2 data
E	Q3 data
F	Q4 data

The COGS row (anchored at B4) must look like:

B4 = "COGS"
C4 = =MULTIPLY(C3, 0.4)   ← Q1 revenue, correct
D4 = =MULTIPLY(D3, 0.4)   ← Q2 revenue, correct
E4 = =MULTIPLY(E3, 0.4)   ← Q3 revenue, correct
F4 = =MULTIPLY(F3, 0.4)   ← Q4 revenue, correct

If the agent makes a column-alignment mistake, GridOS detects it from the formula observations and tells the agent to retry the section with corrected cell references before moving on.

Common financial formulas

GridOS uses named formula primitives — no infix operators (+, -, *, /) are used in cells. Here are the patterns you’ll see most often:

COGS as a percentage of revenue

=MULTIPLY(C3, 0.4)

COGS at 40% of the revenue value in C3. Replace 0.4 with your margin assumption.

Quarter-over-quarter growth

=MULTIPLY(C3, 1.1)

10% growth over the previous quarter’s value in C3.

Gross profit

=MINUS(C3, C4)

Revenue in C3 minus COGS in C4.

Gross margin percentage

=DIVIDE(MINUS(C3, C4), C3)

This nested call is only valid inside a macro body. In a grid cell, define a MARGIN macro first, then call =MARGIN(C3, C4).

Discounted cash flow

=DIVIDE(C3, MULTIPLY(1.1, 1.1))

Discounting by 10% over two periods. For longer projections, ask the agent to build the full DCF structure with a terminal value row.

Example prompts to try

Build a 4-quarter revenue forecast with 10% QoQ growth starting at 100

Create a simple DCF model with 5 years of free cash flows and a 10% WACC

Add a monthly budget with headcount, salaries, and a variance column vs. actuals

Build an income statement: revenue, COGS, gross profit, SG&A, and net income

Tips for large models

Use Chain Mode

For models with more than four or five sections, enable Chain Mode. The agent auto-applies each section and keeps going until the entire plan is done — no clicking Apply on every step.

Start from a template

Built-in templates give you a correct skeleton to extend. Opening Simple DCF and then asking the agent to add rows is faster than building from a blank sheet.

Define macros for ratios

Ratio formulas like gross margin or EBITDA margin repeat across many rows. Define a macro once and call it from every cell — cleaner and less error-prone.

Lock your assumptions

After entering your base assumptions, right-click the cells and lock them. The AI can’t overwrite locked cells, so your inputs stay safe during subsequent chain runs.