customexcelspreadsheets.com

Open to Buy Inventory Spreadsheet for Retail

admin — Tue, 05 Aug 2025 17:29:35 +0000

Understanding and Leveraging Open to Buy to Master Your Retail Inventory

Managing inventory can make or break a retail business. Buy too much, and your cash
is tied up in products that may not sell. Buy too little, and you miss sales opportunities.
That’s where Open to Buy (OTB) comes in—a simple, strategic tool that helps retailers
plan their inventory purchases with confidence.

What Is Open to Buy?

Open to Buy (OTB) is a retail inventory planning system. It helps you determine how much inventory you can and should purchase during a specific period—usually a month or a season—based on your sales plan, inventory levels, and desired stock levels.

Combine this with lead times and you’ll know just what to order and when.
In plain terms, OTB helps you answer the critical question:

How much inventory should I order this month without overspending or understocking?

Why Is OTB So Useful?

OTB isn’t just for big retailers with complex systems. It’s valuable for anyone who needs to stay on top of inventory and cash flow. Here’s why:

Avoid Overbuying: No more shelves full of dead stock.

Prevent Stockouts: Stay in-stock on the items that drive your revenue.

Free Up Cash Flow: Know when to hold back on purchasing to avoid tying up
your money.

Make Smarter Buying Decisions: Align inventory purchases with sales
forecasts.

Quick Visibility: With just a few inputs, you get a clear, at-a-glance picture of
your inventory situation.

Who Should Use OTB?

Open to Buy is ideal for:

Brick-and-mortar retail owners (boutiques, specialty shops, etc.)

Ecommerce store owners

Inventory managers and buyers

Pop-up or seasonal sellers

Any retailer who orders inventory regularly

Even if you’re running a small operation, OTB can bring much-needed structure and foresight to your purchasing decisions. Generally speaking, OTB makes the most sense for retailers with a large number of unique items (SKUs) that need to be managed and ordered.

How to Calculate OTB

You can calculate Open to Buy for a product or location using a very simple formula:

Open to Buy = Projected Sales + Planned Ending Inventory – Beginning Inventory –
Already On Order

Planned Sales: How much you expect to sell during the month or period.

Ending Inventory: How much inventory you want to have left at the end of the
period.

Beginning Inventory: The amount of inventory you have at the beginning of the
period.

Already On Order: The amount of inventory you have already ordered and
expect to receive during that month or period.

Sounds pretty simple right? It can be, but putting it into practice can also get confusing quickly. That’s why we’ve created the how-to-guide below which will show you how to build your own spreadsheet for calculating OTB at your business.

Make Your Own OTB Spreadsheet

Inventory, sales, data, calculations… this sounds like a job for Microsoft Excel! Below, we’ll walk through how to create your own spreadsheet, but first it’s worth asking upfront if this really is a job for Excel or not. For example, if you manage 3 store locations with 100 products each, you could be looking at anywhere between 50,000 to 250,000 calculations.

The good news is that, either way, we’ve got you covered! Below we’ll show you how to build a spreadsheet, but if you need something more robust, you can click here to talk to one of our specialists about a custom OTB tool that still uses Excel on the front end, but that has a much more powerful engine for crunching numbers and managing relationships between parameters. Instead of having 20 spreadsheets with 400 tabs, you can have a single spreadsheet that does everything you need in one place.

Now, onto the OTB spreadsheet tutorial….

The simplest way to create an OTB spreadsheet is to set up the columns and rows as shown below.

Month – enter the months for the duration of your analysis. Typically, sales should be projected 24 months into the future if possible.

Projected Sales – enter the projected sales for each month.

COGS – calculate your cost of goods sold (COGS) with this formula: =B5*(1-0.45) and replace the 0.45 with your gross profit margin or discount from the supplier. This formula can be copied all the way down.

Ending Inventory – this setup is designed to work around a target Inventory Turnover (how often a company sells through its inventory over a given period—usually a year). If your target inventory turnover is 4 times per year, that would be once every 3 months. In that case the formula in cell D5 would be =SUM(C6:C8) which is the sum of COGS over the next 3 months. If your target turnover is 2, the formula would sum the following 6 months of COGS. The copy can then be copied down.

Beginning Inventory – In cell E5 of the example, you should manually type in the beginning inventory value.

Note: this must be expressed at cost, not retail value. Then in cell E6 use the formula =D5 and copy it down the table in that column. The beginning inventory is always the prior period’s Ending Inventory.

