Custom applications across Canada · Excel
Replace Excel with a web application.
Excel is still a good tool for calculating and analyzing. It becomes a problem when the whole company works in the same file: duplicate versions, overwritten formulas, information retyped elsewhere. A custom web application keeps your data in one place, applies your rules and shows everyone what they need to do. The first version is usually ready in about eight weeks.
Let’s talk about your fileSee what the application does better- One version of the data
- Your rules programmed, no more fragile formulas
- You own your code and your data
Signs the file is no longer enough
A file that became the whole team’s system.
An Excel file often starts as a good idea: simple tracking, set up in an afternoon. Then the team grows. Tabs get added, colours, formulas only one person understands. The file becomes the company’s system, without any of a system’s safeguards.
The signs are familiar: two versions of the same file, a formula overwritten by mistake, information retyped into the accounting software, a colleague waiting for someone to close the file. Each one costs little. Added up, they eat away at your time and create mistakes that are discovered too late.
When the file holds information about your clients, the question also becomes a legal one. In Quebec, a business must take reasonable security measures, considering in particular how sensitive the information is, how it is distributed and the medium it is stored on. A file copied into several inboxes is hard to control.
We don’t replace Excel everywhere. One-off analyses can stay there, and the application can export to Excel when that helps. What changes is the daily work: it happens in a tool designed for several people.
Act respecting the protection of personal information in the private sector, s. 10 (LégisQuébec)
From the file to the application
- 1Your fileWe go through your tabs, your formulas and what each person does in them.
- 2Your rulesCalculations and validations become tested code.
- 3Your dataExisting rows are brought into the application.
- 4Your teamEveryone sees their files and tasks, according to their role.
What the application does better
What the file can’t give you.
We start from your file and the way your team uses it. The application keeps what works and fixes what breaks.
One version of the data.
Everyone works on the same data, at the same time, with no copies and no “final_v2” file.
Centralized data · Simultaneous workRules that don’t get erased.
Calculations, validations and required fields are programmed. Nobody can overwrite a formula by mistake.
Calculations · Validations · Required fieldsAccess based on role.
Everyone sees and edits what concerns them. Every change leaves a trace: who, what, when.
Permissions · HistoryLess re-entry.
The application connects to your accounting software, your CRM or your email, through an API, an import or an export.
Integrations · Imports and exportsTasks that trigger themselves.
A reminder sent, a document generated, a file moving on to the next step: small manual tasks become rules.
Reminders · Documents · StepsOnce delivered and paid for, the application belongs to you: the code, the data and the access. You are not trading a file for a subscription you depend on.
Case study · Pavar
Proposals prepared in Excel.
Today, an application.
At Pavar, a maker of chairs and banquettes for restaurants, proposals were prepared in Excel, with hundreds of possible choices. The work took hours. The application now connects the products, the client’s decisions and production.
Read the Pavar case study
Preparing a proposal used to mean working in Excel. Now our products, the client’s choices and the details of their order all live in the application. We save time, and we move forward with far less risk of error.
Maria IermieriVP Sales and Marketing · Co-owner · PavarKeep Excel or move to an application
Sometimes Excel is still enough.
A spreadsheet is still the right tool for an analysis, a budget or tracking kept by one person. If off-the-shelf software covers your need, we will tell you from the start. An application is worth the investment when these signs add up:
- Several people edit the same file, every day.
- The same information is retyped elsewhere: accounting, CRM, emails.
- A mistake in the file is costly: an order, an invoice, a client.
- Only one person truly understands how the file works.
Frequently asked questions
Your questions before you leave Excel.
Can you bring over the data from our Excel file?
Yes. Existing data is brought into the application at launch, as planned in the engagement. The cleanup needed, such as duplicates or inconsistent formats, is planned from the start.
Will we still be able to export to Excel?
Yes, if it helps. An export lets you keep your analyses in Excel while the daily work happens in the application.
How long does it take to replace our file?
A first working version is usually ready in about eight weeks. Your users try it before launch, then it evolves with your priorities.
Why not use existing software?
If off-the-shelf software meets your needs, it is often the best choice, and we will tell you. Custom development makes sense when your rules and the way you work don’t fit those tools, which often explains why the team stayed in Excel. Our guide custom application or SaaS software helps you decide.
How much does an application to replace Excel cost?
The price depends on the number of screens, the rules to program and the integrations. The proposal sets the scope and price before work begins. Also check whether government support for digital transformation is available to your business: programs change often. Our guide to the cost of a custom application explains what makes the price vary.
Let’s talk about your file
Show us the file that slows you down.
A first conversation with François is enough to see what your file does well, what it does badly and what is worth building. If Excel is still enough, we will tell you. The first conversation comes with no commitment.
