Where the money goes: spend by category and by analytical axis, without a pivot table

The problem

"Where does the money go?" is the first question an FP&A analyst gets, and the answer usually starts with an export and a pivot table by category.

The Spendesk MCP can give that breakdown directly. There is one thing to know first: spend has no "category" dimension of its own. Categories come out in the same list as every other analytical axis — regions, projects, whatever your company has set up. Read that list as is and the figures add up to more than you spent.

The exchanges below are reconstructed from tests run on a Spendesk demo account on 5 October 2026. The wording is rewritten for readability; the figures and outcomes are the ones the tools returned.

Spend by category, with a check that it reconciles

Two things happened behind this answer. The assistant first fetched the list of categories, then kept only the rows that matched them. And it recomputed each share on the real total, rather than reusing the percentages returned with the rows.

Why the list cannot be read as is

The list does not say which axis each row belongs to. The only reliable way to isolate one is to fetch that axis's values first and filter on them.

Spend by region, and what is not allocated

The unallocated share is often the most useful line. It is the total minus what the axis explains, and no tool returns it directly. Treat it as an estimate: rows add up expense lines while the total counts each expense once, so the two can differ slightly even when everything is allocated.

What to know

• Role required. The Spendesk MCP can only be used by a Controller or an Account Owner of the company concerned. With any other role, these requests do not work.
• Amounts include VAT and follow the document date, not the accounting date.
• Credit notes are netted off, so a category can be lower than its gross invoices.
• 366 days at most per request. For a longer history, the assistant runs several periods and combines them only when all have succeeded.
• Ask for enough rows. By default only the ten largest rows come back and the rest is grouped as "Others"; with several axes mixed in one list, the category you want can be in there.
• No budget. For a variance against budget by category, give the assistant the budget figures.
• Categories are employee-facing labels, not accounting accounts.

Key takeaways

• There is no "category" dimension: categories and every custom analytical field come back in one mixed list (cost centers have their own grouping)
• Isolate an axis by fetching its values first, then keeping only those rows
• Check the total: for categories on this account, the rows matched the total to the cent
• The share not allocated to an axis is the total minus what the axis explains
• Two skills do this in order: See where the money goes by category and Analyse spend by project or region