On Order – This column allows you to record inventory that is currently on order that has not been received yet. There are a couple things to keep in mind when filling out this column: (1) be sure to enter the order value at cost, (2) the order amount should be entered in the period (e.g., month) when the items are expected to arrive, not when they were ordered.

Purchases (OTB) – In cell G5 of the example, use the formula =C5+D5-E5-F5 to
calculate the Open to Buy value for the month. This is the same formula that was
discussed earlier in this article: Open to Buy = Projected Sales + Planned Ending
Inventory – Beginning Inventory – Already On Order. This formula can also be copied down the table.

See the completed example below.

If you have any trouble setting up your Open to Buy calculator, or need help with a more advanced solution, click the button below to speak with someone from our team.

Future Weeks of Stock (FWOS)

Our example above used a target turnover rate. However, some businesses prefer to instead target Forward Weeks of Stock (FWOS) which is more granular and helps you understand how long your current inventory will last based on your future sales projections.

FWOS = Current Inventory ÷ Average Weekly Forecasted Sales

Using FWOS instead of turnover rate adds a more granular time dimension to your inventory picture, and one that can be varied seasonally as needed. Rather than using a projected inventory turnover, you stipulate how many weeks the product needs to last which may be driven by other factors such as re-order windows, minimum orders from suppliers or supplier lead times.

Example:

If you have 300 units in stock and expect to sell 100 units per week, your FWOS is 3 weeks. That tells you you’ll run out in three weeks unless you restock. If that item has a Target Weeks of Stock (TWOS) of 4 weeks, then you are understocked and the calculator would show the Open to Buy amount needed to bring the projected FWOS into alignment with your target weeks of stock (TWOS).

Use FWOS to prioritize your buying within OTB: items with low FWOS and strong sales should be ordered first. Setting up a calculator this way requires a more advanced financial model and is beyond the scope of this post. If you need help setting up this style OTB, you can book a free call with someone from our team using the button below.

OTB-Driven Order Reports

A big practical benefit of OTB planning is that it naturally leads to a targeted order
report. Once you;ve calculated how much you're open to buy (per category or vendor), your spreadsheet or reporting tool can:

List exactly which items need to be reordered
Rank them by urgency based on stock levels or sales velocity
Filter out overstocked items, so you don’t waste budget replenishing the wrong products

Instead of guessing or reacting to out-of-stocks, you can make data-driven purchasing decisions that align with your sales goals and inventory targets. This turns your spreadsheet into a daily or weekly command center for purchasing.
This functionality is best accomplished by writing VBA scripts to pull and summarize the information the way you want to see it. You may also want to see overstocked items so that you can run discounts, promotions or giveaways, and this style reporting is perfect for identifying those items as well. If you need help automating this style reporting, click here to speak with someone from our team.

Rolling Forecasts & Regular Updates

OTB works best when it’s updated regularly. Markets shift, trends change, and sales can surprise you—for better or worse. By reviewing your OTB and FWOS monthly (or even weekly), you can adjust your plan to stay on track.

Keep in mind:

Sales plans may need tweaking based on real-world results
Inventory data must be accurate—OTB is only as good as your numbers
Seasonality and promotions can temporarily throw off your metrics

Importing Sales & POS Data

As wonderful as the Open to Buy (OTB) spreadsheet is at helping you manage your retail inventory efficiently, it will only work well if it is supported by good data. Sometimes, that means a LOT of data.

Manually entering or even copying and pasting the sales, PO and inventory data into your spreadsheet can be a major hassle and exhaustively time consuming. That’s why we recommend setting up some reliable automation for getting data into your OTB calculator spreadsheet.

There are 3 main ways of accomplishing this, depending on where the data is stored (i.e., what software you are using for POS and inventory management):

Export-Import: Most modern software can export any and all data you need to an excel or csv (comma separated value) document. You can then set up an import
tool in your OTB spreadsheet using vba programming that ‘consumes’ the export
file, importing it into your spreadsheet and performing any necessary data
transformations in the process.

PowerQuery: Excel’s built-in data-import tool is called PowerQuery. It can be
used to import data from an export file without the need for vba programming. In
some cases it can also be used to form direct connections that import the data
automatically when refreshed.

API: Larger software platforms have APIs (application programming interfaces).
Using VBA programming in Excel, code can be written that pulls information into
the spreadsheet directly from the source program using their secure API tokens.

As always, if you need help setting up these more advanced features in your spreadsheet, you can book a call with our team.

