Spreadsheet vs CMMS for 4 to 20 Locations

It is 7:40 on a Tuesday morning. A store manager texts you that the walk-in cooler is warm. You open the maintenance spreadsheet to find the refrigeration contractor's number, and there are three tabs, two versions of the file in your email, and a cell that says "Dave - call back?" from March. The spreadsheet vs CMMS question usually stops being theoretical at a moment like this.

Here is the honest version. A spreadsheet is a perfectly good maintenance system for some operators. For others it becomes a daily drag on their time. This post helps you tell which one you are, and it is useful whether or not you ever buy software.

When a spreadsheet is enough

A spreadsheet works when most of the following are true:

• You run four to six sites, close enough that one person knows every building.
• One person owns the file. Everyone else asks that person rather than editing it.
• Requests arrive in one place (your phone), and you handle them yourself.
• You use two or three contractors and know each of their numbers by heart.
• Nobody will ask you, in the next year, to show what was done at a site and when.

If that is you, keep the spreadsheet. Switching early adds work without removing any. A good small version has an equipment tab (make, model, serial number, install date), a job log (date, site, problem, contractor, cost, status) and a contractor tab. Add a "next service due" column and sort by it on Mondays. That alone beats most informal systems.

A spreadsheet also handles odd cases, such as a leased unit or a one-off landlord arrangement, because you can type anything into a cell. Its weakness is not capability. It only works if people do the same thing every time, and it cannot make them.

Spreadsheet vs CMMS: the signs it has stopped working

Count how many of these apply to you.

1. Two people have edited it, and neither trusts the other's version. Copies multiply and nobody knows which is current.
2. Requests live in texts and voicemails. The file records what you remembered to type in, not what was asked for.
3. Nothing reminds anyone. Preventive maintenance is a column you have to remember to look at. A missed filter change stays invisible until the unit fails.
4. You are the dispatch desk. Every job runs through your phone, including the 9pm call, because only you know who to ring.
5. Cost history is scattered. When a unit has been repaired for the fourth time, nobody can see that, so nobody decides to replace it.
6. A new manager cannot use it. If the file only makes sense to its author, it is a single point of failure.

Zero or one: stay put. Three or more: the file is probably costing you more than it appears to, mostly in your own time and repeat repairs. There is no magic number, so treat this as a prompt to think, not a score.

What a CMMS adds

A CMMS (computerized maintenance management system) is software for the same job, with a few things a file cannot do:

• A shared request queue. Store managers submit problems with a description, so they stop being texts.
• Scheduled recurring work. Preventive maintenance tasks generate on a schedule and show who owns them.
• A status for every job. You see what is open, what is in progress and what is closed without calling anyone.
• One history per piece of equipment. Repairs, dates and costs attach to the asset, which makes repair-or-replace decisions possible.
• Permissions. A store manager can be limited to their own location while owners see everything.

It does not add judgment. A CMMS will not tell you a contractor is overcharging, and it will not fix a site where nobody does the checklist. It makes the process visible. The discipline still has to come from you.

What switching costs

The bigger cost is your attention for a few weeks. You move your equipment list over, load your contractors, and teach store managers one habit: submit the request instead of texting you. Starting with one cluster of sites is easier than flipping everything at once. The 30-day rollout plan for 10 sites shows one way to sequence it.

On price, the model matters more than the headline number. Some tools charge per user, which penalizes giving store managers access. Others charge per location. We compare the two with worked math in per-seat vs per-location CMMS pricing. Whatever you evaluate, ask for the full monthly price at your actual site count and your actual number of users.

Where Concoct fits, and where it does not

Concoct is a per-location CMMS with unlimited users on every tier. It covers work orders, recurring preventive maintenance schedules, requests, equipment records with asset tags and QR codes, and contractor dispatch. Equipment and vendor lists can be imported from a spreadsheet. Vendors get an emailed link scoped to one job and need no account.

For a sense of cost, prices are in USD per location per month. Twelve locations on Growth, billed annually, come to $399 a month (5 locations at $35 and 7 at $32). Starter is lower and Professional higher, and monthly billing costs more than annual. The pricing page has the current numbers.

The limits are real. There is no offline mode and no text-message alerts, and vendors cannot upload photos through their link. Work order priorities are a fixed set (Low, Medium, High, Emergency) rather than something you configure. If you need those things, Concoct is not the right fit today. If you are at four sites with one trusted contractor, you may not need any CMMS yet.

This comparison is written by a vendor. Check any claim, ours included, against a live demo and your own requirements before you decide.

Next step

If three or more of the warning signs fit, look at the pricing page to see what your site count would cost, or book a demo and we will walk through your actual setup, including whether a spreadsheet is still the better choice for you.

FAQ

Is a spreadsheet really enough for 5 locations?

Often, yes. With one owner of the file, a few contractors and one person who knows every building, a well-kept spreadsheet works. Trouble starts when more than one person edits it or when requests stop arriving through you.

At what point should I switch from a spreadsheet to a CMMS?

There is no fixed site count. The signal is how many warning signs apply: multiple file versions, requests scattered across texts, no reminders for preventive work, and you acting as the dispatcher. Some operators feel this earlier and some later, so judge by the signs, not the number of sites.

Can I import my existing spreadsheet into a CMMS?

In Concoct, equipment and vendor lists can be imported from a spreadsheet file. Old job history is often not worth migrating in full. A common approach is to bring over the equipment list and active contractors and start the job log fresh.

Will my store managers actually use it?

They are more likely to if it is easier than texting you. Keep the request form short and limit what each manager sees to their own location. The first two weeks matter most. If requests keep arriving by text, redirect them each time.

Do I need a technician app?

Only if you employ your own technicians. Contractors can work from an emailed link. Concoct's technician app is on the Growth tier and above and is available in Canada only.