Quick start

In just a few minutes, you can set up a live API for your own Excel model that you can use in Claude, Zapier, Make.com, Power Automate or a web app. To get the full picture of everything AccessEXL can do, ask the .

Not sure where to start? Download the example workbook below and follow along with it — it's referenced throughout this guide, and lets you try the whole flow end to end before touching your own model.

Example workbook

A real financial model with the APIConfigTable already set up, mixing writable inputs (loan amount, interest rate, WACC) with read-only outputs (NPV, IRR, cash flow).

Download example workbook (.xlsx)

It is also on the Downloads page, alongside templates for Make.com, Power Automate and n8n (sign-in required).

What you're setting up

AccessEXL connects one specific Excel workbook (locked away in your organisation's SharePoint) to a controlled API. Once connected, tools like Claude, Zapier, Make.com, or your own web app can read and update the named ranges you specify in that workbook and trigger a real recalculation, without anyone touching the file directly or having to open it. The example workbook above already has this set up, so you can see exactly what "connected" looks like before configuring your own model.

0. Sign up

Sign up with your work email and get started immediately, there's no waitlist. The first person from your company creates your organisation automatically and becomes its admin. Anyone else who signs up later with the same work email domain is added to it automatically too, with no invitation to accept and normally no approval needed either (an admin only needs to approve a join if accepting it would push the organisation onto a higher billing tier). A work email is required: accounts created with a personal address (Gmail, Outlook.com, etc.) are removed automatically, so use your company email.

Once you're in, an org admin lands on the Connected Workbooks dashboard. If you haven't already, grab the example workbook now so it's ready for the next two steps.

1. Prepare your workbook

AccessEXL reads a table named APIConfigTable in your workbook to know which named ranges to expose. The quickest way to create it is to let an AI assistant do it for you:

Ask an AI assistant to prepare your APIConfigTable

Paste this prompt into Copilot or Claude inside Excel.

This is an Excel workbook I want to connect to AccessEXL. Inspect the workbook and create its AccessEXL API configuration.

AccessEXL requires a real Excel Table named exactly `APIConfigTable`, with one row for each named range that should be available through the API. Please do the following:

1. Review the workbook's sheets, formulas, existing Excel tables, defined names, input cells, outputs and data validation. Identify the useful inputs someone might change to run a calculation or scenario, and the useful results they would want to read. Be selective: do not expose every named range, internal calculation or confidential field by default.
2. Use existing defined names where suitable. If an important input or output has no defined name and its location is unambiguous, create a clear, unique name for it without changing its value or formula. Do not guess when its purpose or location is unclear. If the workbook doesn't contain any suitable range names, suggest these so the user can create them and explain your reasons. Give them guidance on doing this also.
3. Create a sheet called `_APIConfig` if one does not already exist. On it, create an actual Excel Table, not just formatted cells, named exactly `APIConfigTable`. Use these column headers, in this order:
   `RangeName`, `DisplayName`, `Direction`, `Type`, `Min`, `Max`, `ValidationRangeName`, `Description`.
4. Add one row per selected named range. `RangeName` must exactly match a defined name in this workbook and each range name must not appear twice.
5. Set `Direction` to:
   - `read` for a result that can be returned but must not be changed through the API;
   - `write` for an input that can be changed and read back;
   - `write-only` only if there is a specific reason the input must never be returned. Explain any use of `write-only` in your summary.
   A `write` range is already readable, so do not add a second `read` row for the same name.
6. For writable rows, set `Type` to `float`, `int` or `text` based on the value Excel actually stores. For example, a percentage stored as 0.08 is a `float`, even if Excel displays it as 8%. Leave `Type` blank for read-only rows.
7. Use `Min` and `Max` only when the workbook's existing validation or clearly documented business rules support those bounds. Use `ValidationRangeName` only when an existing or clearly identifiable named range contains the permitted values for that input. Leave these fields blank rather than inventing restrictions.
8. Give each row a clear `DisplayName` and a concise `Description` explaining what the input controls or what the output measures. Include units, currency, time period and percentage conventions where relevant. Write descriptions that would help an AI assistant choose the right input and interpret the result.
9. Preserve all existing formulas, values, formatting and workbook behaviour. If `APIConfigTable` already exists, improve it in place and avoid duplicate rows rather than creating another table.
10. Check that the finished table has at least one row, all listed `RangeName` values exist, each direction and writable type is valid, and the Excel Table's actual name is `APIConfigTable`.

Make the changes you can confidently make now. Then report: which inputs and outputs you exposed; any defined names you created; anything you deliberately left out; and any ambiguous cells or limitations that need my decision. If your Excel integration cannot create defined names or rename an Excel Table, prepare the configuration on `_APIConfig` and tell me the precise manual steps still needed. Do not claim the setup is complete unless it is a real Excel Table with the correct name.

Using the example workbook? It already has this set up — open it and look at the _APIConfig sheet to see a real APIConfigTable filled in, then skip straight to step 2.

Set up the table manually instead

Add one table to your workbook named exactly APIConfigTable (Insert → Table, then rename it in the Table Design tab). It needs these columns:

Column	What goes in it
`RangeName`	The exact name of a named range in your workbook (Formulas → Name Manager)
`Direction`	`read`, `write` (writable and readable), or `write-only`
`Type`	`float`, `int`, or `text` (for writable ranges)

That's the minimum to get started. Min/Max/ValidationRangeName/DisplayName/Description are optional columns (ask the for details), worth adding once you're past this quick start.

For example, a simple model with one input and one output:

RangeName	Direction	Type
Growth_Rate	write	float
Total_Revenue	read	float

2. Connect the workbook

AccessEXL connects to a workbook already sitting in your organisation's SharePoint, it can't connect to a file on your own computer. Before you start the steps below, upload your workbook (the example workbook, or your own) to a SharePoint site or OneDrive folder you have access to.

From the dashboard, click Connect your first workbook (either button does the same thing).
Sign in with the Microsoft account that has access to the workbook's SharePoint site.
Pick the workbook you just uploaded from the picker that opens.
AccessEXL reads your APIConfigTable and shows you how many writable and readable ranges it found. If it says zero, double-check the table name and column headers match exactly.

If your organisation has disabled individual Microsoft consent (common for larger/ regulated organisations), you'll see a link your IT admin can use to approve access once, tenant-wide; ask the if that happens.

3. Save your API key

Right after connecting, your workbook's API key is shown once. Copy it somewhere safe now and treat it like a password. If you lose it, an org admin can add a new key for the same workbook from the dashboard at any time, and revoke the lost one independently (only that key stops working, any others keep going). This works the same way whether you connected the example workbook or your own.

4. Try it

Pick whichever fits what you're doing right now:

Talk to it from Claude: see connecting Claude.
Connect it to Zapier: a native integration — paste your API key directly into Zapier, no HTTP setup required. See Integration API Keys.
Wire it into Make.com, Power Automate or n8n: these call the REST API directly with your API key in a header. Power Automate needs a Premium subscription for its HTTP connector; without one, use Make.com or n8n. See Integration API Keys.
Call it directly:
```
curl https://api.accessanalytic.com.au/schema \
  -H "X-Api-Key: <your workbook's API key>"
```
which returns every writable and readable range AccessEXL found in your workbook (with the example workbook, you'll see ranges like AssmWACC and V_NPV).

Where to go next

The can answer questions about workbook configuration, integrations, billing, admin tools, and troubleshooting once your first connection is working. The example workbook above stays available here if you want to come back to it later.