Can Excel Handle It?

As we mentioned upfront, for larger-scale operations and businesses with hundreds of items or multiple locations, Excel may not be the best fit. The reasons for this are primarily:

Speed – massive amounts of data-crunching may overload Excel’s calculation
engine resulting in slow performance or frequent crashes.

Ease of Maintenance – maintaining all of this data, the relationships and the
calculations in Excel may grow excessively cumbersome past a certain point.

Potential for Errors – when formulas are used in Excel, there is always the
possibility that a user will accidentally delete or edit a formula, leading to errors
that are extremely challenging to detect or chase down once discovered.

Push-Pull Capability – in Excel, each cell is either a formula for calculation, or a
cell for data entry. You can push data in or pull out a result by formula, but no cell
can do both. This means if you want to edit a result and see how it effects the
model, there’s no easy way of doing so.

To better serve the needs of clients where the considerations above are a priority, we have partnered with a technology group that creates fully-customized solutions with Excel as the user-interface, but with a much more robust calculation engine operating in the background, which solves all of the problems listed above. To find out more about this solution, send us a message or book a call with one of our specialists to discuss.

The post Open to Buy Inventory Spreadsheet for Retail appeared first on customexcelspreadsheets.com.

A Business Owner’s Guide to Sales Commissions

Colton Cauthen — Wed, 29 Nov 2023 11:46:26 +0000

Introduction

For business owners and sales professionals alike, selling your products or services is critical to success. One of the tried-and-true drivers for achieving that success is something called “commissions.” Sales commissions are the monetary incentive paid to salespeople and representatives based on the sales they generate. The more you sell, the more you make— everyone wins, right?

Well, at least in theory.

In practice it’s actually not that simple. Selecting the wrong commission structure or poor implementation of a solid commission structure can lead to disastrous consequences. Commissions can be like a rocket propelling your business and career to new heights. But a lot can go wrong with rockets and when they crash, they burn. So it is with sales commissions.

That’s why in this article we’re going to look at the fundamentals of commissions— how to structure them, how to track and manage them and what features you should consider when implementing a commission system.

Commission Structures

Choosing the right commission structure is a pivotal decision for businesses aiming to incentivize their sales teams effectively. There are several approaches to commission structures, each with their own set of advantages and disadvantages.

Percentage of Sales

The most straightforward and widely used model is the “Percentage of Sales” approach. In this method, salespeople earn a fixed percentage of the total sales they generate. It’s a simple and transparent system, aligning incentives with revenue. However, it’s essential to carefully set the percentage to ensure it both motivates sales and aligns with the company’s profit margins.

Tiered Commission

Another approach is the “Tiered Commission” structure, where the commission rate increases as sales targets are surpassed. This model encourages sales reps to push beyond baseline goals, fostering a sense of achievement and higher earnings for exceptional performance. This approach leverages the same powerful psychological principles that are behind some of the most successful (and addicting) games in the world and can provide a noticeable boost to sales performance if done well.

Nevertheless, clear communication of the tiered structure is crucial to avoid misunderstandings and to motivate the team effectively. This can also add considerable complexity to calculating and tracking commissions. With the right system in place, this is no problem, but if you’re doing it by hand this could get messy.

Profit Margin

For businesses with diverse product lines, or more complex services and flexible pricing which can be under-sold by salespeople, the “Profit Margin” approach could be beneficial. Instead of a fixed percentage of sales, commissions are based on the profitability of each sale. Instead of directly incentivizing sales (gross revenue), this method incentivizes increasing profits, which by implication impacts revenue as well, of course. This approach protects the interests of the company from salespeople low-balling pricing in order to be able to close a sale, for example.

One of the biggest challenges with this method is accurate tracking. Depending on the business, it can be difficult to accurately calculate or predict profit and if the salesperson does not have a good idea of how much profit is associated with a particular sale, then the incentivizing power of commissions will be greatly diminished. Additionally, if other things outside of the salesperson’s control are impacting the profitability of his or her sales, this can be demotivating and frustrating.

Hybrid Commissions

Lastly, the “Hybrid Commission” model combines different elements, often blending a fixed base salary with commissions. This approach offers stability while maintaining the motivational aspect of performance-based pay. Striking the right balance between fixed and variable compensation is key to ensuring both financial stability for the sales team and the drive to exceed sales targets.

