When spreadsheets beat an overbuilt measurement stack

Short answer: A truthful spreadsheet updated weekly often beats a half-maintained warehouse—complexity has carrying cost, especially for NZ SMEs without a full-time analyst.

Match tooling to the decisions you actually make.

Spreadsheets win when…

• Volume is low and eyeballs catch anomalies faster than jobs.
• Sources are few (one ad platform, one CMS, one bank export).
• Lead quality needs human judgement that pixels miss.

When to graduate

Repeated manual errors, delayed closes, or multi-country data needs signal time for automation—until then, simplicity preserves truth.

Credibility tip

Document formulas and assumptions so the sheet survives staff turnover.

Frequently asked questions