How to automate a weekly spreadsheet report
Useful whether or not you ever hire anyone. Including when automation isn't the answer.
The problem
Every week, someone pulls data from several places, pastes it into a spreadsheet, fixes the formulas that broke, and produces the same report. It takes hours, and only one person knows how.
Why it happens
Reports often grow by accident: a quick spreadsheet becomes the one everyone relies on, with steps nobody wrote down. Small changes, like an extra row, break it.
Your options
Helps others cover, but it's still a manual job.
Fixing broken formulas can buy time. A quick fix starts from £60.
Data is pulled in, cleaned and turned into the report automatically, with problems flagged for a person.
When automation makes sense
- ✓The report is produced regularly, in the same way
- ✓It takes more than an hour each time
- ✓Mistakes in it have caused problems
When it probably doesn't
- ✓It's a one-off report
- ✓The spreadsheet has outgrown itself, and a small app or dashboard would serve you better
A practical example
The homepage demo shows a messy spreadsheet being tidied and turned into a clear summary in a few seconds.
See it →How Betechnical could help
If automation makes sense for you, this is exactly the kind of job I build, at a fixed price with a ceiling it can never go above. More about excel and spreadsheets →
Common questions
Do I need to move away from Excel?
Usually not. Most reports can be automated in the Excel or Google Sheets you already use.
What if the data changes format?
Well-built automations check the data and flag anything unexpected, rather than producing a wrong report quietly.
Not sure if yours can be automated?
Describe it to Bea, and you'll get an honest answer and a ballpark price in about a minute. If it isn't worth automating, I'll say so.