Conclusion

Ultimately, the choice of commission structure depends on the unique dynamics of the business, its products or services, and the desired sales culture. A thoughtful evaluation of these factors will guide business owners toward a commission structure that not only motivates their sales force but also aligns with the overall strategic objectives of the company. Here’s a challenge: think outside the box. If everyone in your industry is taking a particular approach, try to figure out if that’s justified or if maybe a more creative commission structure could give you a leg up on the competition.

Automating Commissions

Automating commission tracking and management is a game-changer for businesses seeking efficiency and accuracy in their sales operations. In the fast-paced world of sales, relying on manual processes for tracking commissions can be time-consuming and error-prone, bogging down your process and diminishing trust and motivation amongst your sales team. Automation not only streamlines the entire commission management workflow but also brings a host of additional benefits to the table.

One of the primary advantages already mentioned is the reduction of errors. Automated systems eliminate the risk of miscalculations or oversights that may occur with more manual approaches to tracking. This ensures that sales representatives are accurately compensated which helps maintain trust and morale within the sales team, allowing the incentive system to do its job.

Efficiency is another key driver. Automation expedites the commission calculation process, allowing for timely payouts and thereby minimizing delays on something most people take pretty seriously— getting paid! This efficiency is important because without it, the gains of a well-designed commission structure will be offset by losses in the implementation of that structure as key employees get bogged down performing calculations and trying to track and manage large sets of data.

Moreover, automated commission tracking can provide valuable transparency and the opportunity for fine-tuning. With the right system, both sales representatives and management can access real-time data, gaining insights into individual and team performance. This transparency fosters a culture of accountability and allows for quick adjustments or interventions when needed.

In summary, automating commission tracking and management is not just a matter of convenience; it’s a strategic investment in accuracy, efficiency, and overall sales team performance and satisfaction. Whether through dedicated software or integrated CRM solutions, businesses can leverage automation to navigate the complexities of commission management with ease, ensuring that their sales force remains focused on what they do best—driving revenue.

Commission Tracking Solutions

Businesses have various options for automating commission tracking, ranging from specialized commission management software to integrated customer relationship management (CRM) systems to custom spreadsheets. These solutions offer features such as customizable commission structures, performance analytics, and seamless integration with other business processes.

Additionally, cloud-based platforms provide accessibility and flexibility, allowing users to track commissions from anywhere, at any time. This is especially beneficial for businesses with remote or distributed sales teams.

Especially for small-to-medium sized businesses, a customized spreadsheet can often do everything they need while providing tremendous flexibility for securing a system that does exactly what they need at an affordable price. Some Excel or Google Sheets-savvy professionals may even tackle setting up the commission spreadsheet themselves. If this option is appealing to you, check out our blog posts on how to set up commission tracking spreadsheets in Excel and Google Sheets.

Selecting the right commission management solution for your business can be challenging. Take the time to evaluate several of the available options before committing to one— it takes more time and effort upfront but can pay major dividends down the road.

Features to Consider

When selecting a commission management and tracking system, business owners and sales managers should look for features that align with their specific needs and contribute to the overall effectiveness of their sales operations. A robust system should offer not just automation but a suite of tools that enhance transparency, customization, and adaptability. Below are a few things you may want to look for in selecting or building the ideal commission management system for your business.

Customizable Commission Structures: A one-size-fits-all approach rarely suits the diverse nature of sales teams and products. Look for a system that allows customization of commission structures to accommodate varying compensation models, from percentage-based commissions to tiered structures or hybrid models.

Easy Reporting and Analytics: Timely insights are invaluable. A comprehensive system should provide powerful, easy-to-access reporting and analytics, offering visibility into individual and team performance. This capability empowers managers to make informed decisions, identify trends, and quickly adjust strategies as needed.

Salesperson Report Automation: Most salespeople like to see a report that breaks down how their commission was calculated each pay cycle. They also like to see how they are performing against benchmark KPIs or in comparison to the team as a whole. These two features combined in a regular, automated reporting system help build trust through transparency and provide motivation and feedback without the sales manager or business owner having to do anything. Implementing a system that can automatically email all of your salespeople a customized report like this can be a game-changer.

Integration with CRM and Sales Platforms: Seamless integration with Customer Relationship Management (CRM) and sales platforms is crucial for a cohesive workflow. This integration ensures that commission data is synchronized with other aspects of the sales process, eliminating the need for manual data entry and reducing the risk of errors.

Flexible Payout Options: Different sales teams may have unique preferences regarding how they receive their commissions. A flexible system should accommodate various payout options, whether it’s direct deposit, checks, or other methods, providing convenience for sales representatives.

