Moving from Excel and Google Sheets to a CRM: when and how

It is time to move from spreadsheets to a CRM when the sheet is no longer the single source of truth: the booking is discussed on WhatsApp, the quote lives in a separate file, and only the manager knows who is working the shift. You don't need to migrate your whole history, only what you work with now — active bookings, clients and packages — and that fits into one evening.

Signs you've outgrown spreadsheets

You have outgrown spreadsheets when a mistake costs more than switching would. A sheet works well at the start: 2–4 events a month, one or two people, everything in the owner's head. The trouble comes with growth.

Typical signs:

• Several versions of the truth. The sheet says 80 guests, the client chat says 95, and the bartender turned up stocked for 80.
• Only one person understands the sheet. If the manager is off sick, nobody can quickly say what is confirmed, what isn't and what has been invoiced.
• Enquiries go missing. A request came in on Instagram on Friday evening, nobody added it, and by Monday the client had booked someone else.
• Quotes are built by hand. Every quote is copied from the last one and edited, and once a month an old price or another client's name slips through.
• Shifts are arranged in private messages. To cover a Saturday, the manager messages 6–8 bartenders one by one and then pieces the answers together.
• Stock lives somewhere else. Nobody records how many glasses went out and how many came back, and breakages turn up a week later.

If three or more of these sound familiar, spreadsheets are already costing you — in manager hours and lost bookings.

How many events a month is "time to switch"?

A good rule of thumb is 8–10 events a month or a team of three or more. It isn't a hard line, but at that volume a manager typically spends 5–10 hours a week just reconciling the sheet, chats and email.

For a side-by-side look at spreadsheets, general CRMs and catering-specific software, see what to run a catering business on.

What to move into the CRM first

Move what the team needs for the next 2–3 months first: upcoming events, clients and packages. Everything else can wait or stay where it is.

An order that works:

1. Upcoming and active bookings. Date, venue, guest count, package, status (enquiry, quote sent, confirmed, paid).
2. Clients and contacts. Name, phone, email, company, role (client, planner, venue contact). Clients from the last 1–2 years are enough.
3. Packages and price list. Your standard offers with a price per guest and tiers by guest count. See catering packages for how to build them.
4. Venues. Address, contact, practical details: water on site, loading access, earliest set-up time.
5. Recipes and inventory — once the basics are working.

What you can skip: closed bookings older than a year, draft quotes, old price lists. Keep the original files in an "Archive" folder; that is enough.

How to clean up your spreadsheet before importing

Your sheet needs to follow "one row per booking, one column per field". This is where most migrations stumble.

Clean-up checklist (30–60 minutes):

• Unmerge cells and remove blank divider rows between months.
• Use one date format, e.g. 14/06/2026, not "14 June" in one row and "14/6" in the next.
• Guest count as a number only. Replace "80–90" with 90 and move the note to its own column.
• Client and contact in separate columns, phone in its own column.
• Status from a short fixed list, not free text.
• Merge duplicate clients: "Anna B.", "Anna Berzina" and "Anna Bērziņa" are one person.

A good row looks like this: 14/06/2026 | Wedding | Anna Bērziņa | +371 2… | Lakeside manor | 90 guests | Classic package | Confirmed.

How to migrate in one evening: step by step

For a team of up to 10 people, migration fits into 3–4 hours if you don't try to move everything at once.

1. Hour 1 — prepare. Clean the sheet using the checklist above; export upcoming bookings separately.
2. Hour 2 — import. Upload the file, map columns to fields, review the result.
3. Hour 3 — check. Open the next 5–10 bookings and compare them with the sheet: date, guests, package, client. Fix anything the import misread.
4. Hour 4 — team. Show managers and lead bartenders where bookings and shifts now live. 15 minutes per person is plenty.

The key rule: from Monday, new enquiries go into the CRM only. Lock the spreadsheet for editing. If you keep two places, in a month you'll have two versions of the truth again.

The first 2–3 weeks after switching

In the first weeks the main job is to stop the team drifting back to the sheet. Some resistance is normal; people are used to their file.

• Name one person who answers "where is this now?" questions.
• Every new enquiry, even from WhatsApp, goes into the system the same day.
• Spend 15 minutes a week on what feels awkward and adjust fields and statuses.
• After a month, check that every confirmed booking and every shift is in the system.

How this works in Garnify

In Garnify you can upload an Excel file, a PDF, a photo of a sheet or a Google Sheets or Docs link, and the AI import sorts it into events, clients, recipes and inventory. From then on the booking, quote, shifts and pick list sit on one record, and the whole team sees the same thing. The first 2 months are free with everything included: garnify.com/en.