Sterodata vs spreadsheets: what changes when operations move out of shared files

I like spreadsheets. They are the fastest way to work something out. The trouble starts when a spreadsheet stops being a calculation and becomes the place a business runs: orders, tenancies, commission, stock. Here is what changes when that work moves onto Sterodata.

Side by side

	Shared spreadsheets	Sterodata
One version	Copies by e-mail, “final_v3”	One set of records everyone works from
Who can see what	Whoever has the file sees all of it	Per table, view and page, listed by name; views leave out fields and rows
Who changed what	Hard to tell	Every record shows who created it and who last changed it
Customers and staff	Send a copy, retype the answer	Forms and pages by link, straight into your tables
Money	A formula anyone can overwrite	Exact decimals, each amount in its own currency
Reports	Rebuilt by hand	Views and summaries that stay current
Your AI assistant	Copy and paste	Works in your data as you, with your permissions

When a spreadsheet is still the right tool

A one-off analysis you will throw away.
A model you are still working out.
Something only you use.

If several people depend on it every day, or people outside the company send you what goes into it, it belongs in a system.

How to move one process over

Pick the file you open every day. One process, not all of them.
Import it. Sterodata takes xlsx, csv and tsv files, or rows pasted straight into a table.
Turn repeated names into links. Client names typed on every order become a Clients table that orders link to.
Decide who sees what. Share the table with the roles that work on it, and give everyone else a view.
Replace the e-mail step with a form. Whoever used to send you the information fills in a form instead.
Stop updating the file. Export it to CSV or Excel whenever someone still needs a copy.

Or hand the file to your assistant, say what it is for, and let it do steps 2 to 5.