Performance Tracking and Goal Setting: A commission management system should support the tracking of individual and team performance against established goals. The ability to set, monitor, and adjust sales targets within the system contributes to a proactive approach in optimizing sales strategies.

User-Friendly Interface: The user interface plays a pivotal role in the overall user experience. An intuitive and user-friendly system ensures that both sales representatives and administrators can navigate the platform with ease, reducing the learning curve and fostering widespread adoption.

Audit Trail and Security: Transparency is essential for trust in commission processes. An audit trail feature provides a record of all changes made within the system, ensuring accountability. Additionally, robust security measures protect sensitive commission data, instilling confidence in the system’s reliability.

Scalability: As businesses grow and evolve, the commission management system should scale accordingly. A scalable solution can adapt to changes in the size and structure of the sales team, ensuring continued effectiveness as the business expands.

By considering and prioritizing these features in their commission management and tracking system planning, business owners and sales managers will be much better prepared to select the right option for their unique business needs.

Hiring a Consultant

Hiring a consultant to assist in selecting the optimal commission structure and management/ tracking solution can be a strategic move for businesses aiming to navigate the complex landscape of sales compensation effectively. A consultant brings a wealth of industry knowledge, experience, and an objective perspective to the table. Their expertise allows them to assess the unique needs and dynamics of a business, guiding stakeholders towards a commission structure that aligns with organizational goals and motivates the salesforce. Given the complexity of the options available and how crucial commission systems can be to the success of a business, hiring a consultant can provide an excellent ROI.

Consultants can conduct a thorough analysis of current sales processes, team dynamics, and financial considerations. This comprehensive evaluation ensures that the chosen commission structure is not only tailored to the specific requirements of the business but also takes into account industry benchmarks and best practices. Moreover, they can provide valuable insights into the latest trends and emerging technologies in commission management and tracking, helping businesses stay competitive in a rapidly evolving market.

In the realm of technology, a consultant can assist in identifying the most suitable commission management and tracking solution. Their in-depth understanding of available platforms, features, and integration capabilities allows them to recommend a system that not only meets current needs but is also scalable for future growth. The consultant can facilitate vendor evaluations, ensuring that the selected solution aligns with the business’s unique requirements, budget constraints, and long-term objectives. By engaging a consultant in the process, businesses can make informed decisions, avoid common pitfalls, and implement a commission structure and tracking system that becomes a catalyst for sales success.

Conclusion

If your company has sales personnel that close deals or manage client accounts, commissions are going to be one of the pillars of your business. Getting those commissions right can help you outperform the competition, retain employees long-term, and ultimately make your business more profitable.

In this article, we covered some of the key considerations you’ll need to work through in order to make the right decisions for your business when it comes to which commission structure to use, what kind of platform to use to manage your team’s commissions and what features you’ll want to have included in the solution you select.

Given the importance of this topic, don’t be afraid to reach out to others for help. Whether that be successful business owners and sales managers in your network, or a paid consultant. Taking the time to get this right will pay off big time in the long run!

The post A Business Owner’s Guide to Sales Commissions appeared first on customexcelspreadsheets.com.

Excel vs. SaaS Quoting Software: Which is Right for Your Business?

Colton Cauthen — Thu, 19 Oct 2023 12:43:27 +0000

Introduction

For many businesses, quotes are the gateway for new customers and revenue. That means if your quoting process is slow, tedious, error-prone, confusing or unprofessional, this will be your potential customer’s initial impression of your business and the bottleneck restricting your overall success. It also means that selecting the right tool for your quoting process can be a major lever for increasing revenue, maximizing profit, and decreasing stress in the office.

So what is the best quoting software for your business to use? Is it Excel, Google Sheets, Quickbooks, or SaaS solutions like PandaDoc or Jobber? There’s a lot of confusing (and conveniently self-serving) advice on this topic available on the internet. That’s why we’re going to cut through the clutter and provide an easy to follow, detailed guide to help you make the right decision with your best interest in mind.

Overview of Options

When it comes to generating quotes for your business, you have 3 main options to choose from:

1. Software as a Service (SaaS) solutions like PandaDoc, Jobber and QuoteWerks. There are many options to choose from and each one has it’s own pros and cons. The best ones are fairly intuitive to use, provide access anywhere with a cloud-based solution and offer some customization for your business.

