When to replace a spreadsheet with an app
Excel is a good tool, and many companies run on it for years without trouble. Problems start when a spreadsheet becomes the place where several people run the business at once: orders, stock, work orders or service calls.
Signs the spreadsheet has outgrown you
- The same data gets copied to two or three places, say from an email into the spreadsheet and then into the accounting program.
- There are several versions of the same file and nobody is sure which one is current.
- Only one person knows how the spreadsheet works, and when they are on holiday, work stops.
- Someone spends a day or two each month adding up numbers from several files for a report.
- You cannot see who changed a value or when.
If two or three of these sound familiar, it is worth at least working out how much time goes into copying data and fixing mistakes.
What an app gives you
A web app keeps the data in one place. Everyone sees the same state, and each piece of data is entered once. You decide who can see and change what, and every change is recorded. Reports come from the same data, with no manual adding up.
The app also works on a phone, so people in the field enter data on the spot instead of bringing it back on paper.
When to stay with Excel
If one person uses the spreadsheet, the data rarely changes and mistakes do not cost you much, you probably do not need an app. Sometimes an off-the-shelf program is also cheaper than custom work. We tell you that openly in the free analysis.
How to start
You do not have to move everything at once. Pick the one process that costs you the most and build an app just for that. Run the old and the new records side by side for a while, and once the numbers match, move on to the next process.
If you want us to look at your case together, write to mulit.dev@gmail.com or call +387 61 700 933. The analysis takes up to two hours and is free.