# Should a bakery use a spreadsheet or bakery software?

> A spreadsheet works while one person takes a handful of orders a week. Software earns its cost once dates double-book, balances go unchased or costs drift.

A spreadsheet is the right tool while one person takes a handful of orders a
week and can hold the rest in their head. It costs nothing, it does exactly
what you build it to do, and you already know how to use it. Bakery software
is worth paying for once the sheet starts costing you money instead: a
Saturday booked twice, a balance nobody chased, a quote built on last year's
butter price, or a second person changing rows with no record of who did it.

## Side by side

| Job | A spreadsheet | Bakery software |
|---|---|---|
| Recording an order | Any columns you like, typed by hand | A set order form, with custom fields for the rest |
| Stopping a double booking | Only if you check the sheet first | Blocked dates on one calendar, and online orders respect your lead times |
| Deposits and balances | A paid column you update yourself | Paid online from the order link, with reminders until it is paid |
| Cost of a product | A costing tab, correct on the day you wrote it | Recosted when an ingredient price changes |
| Allergens | Retyped on each order | Tagged once on the ingredient and carried to the product and order |
| What to bake each day | Filtered and counted by hand | A production list built from the orders |
| More than one person | Shared edits, no roles | Their own login and role, with the number of users set by plan |
| Cost | Free | A monthly subscription |

## What a spreadsheet does well

- **It is free**, and so is changing it. A new column takes a second.
- **It fits any way of working.** Nothing in it assumes how you quote or what
  you sell.
- **Your data is a file you hold.** There is nothing to export because it is
  already yours.

If you work alone, take a few orders a week and price from a short menu, a
well-laid-out sheet is a fair choice.
[When a spreadsheet stops working for cake orders](/blog/getting-off-spreadsheets)
has a column layout worth copying.

## Where a spreadsheet starts costing you

A sheet records what happened. It does not act on it. It will not stop a third
order landing on a day you can only bake two, remind a customer their balance
is due, or notice that flour went up and every price built on it is now too
low. Each of those is a job you do by hand, and the cost is the one time you
forget.

The other limit is people. Once a partner, a staff member or a driver needs
the orders, a shared sheet gives everyone the same access and keeps no record
of what changed.

## How ibakepro handles the same jobs

- **Orders and deposits.** Each order has its own link where the customer
  picks between quote options, fills in details and allergens, agrees to your
  policies and pays the deposit. Balance reminders go out until it is paid,
  then stop. See
  [payment schedules and deposits](/features/payment-schedules-and-deposits).
- **Costs that follow your prices.** Every ingredient is priced at what you
  paid. When a supplier price moves, every product that uses it is recosted,
  and your sell prices wait for you to decide. See
  [recipe costing](/features/recipe-costing).
- **Allergens once.** Tag an allergen on the pantry ingredient and it flows
  through to every product and order.
- **One calendar and a bake list.** Orders, tasks and blocked dates sit on one
  calendar, and the production list is built from the orders.
- **Your data, still yours.** Customers, orders and pantry items import from a
  CSV file, and orders, products, customers, payments and expenses export back
  to CSV on every plan. See
  [how to switch bakery software](/answers/how-do-i-switch-bakery-software).

Every plan starts with a 14-day free trial, and prices are on the
[pricing page](/pricing).