2. Custom Spreadsheets (Microsoft Excel or Google Sheets). Much to the chagrin of new SaaS startups, Excel continues to be an extremely popular choice for managing quotes, invoices and price sheets especially for small to medium sized businesses. But like any solution, it’s not a one-size fits all and is not the best fit for every business.

3. Spreadsheet Templates. Pre-built Excel and Google Sheets quoting templates also remain a relatively popular solution, at least as a starting point for small businesses.

In addition to the options listed above, some businesses are still operating manually using pen, paper and calculator. This information may then be handed to a customer in paper format, or may be transferred into a basic quote generator like PayPal, Quickbooks or Stripe. This method is not recommended for most businesses and will not be discussed in detail here.

How to Decide

Which Option is Best for You and Your Business?

So which quoting solution is best for your business? Here is the answer no one wants to tell you. It depends. The rest of this guide is going to help you understand the pro’s and con’s to each option more thoroughly and will give you an easy-to-use decision matrix for determining which route to go for your business.

Understanding Your Priorities and Preferences

One of the first things you need to do is get some clarity surrounding what is important to you as a business owner/manager. We’ll start with some helpful questions to guide you through the process. Later you’ll see which solutions are best for you based on how you answer these and other questions.

Rigid vs. Flexible

Are you okay with substantially changing the way you do things now to conform to a pre-built template someone else has created?
Do you mind having limitations and restrictions around how your quotes come together and what the end result looks like? Or is it important to you to have the flexibility to structure everything so that it perfectly fits your business and preferences?
Are you likely to change the way you do things down the road, or have you got a process figured out that is unlikely change in the future?
Does your solution need to be ready to scale up, or are you fine with something that works at your current scale with a little upward buffer?

Niche and Detailed vs. Generic and Broad

Does your business operate in a broad market where a generic quoting system would do the trick, or a niche market with more complex quoting rules?
Is your method for quoting projects simple like a list of pre-defined materials or labor units at a single price? Or is it more complex with cascading options, variable pricing or unique quoting rules like ‘item A and item B can never be quoted together’ or ‘anytime A is quoted, items B and C should also be added’?

Pricing

Do you need something as cheap as possible (maybe even free) just to get by, or are you ready to invest in a solution that can help your business get to the next level?
Do you like the idea of paying $50 – $500/month for SaaS, or would you prefer to have a one-time expense upfront and have an asset that you own and can continue using indefinitely?

SaaS Options

What is SaaS?

In simple terms, SaaS (Software as a Service) is a software suite provided via the internet and typically used on your web browser, though some offer desktop programs as well. Most SaaS companies use a subscription model where you pay a monthly or annual fee, and in exchange are given access to use the software for your company’s needs.

Benefits to Using SaaS Quoting Solutions

As mentioned earlier, good SaaS solutions are mostly intuitive once you spend some time learning them. They tend to provide a good user experience which allows you to build quotes much more quickly than some alternatives, while getting a professional looking product at the end to share with your customers and producing reliable quotes you can count on. Additionally, many of them provide options to integrate with other platforms like payment and accounting services (PayPal, Stripe, QBO).

Another reason to consider using SaaS for your business quotations is if your company needs to have many different users with user-friendly mobile and desktop access. Not all SaaS options provide this, and most will have different pricing based on user counts, but in general SaaS may be the best fit if your company needs to accommodate 5 or more integrated (rather than stand-alone) users.

SaaS solutions tend to be great for business where a one-size-fits-all generic quoting system will do the trick just fine and for business owners who are not very particular about the way things are done— meaning they don’t mind using a somewhat rigid system with restrictions set by someone else opposed to being able to decide how everything looks and what features they have. SaaS solutions can also be very attractive for specific industries where a SaaS platform has been tailored to meet the needs of that industry.

Drawbacks to Using SaaS Quoting Solutions

One potential concern with SaaS solutions is that there is no guarantee the SaaS you select will not go out of business or be bought out by another company which substantially changes or discontinues it. It’s important to remember that many SaaS startups have an exit strategy— their whole goal is to get big enough to garner the attention of a major platform who will buy them out. Ultimately, you are at their mercy when this happens, so when possible it may be best to select a company that has been around for a while and has a very large and well-established customer base.

Another problem with SaaS solutions is a lack of customizability. If your business has a unique quoting process, complex quoting rules or multiple levels of products and materials, for example, you may feel like you are trying to fit a square peg into a round hole. The way SaaS companies work is by providing a relatively generic solution that works for a large number of their customers. If you happen to be one of those, that can be great. If not, the experience can be frustrating and costly as you try a variety of SaaS solutions only to find out none of them are configured to accommodate your unique needs.

