Spreadsheets · Finance
A formula on the invoice, not on a copy of it.
The same records as a grid, a pivot, a chart, a budget and a shared sheet.
Grid
Every invoice of the quarter as a row, one column per field, a filter on top. Sort, filter and format it; the rows stay the invoices.
The same records as a grid, a pivot, a chart, a budget and a shared sheet.
Every invoice of the quarter as a row, one column per field, a filter on top. Sort, filter and format it; the rows stay the invoices.
This is the room.
One sheet opened: the margin by client for the quarter, the formula in the bar, and the invoice one cell reads opened beside it. The margin column is visible to Finance and to nobody else, because that is the rule on the invoice, not on the sheet.
Formulas, pivots, refresh, rights and write-back, on the record.
Which records, which formulas and who reads them are yours to set.
Formulas over records
The functions you know, with a record set as the range: invoices, hours, stock lines, filtered in the formula.
Pivots that refresh themselves
Rows, columns and a measure, over the live records. Pin one to a dashboard and it is the dashboard's number.
Refresh is not a step
There is no import and no schedule. The invoice changes, the cell changes, and the stamp says when.
Cell rights are record rights
The accountant sees the net and the VAT because they may see the invoice, and not the margin because they may not. Nothing to lock, nothing to hide.
The sheet writes back
A column marked as writing to a field sends what you type to the record: a price to the product, a budget line to the project.
Highlight on a rule
A margin under target, an invoice over thirty days, a stock line under par: a rule on the field, and the cell reads it.
The same sheet, for a wholesaler who sets prices and an agency that reads hours.
What adapts: which records a sheet reads (products and purchases, or projects and timesheets), which columns are formulas and which are typed, whether a typed column writes back and to which field, who may see each column, and what the rule highlights. Two businesses can open Spreadsheets on Monday and build nothing alike.
A wholesaler setting its price list
The sheet's rows are product lines from the catalogue, the cost column reads the last purchase price, the price column is typed and writes back to the product, the margin is a formula between the two, and a rule turns any line under the target amber. Purchasing sees the cost column; the sales team sees the price.
An agency reading utilisation and budget
The sheet's rows are projects, the hours columns read the timesheets, utilisation is billable over logged, the budget column reads the quote, and nothing writes back: the sheet is where the account leads read, not where they type. The rate column is Finance's.
A price typed in the sheet is a price on the product.
The sales lead reprices the Q4 list in the sheet, line by line, with the cost and the margin beside each price. Every price typed lands on the product record with who typed it and when, and the next quote for Delcourt & Fils picks it up. No export, no import, no second file called "final".
What the sheet reads, and where it writes.
A sheet does not own its numbers. It reads the invoices Accounting holds, the hours Timesheets logged on the project, the stock lines Inventory counts, and it shows them as cells. When a column is set to write back, what you type lands on the record: a price on the product the next quote will pick up, a budget line on the project. Everything else stays where it was, with the rights it had.
The invoices, with their status and their lines.
See Accounting.
The invoices, with their status and their lines.The project's hours and cost, and the budget line the sheet writes to it.
See Project.
The project's hours and cost, and the budget line the sheet writes to it.The stock lines, on hand and par, for a reorder sheet that is never a count old.
See Inventory.
The stock lines, on hand and par, for a reorder sheet that is never a count old.The spreadsheet you would otherwise open computes on a copy.
It is good at formulas. It has never seen your invoice, and it does not know who may see the margin.
Formulas over your invoices and hours
- A spreadsheet
- On a pasted copy
- A no-code database
- On a synced copy
- A suite module
- Yes, in their sheet
- Enobase
- Yes, on the record
The figure after the invoice changes
- A spreadsheet
- Wrong until the next paste
- A no-code database
- Wrong until the next sync
- A suite module
- Yes
- Enobase
- Yes, the moment it changes
Pivots and charts
- A spreadsheet
- Yes
- A no-code database
- Yes
- A suite module
- Yes
- Enobase
- Yes, over live records
Who sees the margin column
- A spreadsheet
- Whoever has the file
- A no-code database
- Per base or per table
- A suite module
- Per module
- Enobase
- The record's rule, per field
A price typed in the sheet reaches the catalogue
- A spreadsheet
- Copied by hand
- A no-code database
- With an automation you build
- A suite module
- Sometimes
- Enobase
- Yes, the cell writes to the field
Shared with the accountant
- A spreadsheet
- A copy by email
- A no-code database
- A guest seat on the base
- A suite module
- Rarely
- Enobase
- Yes, their slice, live
Time to live
- A spreadsheet
- An hour
- A no-code database
- A week
- A suite module
- Months
- Enobase
- One week
| What you need | A spreadsheet | A no-code database | A suite module | Enobase |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Formulas over your invoices and hours | On a pasted copy | On a synced copy | Yes, in their sheet | Yes, on the record |
| The figure after the invoice changes | Wrong until the next paste | Wrong until the next sync | Yes | Yes, the moment it changes |
| Pivots and charts | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes, over live records |
| Who sees the margin column | Whoever has the file | Per base or per table | Per module | The record's rule, per field |
| A price typed in the sheet reaches the catalogue | Copied by hand | With an automation you build | Sometimes | Yes, the cell writes to the field |
| Shared with the accountant | A copy by email | A guest seat on the base | Rarely | Yes, their slice, live |
| Time to live | An hour | A week | Months | One week |
Questions about Spreadsheets
Yes. On its own it is a spreadsheet over the records you keep in the workspace: a client list, a catalogue, a budget. Turn Accounting on and the formulas read invoices; turn Project and Timesheets on and they read hours.