Guide
Hoarding inventory in Excel vs software
On this page
Why everyone starts with a spreadsheet
It is free, everyone knows it, and a list of sites with size, location and rate fits comfortably in one sheet. For a handful of sites and one salesperson, that is enough.
Signs it has stopped working
- Double bookings. Two people promised the same site for overlapping dates.
- “Which version is latest?” Copies on laptops and in email threads disagree.
- Availability is a guess. Nobody can answer “what is free in Thane next month” without an hour of checking.
- Photos live elsewhere. Site photos are in a folder, licences in another, and neither is linked to the row.
- Proposals are rebuilt by hand. Every client deck is copied from the sheet into PowerPoint again.
- No idea what each site earns. Revenue is in the accounting file, costs in another, and the site is the missing link.
What software adds
| Need | Spreadsheet | Inventory software |
|---|---|---|
| Free dates for a site | Check bookings by hand | Availability calendar per site |
| Several sellers at once | Risk of overwrites | One shared, live list |
| Photos and licences | Separate folders | Attached to the site |
| Client proposal | Copy into PowerPoint | Select sites, export |
| Earnings per site | Manual join of files | Revenue, cost and profit by site |
Moving over without stopping work
- Clean the sheet first — one row per site, consistent sizes and types.
- Enter the sites, then add photos and licences for the sites you sell most.
- Enter running campaigns so availability is correct from day one.
- Stop editing the sheet. Two sources of truth is worse than either.