Pricing

When it comes to pricing, most are affordable and provide a low barrier of entry since you pay monthly rather than a lump sum upfront. However, they do require you to pay monthly (or annually) for as long as you want to use their service, and they can change their pricing any time. Depending on your needs and the SaaS solution you select, you can expect to invest anywhere from $6k – $20k over the next 10 years.

Custom Spreadsheets

What is a Custom Spreadsheet?

A custom built spreadsheet quoting system is what you get when you hire a spreadsheet expert to build a custom quoting tool for you using Excel or Google Sheets.

Benefits to Using a Custom Spreadsheet Quoting System

One reason so many business owners prefer this option is that it doesn’t require them to change their whole system to conform to someone else’s structure. Instead, you get a quoting system that is tailored to your exact needs with virtually no limitations. You can decide exactly what tools are available to you, how they work, where they are placed and what the end result looks like. You can also integrate your tool with other services like PayPal, Stripe and other spreadsheets.

Another big advantage is that it doesn’t require you or your staff to learn new software and because Microsoft Excel has been around for almost 4 decades and is one of the most widely used business software platforms around, you can rest assured it isn’t going anywhere.

Excel also provides virtually unlimited import and export capabilities and can easily be integrated with other spreadsheets and some other platforms your business may be using. Because it is completely customizable, Excel can be used to extend your business’s quoting system to also include KPIs or metrics dashboards all in once place.

Drawbacks to Custom Spreadsheet Quoting Solutions

While integration between spreadsheets in Excel or Google Sheets and other CRM, accounting and payment platforms is typically possible, it can be expensive to implement and may not be as seamless as the more robust integration capabilities of a well-developed SaaS solution.

Pricing

When it comes to pricing, you pay for the tool to be developed initially and then have an asset that you own and that gives your business a competitive advantage. Depending on the complexity of the system needed, pricing typically ranges from $1,000 – $4,000.

Summary

In summary, using a custom spreadsheet for your business quoting system is ideal for business owners who are operating in a niche or industry that is not well-suited to the more generic SaaS options available and for those who want to have maximum control over how the tool works and what features it has. Backed by visual basic programming, custom-built Excel programs can be extremely powerful and versatile.

If you are interested in exploring this option in detail, or speaking with a consultant who can help you decide which tool is best for you and your business, click the button below to schedule a free consultation with one of our experts.

Excel Templates

What is an Excel Template?

Pre-built Excel templates are templates you can find online which have been pre-designed and developed as quoting tools for businesses. Some are free, while others are paid. These files can be downloaded directly from the internet, or may be provided to you in an email after signing up or issuing payment.

Benefits to Using Excel Quoting Templates

The advantage to using pre-built Excel templates for your quoting system is that they are cheap and easy to find. If your business quoting system is extremely simple and generic, you may be able to find a great template for under $100 and never have to pay another dime, while using something that does everything you need.

Another potential advantage is that since these templates are built using Microsoft Excel or Google Sheets, they are technically customizable. We’ll explore the difficulty of customizing them in the next section.

Drawbacks to Using Excel Quoting Templates

Aside from the most basic and generic quoting needs, this option is typically a disappointing one. Every template will have it’s restrictions and they can be very challenging to customize on your own if you do not have advanced Excel or Google Sheets knowledge and experience.

Additionally, if something breaks or is not working properly with the template, then your options for getting support will be limited at best.

Lastly, because the person creating the template did not have you or your business specifically in mind when doing so, there may be hidden issues that result in errors due to a mismatch in the design of the template and your use of it.

Warning: If you decide to try this route, be sure to only download and use files from trustworthy sources. Excel files can contain malicious code that can harm your computer.

Pricing

Pricing for templates can vary from free ($0) to $250, but are typically less than $100.

Summary

This option can be good for very basic needs on a small budget. Otherwise, it is not usually the best fit due to the limitations on customization, features and support.

If you think this might be the right solution for you, check out my blog post here, where I share my favorite free and paid quote templates.

Decision Matrix

In this blog post, we’ve covered how to select the best quoting system for your business as well as the pro’s and con’s associated with the three most popular options on the market. To simplify the decision process for you, I’ve compiled a decision matrix below that you can use as a guide to select the option that best fits your preferences and priorities.

