TurboKast Studio › Replacing spreadsheets
Replacing spreadsheets with software: when it is worth it, and what it costs.
An honest guide for small businesses. Often the spreadsheet is fine; sometimes a ready-made app is better; sometimes it is worth building. Here is how to tell, with our own prices.
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The short answer
Often the spreadsheet is fine. A spreadsheet is a good tool for one person doing sums. It starts to hurt when it has become the system the whole business runs on.
Signs it is time to replace it
- Two people need it at once and one overwrites the other, or there are copies called “final” and “final v3”.
- The same details are typed into a sheet, an email and the accounts package.
- Jobs, quotes or follow-ups slip through because nobody is reminded.
- Staff out on the job need it on a phone, not at a desk.
- Only one person really understands how it works.
- Customers could book or send their details themselves, but today someone re-types them.
Signs to keep it
- One person uses it and it works.
- The numbers change rarely and nothing depends on a reminder.
- A ready-made template or app already covers the job.
Three options
| Option | Best when | Watch out for | Cost |
|---|---|---|---|
| Tidy the spreadsheet | The problem is layout or habit, not the tool. | It stays a one-desk system. | Your own time |
| A ready-made app | A standard booking, quoting or job app does what you need. | Per-user monthly fees add up; your process may not fit the app. | Usually a monthly fee. Check the current price of the one you are considering. |
| A custom build | Your process has a twist, or you would rather pay once than per user for ever. | You are paying for something made for you, so the scope must be written down and agreed first. | With us: £249, from £749, from £1,490, plus optional Care at £29 or £79 a month. |
To see how the per-user arithmetic works, take an imaginary app that charges £10 per user per month. For 7 users that is £70 a month, or £840 a year, every year. That is an illustration of the sum to do with the real price of any app you are considering. It is not a price for any actual product.
A system we have built
A Dundee landscaping and garden-maintenance firm of about seven staff had jobs, the rota and the quote calculator in three separate spreadsheets. We built one web app for the office and for crews on their phones: customers, jobs, recurring maintenance visits, a rota, quotes, time recording and invoicing through QuickBooks. It is live. The owner's week is far easier: assigning and keeping track of work is a breeze, invoices go out from the same place through QuickBooks, and each customer's history sits in one place. We are not publishing time-saved figures, and the client is not named.
What we charge
| Package | What it is | Time | Price |
|---|---|---|---|
| First conversation | A 15-minute call or a coffee, then a written fixed quote with a Scope and Success Criteria Schedule, at no charge. | – | Free |
| Fix One Thing | One narrow job, such as an enquiry or order form that logs and replies. Refund if not live in 10 working days (conditions apply). | 7 to 10 days | £249 |
| Single-job tool | One job done properly: booking with a diary, a quote calculator, a job board with a phone view. Fix or refund on agreed success criteria (conditions apply). | 2 to 3 weeks | from £749 |
| Business hub | Jobs, quotes, rota, bookings or orders and customer records connected, with a phone view for staff. Paid in stages. | 4 to 6 weeks | from £1,490, subject to written terms |
| Care (optional) | After launch: monitoring, backups checked, security updates and fixes. Care+ adds up to 2 hours of changes a month and a quarterly review. Cancel with 30 days’ notice. | monthly | £29 a month; Care+ £79 a month |
Fixed price for the scope written in the quote. No per-user fees. Hosting and third-party charges (email sending, payments, a domain) are paid by you or passed on at cost, and the quote lists them. We are not VAT registered. Conditions apply to every refund or fix promise; they are in our written order terms (Scots law, business customers only), which come with every quote and which win over this page.
Questions to ask before you commission anything
- What exact job will it do, and how will we both know it is done? (We write this down as success criteria before work starts.)
- Is the price fixed in writing, and what is not included?
- Whose accounts will the code, hosting and domain sit in?
- What happens if the supplier is ill or disappears?
- Does it send customer data to anyone, and are the data-protection roles written down?
Our own answers are on the home page, and the written order terms come with every quote.
Questions people ask first
Should my small business replace its spreadsheets?
Not necessarily. If one person uses the spreadsheet, the numbers change rarely, and nothing falls through the gaps, keep it. Replace it when several people need it at once, when the same details are typed in more than one place, or when jobs, bookings or follow-ups get missed.
Can't I just use a ready-made app?
Often, yes, and that is usually the cheaper route. A standard booking, quoting or job app is worth trying first. Custom software earns its place when your process has a twist those tools handle badly, or when per-user monthly fees would add up.
How much does it cost to replace a spreadsheet with custom software?
With us, Fix One Thing is £249 (one narrow job, 7 to 10 days), a single-job tool is from £749 (2 to 3 weeks) and a business hub is from £1,490 (4 to 6 weeks, subject to written terms). Care is an optional £29 a month, or Care+ at £79. Fixed price for the written scope, no per-user fees, and the quote and first conversation are free.
Will I still need my accounting software?
Yes. We connect to the tools you already pay for rather than replacing them. In the landscaping system we have built, invoices go out through QuickBooks from the same place the jobs are managed.
What do I own at the end?
The code repository, hosting account and domain are in your own accounts from day one. When you have paid in full, and any refund window has ended, we assign you the rights we own in the custom code we wrote for you. The terms set out the details, including our reusable components and open-source parts.
Who you would be dealing with
TurboKast Studio is run by Liam Humphreys, in Dundee. We build with AI coding assistants, directed by Liam and checked by automated tests on every change, which is how we can quote fixed prices below typical agency rates. You deal with one person, not an account manager, and the terms say what happens if Liam cannot continue (we do not yet have a named backup developer).
- Company
- TurboKast Ltd, registered in Scotland, company number SC881077
- Registered office
- 29 Commercial Street, Dundee, DD1 3DG
- [email protected]
- VAT
- Not registered
- Terms
- Written order terms (Scots law, business customers only) are sent with every quote. Ask for a copy at any time. Guarantees on this page are subject to them (conditions apply).
- Insurance
- Professional indemnity insurance with Hiscox (the limit and terms are given with every quote). We do not hold public liability insurance or a separate cyber policy.
Tell us what is slow. We will tell you honestly if we can help.
Two ways to talk, whichever suits you. No pitch deck either way. If a ready-made tool would do the job, we will say so.
A 15-minute call
By phone or video, bookable almost any weekday. Tell us how the work flows today and what is slow or error-prone.
Book a 15-minute call
Prefer to meet? I’ll buy you a coffee.
Anywhere in Tayside or Fife, face to face, any weekday 9:30 to 16:00. Liam pays for the coffee.
Book a coffeeOr email [email protected] and we will reply with times.