Replace the spreadsheet with an app you build yourselves. With someone behind it.
Once several people, approvals or money depend on a spreadsheet, replace it with an app that does exactly your process. Your person builds it with AI, or your developer or agency does, and on Fabrika we stand behind it.
Updated 22 October 2026
How can you tell the spreadsheet is no longer enough?
Excel is fine until a personal spreadsheet becomes a system the company runs on.
“invoices_2026_FINAL_v3.xlsx”
Several versions are going around and nobody is sure which one counts.
You retype the same data by hand
From email to the spreadsheet, from there to accounting. Every retyping costs time and invites a mistake.
One person understands it
Formulas, macros and hidden sheets. When that person is away, the process stops.
Nobody knows who changed what
A number differs from yesterday and finding why is detective work.
Everyone sees everything, or nobody does
Margins, salaries and personal data in one file, protected by a password on a sheet.
Approvals happen in email
“Please approve”, “just a reminder”. Where it got stuck, you find out by phone.
Deadlines live in someone's memory
Contract ends, inspections, payment terms. The spreadsheet reminds nobody.
Nobody can fill it in out in the field
On a phone it's awkward, so people write on paper and retype it in the evening.
One sign changes nothing. When several apply and the spreadsheet carries money, customers or several people's work, think about an app.
What are your options?
None of them is best for everyone, Fabrika included.
Stay with the spreadsheet, just share it
Excel in Microsoft 365, Google Sheets
Fits when
A few people, a simple process, and the main problem is file versions. A shared file fixes that at no extra cost.
Watch out for
Row-level permissions, approvals and reminders are hard. The process still rests on formulas and discipline.
Off-the-shelf software
Fits when
The process is the same everywhere: attendance, invoicing, accounting. Quick, and the vendor runs it.
Watch out for
You adapt to the tool. The data sits with the vendor; check how the price grows with users.
A module in your ERP
Fits when
The process is tied to your ERP, say warehouse, purchasing or production. The data stays in one place.
Watch out for
Only the ERP vendor makes changes, at their price. Smaller processes may not fit.
A no-code or low-code tool
Fits when
Tables, forms and simple rules you want to click together yourselves. The first version comes quickly.
Watch out for
The app lives only inside the tool. Outgrow it or leave, and you build again.
Custom development
An agency or freelancer
Fits when
A large or very specific system with many integrations, delivered turnkey.
Watch out for
One Czech price list puts an internal tool at CZK 300,000–600,000 and 2–3 months, without operations or further development (dostaljakub.cz, Dec 2025). Agree up front who owns the code and runs the app.
We do custom development too →Building it yourselves with AI
Fits when
A capable person who knows the process has something working in days. Enough for personal use or a trial.
Watch out for
Sign-in, permissions, data, backups and who looks after the app once its author leaves don't come on their own.
Checklist before colleagues use it →Contember Fabrika
Fits when
The process is your own, several people depend on it, and you have someone who'll build: your person with AI, a developer or an agency.
Watch out for
The apps get made on your side; the first one we can build with you. A one-off setup, then monthly operations with change review.
The options combine: attendance in an off-the-shelf tool, accounting in the ERP, and on Fabrika what no box covers.
What does moving from a spreadsheet to an app look like?
Take invoice approvals: a shared spreadsheet, “please approve” emails and an accountant waiting for a cell to turn green. Nothing gets thrown out at once.
- 01
A scoping call, spreadsheet in hand
You show us who writes what and who waits on what. We say what the first version should do. Within a few days you get an offer.
free · 30 min - 02
The first version
In a kickstart we build it with your person. Or your person builds it with AI alone and we review it before go-live.
two or three days - 03
Data from Excel
We move current invoices into the app. Years of history are a separate item in the offer.
data transfer - 04
Running side by side
New invoices go only into the app. The spreadsheet stays as an archive and safety net until people get used to it, then you close it.
a few weeks
What the spreadsheet turns into
What can a spreadsheet turn into?
Times apply when we build together in the kickstart; the offer gives the exact scope.
Contract register
A record card, deadlines and reminders. Vehicles, equipment or certificates work the same way.
Invoice approvals
A document arrives, gets approved, gets matched. Purchase requests work the same way.
Orders and jobs
From enquiry to delivery, with statuses, history and next steps, instead of one row per job.
Capacity planning
People, machines or dates against commitments, instead of a plan only one person can recalculate.
Who will look after the app?
On Fabrika the work is split three ways.
You
- Decide what the app does and for whom
- Decide who gets which role
- Build the changes: your person with AI, developer or agency
- Decide which change goes out and when
The platform
- Sign-in with your company account over OIDC (e.g. Microsoft Entra ID, Google Workspace, Okta)
- Roles and permissions for each app, in one place
- A single way in; the apps have no public address
- Separate test and production environments
- A record of sign-ins, access changes and deployments
Contember
- Review of every change before it goes live, with a report
- Watching for errors and outages, patching the platform
- Backups and recovery set up with you, to the extent you need
- Help for your person when they get stuck
And when the author leaves?
The app keeps running. The code is in your Git and we've seen every change, so the next person picks up where the last one stopped, with our help. The cloud account, code, data and domains are your company's.
When is Fabrika not for you?
You're looking to replace your whole ERP
Fabrika is for the processes around your ERP and between your systems, not for swapping out accounting or a warehouse system.
Nobody on your side will build or commission apps
Fabrika assumes apps get made on your side. One large system delivered turnkey is different work. We do it too, just not as Fabrika.
Custom development →You want a one-off delivery without operations
If you'll run the app yourselves, an agency or a freelancer will suit you better.
What people ask when they want out of Excel
Does it have to be a big project?
No. You start with one process, say invoice approvals, and decide whether to continue based on the first app in production. Further processes come gradually.
How much of our time will it take?
The scoping call is half an hour. In a kickstart, the person who'll build your next apps spends the week with us, and the people who know the process join at the start.
How much does it cost?
A one-off Fabrika setup, then monthly operations with change review. Not per user or per hour, so the price doesn't grow with users. You get the exact price in the offer after the scoping call. How pricing works
Can we keep doing reports in Excel?
Yes. The app can export to a spreadsheet, so pivot tables stay. The data is just created in one place and the export is a copy.
Can it connect to our accounting or ERP?
Technically yes. A simpler connection fits into the setup or kickstart, larger systems take more work. We'll tell you on the scoping call.
Do we need our own IT or a programmer?
No. A capable person who knows the process and builds with AI is enough, or the developer or agency you already work with. People can also make smaller changes themselves in their own Claude or ChatGPT.
Will it work on a phone?
Yes. The apps run in the browser on a computer, tablet or phone, so entries from the field go straight into the phone.
Show us your spreadsheet.
Half an hour and the spreadsheet, macros and colours included. We'll tell you what app it would become, how long it would take, and whether it makes sense at all.