ServisBook vs Excel
Excel lasts longer in technician planning than people usually expect. Here is an overview of how to tell when it stops being enough.
What Excel can do
A spreadsheet is the fastest planning tool as long as the plan fits in one person’s head. Nothing needs setting up, everyone understands the grid, a change is one click and nobody pays for it. Excel also handles much more than it gets credit for: formulas calculate utilisation, conditional formatting highlights weekends and clashes, data validation makes sure only a known code goes into a cell.
There is a shift plan template in Excel (in Czech). The month is entered with a single date, the grid recalculates including the weekdays and totals are calculated by formula. It is free and needs no sign-up; if it is enough for you, you do not need another tool.
Where the spreadsheet hits its limits
The limit is not the number of people but the number of links between them. Excel holds data, but it does not hold the rules that apply between them. That a technician cannot be in two places at once, that part of the work needs a valid qualification and that on Tuesday they are on holiday stays with whoever plans.
- A clash does not report itself. You can put a person on the same morning twice without a warning unless you build a check in advance.
- Holidays tend to be elsewhere. Another file, another person, another version.
- Qualifications are not in the spreadsheet. Only the manager has an overview of them.
- History is missing. Who made a change and when cannot be found out afterwards.
- Nothing can be attached to an order. Photos and reports end up in e-mail.
- The customer cannot see the spreadsheet. Appointments are agreed by phone.
Individually these are small things. Together they are the reason why planning gradually takes more time than the work the company exists for.
Direct comparison
| What you need | Excel | ServisBook |
|---|---|---|
| Create a plan and change it right away | yes | yes |
| The whole team and the whole month on one screen | yes | yes |
| Clash warning | with your own formulas | part of planning |
| Holidays counted into capacity | manually, usually elsewhere | in the same place |
| Who is free and qualified | no | yes |
| Tell a proposed appointment from a confirmed one | only by colour, without consequence | two different states |
| The customer picks an appointment themselves | no | with one link |
| The technician sees a change without a phone call | no | yes |
| Time sheet, note and attachment on the order | no | yes |
| Who changed what and when | no | full history |
| Working offline | yes | no |
| Price for 8 people per month | EUR 0 | EUR 160 |
A five-question test
Answer for the last month, not for one good week:
- Did two technicians head for the same place, or did nobody turn up?
- Does a technician call the office to ask where to go because the plan has changed in the meantime?
- Do you answer a customer’s question about an appointment by saying you will call back?
- Was a recurring inspection forgotten and did the customer have to remind you?
- If the planner fell ill, would anyone else know what has been agreed?
One yes is a coincidence, three are a pattern. It is not the spreadsheet’s fault, it just does not have the tools for it.
What switching looks like
- Enter next week in both the spreadsheet and the app in parallel.
- After a few days compare where the plans diverged and why.
- In the third week plan only in the app, keep the spreadsheet as a backup.
- Enter holidays and qualifications once; after that they are added as you go.
Moving the order history is usually not worth it; you start with the state valid on the day of the switch.
When not to get ServisBook
In these cases we do not recommend it:
- You also want to invoice from one place. ServisBook cannot invoice and will not be able to in the near future.
- You need to work without a signal. The app needs a connection, a spreadsheet on a laptop does not.
- You want to track technicians’ location. We do not do that and will not.
Where next
- Excel, a calendar, or ServisBook — if you are also considering a shared calendar.
- Auditing your own planning spreadsheet — what to check in Excel before you decide to switch.
- An alternative to Excel for shift planning — including a template to download.
Frequently asked questions
Can data be imported from Excel?
Customers, yes. In Settings → Customer import you upload an .xlsx or .csv file, for example an address book exported from Pohoda, and see a preview before saving. A repeated import does not duplicate a customer. Moving orders and appointments from Excel is handled individually depending on what your spreadsheet looks like; tell us in advance what you need to move.
Can we keep using Excel alongside the app?
Yes, and in the first weeks that is usually sensible. Excel stays good for calculations and quotes; for coordinating people over time it gradually stops being enough.
When does switching pay off?
Once appointments change during the week and the planner is no longer sure they are keeping everything in their head. What matters is the number of concurrent orders and changes, not the number of technicians.
Plan next week in ServisBook
Plan one week in the app next to the spreadsheet and compare where they diverged.
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