Off the spreadsheet
Work out whether your spreadsheet has quietly become your system, and what it takes to replace it properly.
Nearly every firm we scope work for runs something important out of a spreadsheet. Quoting, stock, job tracking, holiday, the price list. It worked when three people used it and it still mostly works now, apart from the bits that do not.
This course is about the decision, not the software. When a spreadsheet is fine and should be left alone. When it has become the system and is costing you. What a build actually costs, in stages, and how to brief someone so you get a straight quote back.
You come out with your quoting process mapped and a scoping brief you could send to any developer, including one who is not us.
- Lessons
- 9
- Length
- 1 hr 12 min
- Assignments
- 2
- Modules
- 3
What you come out with
By the end of this course
Written forOwners and MDs of firms of 20 to 200 people whose quoting, stock or job tracking lives in a spreadsheet that has outgrown itself.
Tell the difference between a spreadsheet that is fine and one that has become your system
Put a cost on the workarounds your team already runs without noticing
Map your quoting process end to end, in one page
Understand what a staged build costs and why the first stage should be small
Write a scoping brief that gets you comparable quotes from different firms
Know what your side of a build looks like: decisions, testing, data, the go-live week
The whole syllabus
Every module and every lesson
Nothing is held back from this page. You can see what each lesson covers before you decide.
- 01When the spreadsheet became the system
- 02Scoping a build honestly
- 03The build from your side of the table
Module 1
When the spreadsheet became the system
How to tell whether yours is a tool or a dependency, and what the difference costs you every month.
3 lessons · 21 min- 1.17 min
The spreadsheet that grew
ReadHow a sheet turns into infrastructure without anyone deciding it should.
- 1.28 min
The cost of the workaround
ReadRe-keying, reconciling, chasing the right version, priced out properly with Claude asking the questions.
- 1.36 min
When to leave it alone
ReadThe cases where replacing the sheet is the wrong call, and why.
- 1.1
Module 2
Scoping a build honestly
Staged builds, what things cost, and how to brief a partner so the quotes you get back can be compared.
3 lessons · 28 min- 2.110 min
Map the process first
ExerciseAssignmentYour quoting process, end to end, before anybody writes a line of code.
Map your quoting process · submitted as file
- 2.29 min
Staged builds and what they cost
ReadWhy the first stage should be small, and what the stages usually are.
- 2.39 min
Briefing a partner
ExerciseAssignmentDraft the brief with Claude, then have it read the brief as a developer would.
Draft your scoping brief · submitted as file
- 2.1
Module 3
The build from your side of the table
What the client actually does during a build, and where projects go wrong when nobody says this out loud.
3 lessons · 23 min- 3.17 min
The decisions only you can make
ReadThe questions that stall a build until the owner answers them.
- 3.28 min
Your data is the hard part
ReadGetting years of sheets into a system, what to leave behind, and letting Claude do the first column-by-column pass.
- 3.38 min
Going live without a bad week
ReadRunning both ways at once, training, and the first month after.
- 3.1
Instructor
Who teaches it
Aquilon Tech
Systems and software
They scope and build the internal tools: quoting, stock, job tracking and the reporting that sits over them. They teach the courses on spreadsheets, systems and reports.
Off the spreadsheet, £295
One payment, no subscription, and the working documents are yours to keep.