Is it a bad idea to use Excel in a company?

No. It is an excellent tool while the risk is low and one person does the work. It stops being enough when a mistake costs more than it saves, or when several people depend on the same data.

How many rows can a spreadsheet handle?

There is no figure that works as a criterion. The problem is almost never the size of the file: it is that mistakes go unnoticed and everything depends on someone remembering to do it right. That is what to measure.

Which is better, an off-the-shelf tool or custom software?

The off-the-shelf tool, as long as it covers your process with small compromises. Custom software pays off when the process is part of what sets you apart and does not fit into a tool designed for a generic sector.

Can I start by automating and leave custom software for later?

Yes, and that is the usual route. Connecting the tools you already use is the middle step of the ladder. It often solves the problem without reaching the last step, and if you do need to climb it, you will know exactly what the system has to do.

GUIDES

When the spreadsheet stops being enough

A spreadsheet stops being enough when the work depends on someone remembering to do it right and a mistake costs more than the time it saves.

Last updated: 6 October 2026

The short answer

A spreadsheet stops being enough when the work it does depends on one person remembering to do it right, and a mistake costs more than the time it saves.

There is no magic number of rows or users: what changes is the risk.

The four-step ladder

Hardly anyone needs to go straight from the spreadsheet to custom software. There are steps in between, and you should climb only as far as you need to.

1. A well-built spreadsheet: A template with validation, one tab per thing and someone responsible. Move up when two people keep overwriting the same data or the same report is rebuilt every week.
2. An existing tool: Off-the-shelf software that already does what you need: invoicing, appointments, inventory. Move up when data has to be copied by hand from one program to another.
3. Automation between tools: Connecting what you already use so that data travels by itself. Move up when the process is specific to your business and no tool covers it without being forced.
4. A custom module: Software built for that specific process, connected to everything else. It is the last step, not the first.

Five questions to decide in one afternoon

Answer honestly. The more yes answers, the higher up the ladder you are.

Has a mistake in this spreadsheet cost money, a client or an argument?
Does only one person know how it works, and would they be afraid to take a holiday in case something breaks?
Do you copy data by hand from one file or program to another every week?
Do you have to open several files to find one piece of data?
Does every new sign-up, every order or every client mean duplicating work?

If an existing tool covers the process with small compromises, the tool is almost always the better choice.
If the process is still changing every month, automating it too early locks in a mistake.
If nobody is going to maintain it, custom software without maintenance ends up worse than the spreadsheet.

Common mistakes

Automating a process that is already wrong: all you achieve is making the mistakes faster.
Choosing a tool by its feature list and not by the process it has to support.
Migrating the data as it is, without cleaning out duplicates or deciding which version is the right one.
Skipping the ladder and commissioning custom software for something an off-the-shelf tool could have solved.

And the data you already have

Moving from a spreadsheet to a system means migrating data, and it is the part where the work is most underestimated: columns in different formats, duplicates, free-text fields. A good preliminary analysis looks at this before proposing anything.

If you want to see which step you are on

We will tell you plainly, even if the answer is that you need nothing custom.

Custom software: When it pays off and what we deliver
Automation and AI: If there is too much repeated work

Frequently asked questions

Is it a bad idea to use Excel in a company?: No. It is an excellent tool while the risk is low and one person does the work. It stops being enough when a mistake costs more than it saves, or when several people depend on the same data.
How many rows can a spreadsheet handle?: There is no figure that works as a criterion. The problem is almost never the size of the file: it is that mistakes go unnoticed and everything depends on someone remembering to do it right. That is what to measure.
Which is better, an off-the-shelf tool or custom software?: The off-the-shelf tool, as long as it covers your process with small compromises. Custom software pays off when the process is part of what sets you apart and does not fit into a tool designed for a generic sector.
Can I start by automating and leave custom software for later?: Yes, and that is the usual route. Connecting the tools you already use is the middle step of the ladder. It often solves the problem without reaching the last step, and if you do need to climb it, you will know exactly what the system has to do.

Keep reading

What to automate first in a small business: Five tasks a small business usually starts automating with, how to decide the order and when you do not need to program anything or use artificial intelligence.
How much custom software costs and what drives it: What the price of custom software depends on, how to estimate it rigorously and how to compare two proposals without being sold an invented number.

Let’s talk about your case

If you would like to talk through your case, write to us. We will tell you plainly whether a preliminary analysis, something else or nothing at all is the right step. We usually reply in under 24 working hours.

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