Seven signs
1. There is more than one version
"Jobs FINAL v3 (Sam's copy).xlsx" is a warning sign. When copies multiply, nobody can be sure which one is right, and decisions get made on old information.
2. People overwrite each other
Shared spreadsheets work until two people edit the same rows at once, or someone sorts one column and not the others.
3. Everyone can see everything
A spreadsheet gives the same access to everyone who opens it. If it holds personal data such as customers' addresses or staff details, UK GDPR expects you to limit who can see it.
4. The same details are typed in again and again
If information from a form is retyped into a sheet, then into an invoice, then into an email, each copy is another chance for a mistake.
5. Reports take hours
When producing a weekly summary means filtering, copying and checking by hand, the figures are always late and rarely trusted.
6. It only works because of one person
If one colleague is the only person who understands the formulas, the business has a single point of failure.
7. It is slow, fragile or both
Large sheets full of lookups slow to a crawl, and one deleted cell can break a formula nobody notices for weeks.
What to do instead
There are three broad options, and the right one depends on how standard your process is.
- Off-the-shelf software is the quickest and cheapest route when your process is common, such as bookkeeping or rotas. Try it first.
- A no-code tool can work for simple internal lists and forms, though costs per user can climb and complex rules get awkward.
- A custom business application makes sense when your process is what makes you different, when off-the-shelf tools force workarounds, or when you need precise control over who sees what.
How to decide
Write down the three jobs the spreadsheet does most often and who does them. If an off-the-shelf product does all three well, use it. If every product you try needs a workaround for something important, that is the case for a tool built around how you work.