If you're searching for a job management spreadsheet, you're in one of two places: either you're just starting out and want something simple, or your current system is failing and you're hoping a better spreadsheet will fix it.
Both are reasonable. Let's talk about when spreadsheets work, when they don't, and what to do when you've outgrown them.
When a spreadsheet works fine
Spreadsheets are genuinely good for job tracking when you're a one or two-person operation, everyone's in the same place most of the time, and you have the discipline to update it daily.
A basic setup: columns for customer name, address, job type, status, quote amount, dates. Filter by status to see what's in progress. Sort by date to see what's coming up. It's not fancy, but it works.
If this describes your situation and your spreadsheet is working, keep using it. Don't fix what isn't broken.
When spreadsheets start failing
Spreadsheets break down in predictable ways:
- Your team's mobile. Fitters on site can't easily update a spreadsheet. So updates happen at the end of the day, or not at all. By midweek, the spreadsheet reflects Monday's reality, not today's.
- You need photos. Spreadsheets don't attach photos to jobs. Your before/during/after shots end up in camera rolls and WhatsApp threads, disconnected from the job they belong to.
- Notes become unreadable. Everything gets crammed into one cell. Three months of customer communications in a column that's 200 characters wide. Nobody reads it.
- No reminders. A spreadsheet doesn't tell you which quotes need following up. You have to remember to check, filter, and act. When you're busy, you don't.
If any of these sound familiar, the spreadsheet isn't the problem. Spreadsheets simply aren't designed for mobile teams doing field work.
What replaces the spreadsheet
The jump from spreadsheet to job management software sounds bigger than it is. You're tracking the same information - jobs, customers, statuses, dates. The difference is how it's captured and accessed.
In FitterPal, each job is a record that your whole team can see and update from their phones. Fitter marks a job complete on site - you see it immediately. Photo gets uploaded - it's attached to the job, not lost in a camera roll for all to see. Quote goes out - it appears in your pipeline with a reminder to follow up in three days.
You get a board view showing all jobs by stage: enquiries, quotes sent, scheduled, in progress, complete. At a glance, you see where everything stands. No filtering. No remembering to check.
The learning curve is minimal because the concepts are identical to your spreadsheet. The difference is that it actually stays up to date.
The transition question
Most fitters delay moving off spreadsheets because the change feels daunting. All that historical data, all those jobs - how do you move it?
The honest answer: you probably don't need to. Start fresh with new jobs. Your old spreadsheet still exists for reference if you need to look something up. Within a month, everything active is in the new system and the spreadsheet becomes an archive you rarely touch.
The question isn't whether you can migrate your data. It's whether your current system is costing you jobs, time, or sanity. If yes, the sooner you switch, the sooner that cost stops.
Still want a spreadsheet?
If you're set on using a spreadsheet, the basics are simple: customer, address, job type, status (enquiry/quoted/confirmed/scheduled/complete), quote value, key dates. Use Google Sheets so you can access it from your phone. Set a daily reminder to update it.
But if you've already tried that and ended up here searching for something better, the spreadsheet probably isn't the answer. FitterPal costs less than one lost job per year and solves the problems that spreadsheets can't.
Book a demo today where we can show you how FitterPal replaces a spreadsheet with heaps of value-add on top.
Book a demo today where we can show you how FitterPal replaces a spreadsheet with heaps of value-add on top.
