The spreadsheet nobody understands any more, turned into one that does.
It started as a simple sheet three years ago. Today it has twelve tabs, macros nobody dares touch, and exactly one person who really knows how it works — and if that person goes on holiday, the process stops. It’s not a spreadsheet problem: it’s an important process that never had the budget to become a real tool, until the cost of not having one became obvious.
How I approach it
I review the file exactly as it is — with its patches and exceptions, not the idealised version someone would describe from memory — because that’s where the real knowledge of the process lives, however badly organised. I build a tool with its own interface that does the same thing without the fragile formulas: with permissions, a change history, and no dependency on one person knowing where the trick is.
What usually fits
A custom internal application, with a real database instead of a file living on a laptop, and an interface designed for whoever uses it every day — not for whoever built it. Migration of existing data included: nothing gets lost in the switch.
The work, in concrete terms
- What we start with
- The file people actually use, sample records and the rules known by the person responsible. We distinguish necessary data from accumulated tabs, formulas and workarounds.
- What it should return
- An interface for daily work on a database, with permissions and a change history. The first version is checked by repeating tasks the team already knows how to complete with the current file.
- What needs to be defined
- Migration is not about copying every tab. We need to review the data, exceptions and rules worth keeping. AI is included only if it helps the process, not simply because a spreadsheet is becoming an application.
Illustrative example
A team tracks requests in a shared spreadsheet and depends on one person to update their status. A tool focused on recording, assigning and viewing those requests lets them test the change without trying to build a complete ERP.
Related service
Explore the service scope and how we can get started.
AI application and MVP development