CODEReplace the spreadsheet
When the business runs on a shared Excel file that only one person really understands, the problem is not the file. It is that there is no system. This is where one gets built.
- Starts at
- R12,000 once-off
- Typical timeline
- 3–6 weeks
- Licensing
- No per-user fees
The signs you have outgrown spreadsheets
- Two people edited the file at once and you lost a day of work.
- Nobody can answer “how many did we do last month” without an hour of manual counting.
- Staff can see numbers they should not, because access is all-or-nothing.
- The same information gets typed in three places and they disagree.
- Your process only works because one person remembers the steps.
- Onboarding a new staff member takes weeks because there is no system to learn, only habits.
What gets built
- A proper database. Records that relate to each other correctly, so a client, their bookings, their invoices and their history are one connected thing instead of four disconnected lists.
- Staff logins and permissions. People see what their role needs and nothing more. Every change is attributable.
- Client portals. Give customers, landlords, contractors or members a login where they can see their own information and act on it without phoning you.
- Dashboards and reporting. The numbers that actually run the business, on one screen, current.
- Point of sale. Stock, sales, receipts and daily takings, tied to the same records as everything else.
- Automated backups. Scheduled, tested, and restorable. This is the part everyone skips until the day they need it.
How the risk gets managed
Big custom builds fail in predictable ways: the scope drifts, the client does not see it until the end, and it turns out to solve the wrong problem. So the work is deliberately structured against that. Scope is written down and fixed before we start. You see working software every week, not at the end. The first version does the essential thing well rather than everything badly, and additions get quoted separately once you have used it in anger and know what you actually need.
What it is built on
PHP, PostgreSQL and Supabase, with plain HTML, CSS and JavaScript on the front end, or React where the interface genuinely needs it. Deliberately boring, widely-known technology, because you should be able to hand this to any other developer in five years and have them understand it.
Often built alongside
Questions we get asked
How is this different from just buying software?
If a product exists that fits how you work, buy it. Custom makes sense when the products all fit badly, when you would be paying per user for seats you barely use, or when your process is the thing that makes you competitive and you do not want to reshape it around someone else's software.
What does it cost?
Pro-level systems start at R12,000 once-off. The real number depends on how many distinct things the system has to track and how complicated the rules are. You get a fixed quote after a scoping conversation, before any work starts.
Who owns the data?
You do. The database is yours, exports are yours, and you can take it elsewhere. We hand over credentials and a plain-language description of how it is put together.
What if you disappear?
Fair question and you should ask it of any freelancer. The systems are built on standard, widely-used technology: PHP, Postgres, plain JavaScript, not an obscure framework only we know. Any competent developer can pick it up. You get the code, the database and the documentation.
Can it connect to accounting software or WhatsApp?
Usually yes. Integrations with Xero, Sage, payment gateways and WhatsApp Business are all doable and get scoped as part of the quote.
Can it grow later?
That is the point of building it properly. New modules get added the same way the original was: scoped, quoted, built, reviewed.
Describe the spreadsheet.
Tell us what it tracks and where it breaks, and we will tell you what replacing it would take.