The aim of the study is to develop a software shell that functions in the Excel environment and is used to design applied expert systems. The objectives of the study are to analyze the existing approaches to the development of expert systems for various spheres of economics, science and education. The object of the research is the design and the analysis of engineering projects by students of high schools. The subject of the study is the development of an applied expert system for calculating the cost of design work and a subsystem of cost analysis of the project on the basis of Excel-shell. Particular attention is paid to the creation of knowledge base on the basis of the control example of the ACCORD system. The questions of the adaptation of Excel – the envelope of the expert system in the Google table environment are considered. As an example of the use of the shell, the process of carrying out the laboratory works by students of the university with the use of a mini-expert to calculate the cost of the project work is considered. The results of the study are planned to be generalized in order to implement them in related industries, oriented to the implementation and analysis of design work.