Excel vs SaaS Automation: Which Is Right for Your Business?

Automation is the golden boy these days, and with good reason.

From helping you draft a simple document to sending notifications for purchase approvals, automation saves time, and when it comes to procurement?

Time is everything 

But we get it 

There's something oddly comfortable about using Excel for your processes. 

Who doesn't know their way around a spreadsheet?

And while there's nothing wrong with relying on the Microsoft Office program to keep a record of your company's operations, what more when your company grow? 

The messier it gets

‍

So if you've been wondering about the pros and cons of moving to SaaS automation compared with old-fashioned spreadsheets, this blog is for you.

‍

Why is Excel Still Popular?

It’s affordable and well-known.

Everyone, no matter the generation, knows Microsoft Office and Excel. It is a pretty important part of it. If you've a computer, there's a high chance you've the program already installed, and with Google Drive it became even easier to access it.  

From sales to development, people just know how to work with a spreadsheet.

So it's no wonder that Excel remains the go-to option for many businesses.

Relatively flexible 

And we say relatively because it depends on your requirements, but for new small businesses, Excel can provide a good degree of customization. You are free to design your own structure, create formulas that work for your operations, and use all the colors you want to give it a personalized touch- who doesn't love colors after all? 

Whether you're managing budgets, forecasting sales, or tracking tasks, Excel gives you certain freedom to work your way.

Ideal for quick tasks 

Excel is a good idea if you are planning to do a quick project, like keeping track of the stages of a project or arranging data in a visual chart.

You just open a sheet, enter your numbers, and start working. 

It’s that kind of immediacy that makes it so handy for low-key activities.

‍

Excel: Cons 

Prone to mistakes

Excel is great…until it's not. 

There's almost nothing worse than spending hours staring at the screen, wondering what went wrong with the calculations you are seeing.  Or working days on a set of information only to discover that it wasn't right to begin with, or that someone made changes you weren't even aware of.

Limited automation

Yes, Excel works with formulas and solves problems, but try to see if it can help you spot stockout risks in your inventory or create a PO in a couple of clicks. 

Yeah…that's a bit advanced for our old friend. 

While we do recognize that Excel has the ability to provide basic assistance to business owners, it's more of a tool you use in the early days of your journey.

Difficult to escalate

And speaking of the early days, once you've crossed the milestone and are well established in the market, ready to grow the reach of your operations. Excel can quickly become a source of headaches. 

Imagine the chaos of dealing with thousands of data points and only spreadsheets as a resource.

How much time would you have to spend?

Would you be confident in the outcome?

No real-time visibility

Ask any procurement professional what their biggest pain points are, and we can guarantee you that lack of visibility is somewhere at the top of the list. 

Working in Excel means passing files around or storing them in shared drives, useful, of course, but it's a blind process.

There’s no real-time syncing unless you're using cloud versions, and even then, simultaneous editing isn’t always straightforward.  Collaboration suffers, and you end up spending more time coordinating than analyzing. And let's not get started on the many loops you've got to go through if you dare to ask for a clear view on what's happening with your operations. 

The Lesson: 

Excel will remain a comfort tool for many people, it has been part of the professional journey of most of us, you can expect to see Excel remaining as the simplest and most accessible option for small businesses…

The problem begins when you decide it's time to move to the next level. Excel isn't built to handle expanding processes or complex requirements. 

If we add to that the fact that there's no formula to obtain real-time insights, spreadsheets stop being useful at all. 

‍

Why is SaaS Rising in Popularity?

Cloud-based

Remember all the problems we just listed? 

There aren't such things to worry about with a SaaS solution.

Everything is online and ready to be found whenever you need it. 

What if you are on the go and want to check your inventory? Or the route one of your shipments is following?

Easy

Most SaaS software comes with a user-friendly mobile app. 

Advanced features 

Ah, the power of AI

Is everywhere these days, right?

Even in procurement or accounting software 

Think of systems capable of adapting to processes, learning your unique requirements, and making predictions to protect your supply chain in the future.

There are some alternatives that go as far as innovation concerns, creating AI copilots for businesses.

Integration with other systems

Because systems that stand together…

Well, you get the idea.

Most SaaS platforms are designed to automatically connect to the rest of your tech stack. 

You can sync them with your accounting software, CRM, or project management tools.

Automatic maintenance and back-ups

Unless you're an IT expert,  there's not much fun in handling system backups or updates. 

The good news?

SaaS providers handle updates, bug fixes, and security patches for you, usually without any disruption to your work.

‍

SaaS: Cons 

It's going to cost money. 

Well, yeah, as with any other program, you can expect to pay monthly or annual fees. 

How much is going to depend on the choice you go for, the number of add-ons, and how many people are in your team, among other things. 

While that might put you off, remember that investing in a SaaS platform means reaping benefits for the long term.

Less control

SaaS tools are designed to work for a wide range of users, which means they often have set templates, workflows, or rules you need to follow. You might not be able to customize things exactly how you want. If you’re used to building everything your way in Excel, this can feel a little limiting.

Bear in mind, however, that the level of customization is going to change based on the software you go for. 

Some of them are great at adapting to your needs, others might come with a more fixed structure ideal for larger enterprises.

The Lesson

Nothing is perfect. 

SaaS platforms are the kind of alternative with the power to seriously simplify key business processes, like procurement or AP.  

And while some options have gained a reputation for being too complex to use or just plain expensive, there are always more alternatives. 

Is the approach the best for you?

Start by understanding your current pain points, test a few tools with small use cases, and look for platforms that balance automation with ease of use. The right solution isn’t always the flashiest; it’s the one that actually works for your team.

‍

When to Choose Excel vs SaaS

For many teams, Excel still does the trick, and that’s totally fine. What matters is knowing when your current setup starts holding you back.

Excel works best when things are simple.

If you’re a startup, working on your own, or managing a small, predictable workflow, Excel is probably all you need. It’s familiar and gets the basics done.

It’s also great for quick tests,like building a prototype or tracking something short-term, before deciding if it’s worth scaling up.

SaaS makes more sense as things grow

But once things get more complex…

More people, more approvals, more data, it’s probably time to look beyond spreadsheets. SaaS systems are designed for that next step.

They give you real-time collaboration, automation, and fewer manual headaches. If your processes are starting to feel like they are too much, especially in areas like finance or procurement, automation can be of tremendous help and keep everything on track.

‍