Discovery is free: a 15-minute call with Jason, then a 30–60 minute technical session with Jason and Ben. We send the proposal after that session, and you approve the estimate before the build starts.

File: Guide · spreadsheets
Rate: $180 / hour · ex GST · build work
Based: Brisbane and Emerald, Queensland · working across Australia

Replace spreadsheetswith custom software.

A spreadsheet is a good list. It is a poor system once several people depend on it, the same figures are typed twice, or one person is afraid to change the file. This guide is for that point.

Request a 15-minute callor write to hello@rendrweb.com

FILE 01 · BEYOND

When is it time to move beyond spreadsheets, and what should replace them?

It is time when the spreadsheet is the system: the same data is typed into several places, reports are rebuilt by hand, or one file only one person understands. A spreadsheet is still fine for a list one person keeps. Rendr replaces the process that has outgrown the file with a custom system, then hosts and supports it.

Still a spreadsheet

Detail: One person keeps a list or a calculation, and nobody else is waiting on it.

Now a system

Detail: Several people depend on the file, or the same information is typed into another tool. Hand-offs like that can be built into custom business software.

FILE 02 · SIGNS

How do I know my business has outgrown Excel or spreadsheets?

Look for the same figures typed into more than one place, a report someone rebuilds before it can be used, or a file so fragile that only one person will change it. Any one of those means the workbook is carrying a process. That is the point to consider software built around the work, not another copy of the file.

Typed twice

Detail: The job, the customer or the figure exists in the workbook and again in another system.

Rebuilt by hand

Detail: Someone exports, reconciles and rebuilds the same report before it can be used.

One owner of the file

Detail: If that person is away, the process stops. The file has become a private system.

FILE 03 · REPLACE

What should replace a spreadsheet?

Replace it with a system that follows the process the spreadsheet was holding. Rendr builds that system, with reporting included, then hosts and supports it. A simple list one person maintains can stay a spreadsheet.

The custom system

Detail: The offer for complete systems built around the business is on services. Where a product still fits, the new system can connect to it.

How far to go

Detail: A workbook is often the first sign the business has outgrown its software. The wider choice is in small business ERP vs custom development.

FILE 04 · SCOPE

What does sensible modernisation look like for a small business?

Sensible modernisation starts with the process that hurts most and builds toward one complete system in phases. Rendr scopes that process in a free 15-minute call with Jason, then a free 30–60 minute technical session with Jason and Ben, then a proposal you approve before the build. Build work is $180 an hour, ex GST, time and materials.

One process first

Detail: Pick the workbook people are afraid to break. Leave the lists that are still simple.

How it starts

Detail: Discovery is free: a 15-minute call with Jason, then a 30–60 minute technical session with Jason and Ben. We send the proposal after that session, and you approve the estimate before the build starts. Use the contact form.

FILE 05 · EXCEL

How do you move from Excel to a web app?

Write down the process the workbook is doing, build a web system around that process, and bring the current data across. Rendr does that as a custom system, then hosts and supports it. A spreadsheet that one person uses for a simple list can stay a spreadsheet.

Excel to web app

Detail: The new system follows the steps people already take. It is not a grid of every old cell.

The wider choice

Detail: If the real question is product versus build, read custom software vs off the shelf. For a system that removes repeated manual steps, see custom business software.

FILE 06 · QUESTIONS

What else do people ask about replacing spreadsheets?

These are the practical follow-ups once a workbook is doing the job of a system. The answers stay with the process, not a promise about a particular product. Where a number is not published, it is not guessed.

Can you replace Excel with software?

Answer: Yes, when the workbook has become the way the work is done. Rendr builds a custom system around that process, then hosts and supports it. A simple list one person maintains can stay in Excel.

What is an Excel to web app?

Answer: An Excel to web app is a web tool that does the job of the workbook, for the people who do that work, in a browser rather than a file. The point is the process, not a copy of every cell. Rendr builds that kind of system, then hosts and supports it.

When should we keep the spreadsheet?

Answer: Keep it when one person uses it for a list or a calculation and nobody else is re-keying it or waiting on a rebuilt report. Move on when the file is shared, fragile, or the only place a process lives. A spreadsheet is still a sound tool for that simple list.

Do we have to replace our accounting system as well?

Answer: Not unless they have outgrown it too. A custom system can replace the whole operation, or start with the workbook and grow from there. The ERP guide on this site covers that choice.

How do we start?

Answer: Discovery is free: a 15-minute call with Jason, then a 30–60 minute technical session with Jason and Ben. We send the proposal after that session, and you approve the estimate before the build starts.

Start with the problem.

Tell us what is getting in the way. We reply with a straight answer on fit, approach and likely cost.

Start: Send an enquiry
Call: 0402 773 546
Write: hello@rendrweb.com

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