ConceptA tool I would build. Not client work.
Spreadsheet-to-ops board
Version seven of the planning sheet is the real one. Three people edit it, one formula was pasted over in March, and nobody wants to be the one who finds out.
Concept
Not client work- What this is
- A tool I would build, drawn to show the idea. Nobody has bought it, and every name and number on these screens is invented.
- For
- The owner of a firm whose planning lives in one shared spreadsheet.
- The money
- No figure of mine. Field audits of real spreadsheets have found errors in most of the ones they looked at (Panko (opens in a new tab)). The studies are old and small, so take the direction, not the rate.
- Belongs to
- Internal tools
- Drawn
- 11 Nov 2026 · sheet 5 of 6
Live demo
The sheet stays. The board is built on top.
Drop a spreadsheet hereExcel or Google Sheets. It is read, never written to.
Concept
From sheet to board
A planning sheet read column by column, checked row by row, and only then made into a board.
The other screens
The Monday digest, and every version kept.
- Demo TechniekBoardJobs212CrewDataImportsMonday digestAn VerbekeOffice
Week 47, in five lines
- Done and not invoiced19 jobs · €61,250
- Starting this week6 jobs · 3 crews
- Changed in the sheet since last Monday11 rows
- Totals that still do not add up12 rows
- Jobs with no start date4
The oldest job done and not invoiced is J-1102, Fam. Hermans, finished 12 October.
Who gets itThe owner and the office. It reads the board; it does not change it, and it sends nothing to clients.
Done, not invoicedOldest first, 5 of 19Job Finished Waiting Total Fam. HermansJ-1102 12 Oct 30 days €2,480 Bakkerij VoorbeeldJ-1117 21 Oct 21 days €1,940 Fam. GoossensJ-1124 28 Oct 14 days €5,210 Garage ModelJ-1139 3 Nov 8 days €3,860 VZW ProefhuisJ-1146 5 Nov 6 days €1,120 Concept
Monday digest
Five lines for the owner every Monday, from the board: what is done and not invoiced, what starts, what changed.
1 / 2 - Demo TechniekBoardJobs212CrewDataImportsMonday digestAn VerbekeOfficeEvery version, keptThe sheet itself is never changed
File Rows Since the last one Rows to decide planning-2026-v7-FINAL.xlsxWed 11 Nov, 09:12 212 11 rows changed, 3 new 2 of 14 decided planning-2026-v7.xlsxMon 2 Nov, 08:40 209 7 rows changed All decided planning-2026-v6.xlsxMon 26 Oct, 08:55 204 First import All decided Until the board is the place people work, the sheet can keep being the source: import it again and only what changed is shown.
What changed in v7-FINAL5 of 14 changesJob Column Was Now Decision J-1190 Total €9,640 €9,140 Decided by An J-1188 Start 14/01/2026 14 jan Read as 14 Jan J-1193 Total €3,728 €3,278 To decide J-1191 Status Busy Done To decide J-1195 New row Not there Apotheek Schets To decide Concept
Imports
Every version of the sheet that was read, what changed between them, and how many rows still need a person.
2 / 2
What it would be worth
Finished work that gets invoiced.
The hours someone spends keeping the sheet right, and the jobs that are done and quietly not invoiced. The second is usually the bigger number, and nobody sees it in a sheet.
91%
of 55 real spreadsheets in older field audits had important errors, in the table Ray Panko keeps.
Source: Ray Panko, Spreadsheet Research (opens in a new tab). A table of published field audits, most from 1995 to 2008. Old studies of other people’s sheets, mostly large ones. A direction, not a rate for yours, and not a result of mine.
Count the jobs in your sheet that are done and not invoiced today. Then ask who would notice if one total were wrong.
What you can buy today
- Airtable (opens in a new tab)$20 to $45 per user a month
- Retool (opens in a new tab)€9 to €46 per builder a month, plus €5 to €14 per user
List prices as each vendor’s own page showed them on 11 Nov 2026. Both are good if you are ready to rebuild the sheet yourself. A custom board is the better buy when the sheet has to keep working while you move, and the checks are the part you cannot afford to get wrong.
What the sheet costs to keep right, in euros
Type your numbers and the sum appears here.
46 working weeks. The second line is not a saving: it is cash you are owed and have not invoiced yet. Your numbers stay in this tab.
Where the line is
It reads the sheet. You decide what is true.
What it does
- Reads the sheet and gives every column a type, saying where the sheet disagrees with itself.
- Checks every row against the sums it should obey, and shows the ones that do not.
- Builds the board from the rows a person has looked at, with a total on every column.
- Keeps every version it read, and shows what changed between two.
- Sends the owner five lines every Monday.
What it never does
- Change the sheet. It is read, never written to.
- Pick between two numbers on its own. A person chooses, and the board says who.
- Send an invoice. It shows what is done and not invoiced; a person invoices it.
The move is gradual on purpose: the sheet can stay the source until people trust the board, and nothing is lost if you stop.
Want this for real?
I would start with a week on your real sheet: what each column means to the people who use it, which sums must hold, and what the board should show on a Monday. Then a fixed price.
I would scope it as an internal tool: from €18k, usually 3–5 weeks, at a fixed price.