Conclusion

Selecting the right quoting solution for your business is a critical decision. Getting the right fit for your quoting needs will save you time, reduce stress and provide you with one of the tools you need to operate your business effectively and impress your customers.

There are many solutions available, with the three most common falling into the categories of SaaS, custom spreadsheets and spreadsheet templates. While many articles are written to steer their readers in a particular direction, the purpose of this blog was to provide you with a guide for figuring out which solution is the best fit for you and your business based on your unique needs and preferences. In this case, there is no one solution that is best for everyone.

The post Excel vs. SaaS Quoting Software: Which is Right for Your Business? appeared first on customexcelspreadsheets.com.

How to Fix ANY Macro Debug Error in Excel (Guaranteed)

Colton Cauthen — Wed, 13 Sep 2023 11:18:47 +0000

Introduction

Excel Macros are amazing… when they actually work. But when you try to run a macro in Excel and get a debug error like the one shown below, all that macro-fueled efficiency comes to a screeching halt, and in some cases, so does your business.

Macro errors in Excel can be frustrating and leave you feeling helpless. That’s why in this post I’m going to tell you what you need to know to solve ANY and EVERY macro problem you will ever encounter. That’s a big promise, but after 15+ years of experience, I’ve compiled a list of four methods and resources that can get you out of any macro nightmare so you can get back up and running (without sacrificing your sanity).

Quick Guide

While I would recommend familiarizing yourself with all four of the available methods outlined in this post, I have put together a quick guide below that will help direct you to the best macro debugging solution for your current situation.

The table above should give you a general idea of the solution that would work best for you based on your Excel skills, available time, budget and data sensitivity. Below we’ll dive into each of the 4 options for debugging your spreadsheet, one at a time.

Hire An Expert

By far the fastest, most reliable solution is to hire an Excel programming and VBA macro expert. With this approach, you can be in touch with an Excel pro in a matter of minutes and could have a solution in place in less than 48 hours.

Advantages of Hiring an Excel Expert

The main advantages of this approach are:

It is the fastest way to get a solution.
It requires no Excel expertise on your part.
It requires very little of your own time to reach a solution.
It allows you to share workbooks with sensitive information which can be protected under an NDA.
It is the most reliable (and only guaranteed) way to get a solution.
It may have the added benefit of further improving or optimizing your spreadsheet.

Disadvantages of Hiring an Excel Expert

The only downside to this approach is cost. Hiring an Excel expert to solve your problem could cost anywhere from $100 to $1,000+ depending on how severe/complex the problem is. Sometimes these costs can be easily justified by the time they save and how quickly they get you back up and running. But if your problem is not urgent and the macro error can be debugged without a major investment of your time, one of other the options below may be the way to go.

How to Hire a Macro-Debugging Expert

Getting started with this option is easy! Just click the button below to book a free consultation with an Excel vba expert at CES. During your consultation, you can show them the error that has you stumped and they may even be able to fix it for you on the call (at no cost). Otherwise, they’ll collect the relevant information needed to understand the problem and give you a quote for getting the spreadsheet debugged.

Excel Forums

One relatively easy, no-cost way to get a solution to many macro problems is to use a free Excel Forum site (I’ll recommend my favorite ones below). To get started you’ll need to create and verify your account. Then you simply create a post and ask the community for help with your problem. Some sites will even allow you to upload your spreadsheet.

As long as you take the time to clearly and thoroughly pose your question, an Excel guru in the community will typically help you solve your problem.

The downsides and limitations to this approach are:

Not a good fit if you have to share your file to get a solution and the file contains sensitive information.
Requires time creating an account and posting your question, followed by some back and forth and trial-and-error implementation of suggested solutions.
Not guaranteed to solve every macro problem.
It may take several weeks to get a solution.

If you want to try this approach, here are my Excel Forum recommendations. I’ve also written a blog post here with an in-depth review of these forums which I would recommend reading before going this route. Trust me, it will save you some time.

Excel Forum

Mr. Excel Forum

Stack Overflow

DIY Debugging

If neither of the previous options suite you or your situation, you can always resort to debugging the sheet yourself. Once you know a few tips and tricks, it’s actually not as bad as it sounds.

One thing you should know upfront is that this is the most time-consuming, potentially challenging and risky approach. You may spend several hours working on the sheet and end up still getting errors and having to resort to one of the other approaches discussed above.

But for those of you with some time on your hands who like taking the bull by the horns, this section is for you. Below are 4 tips/tricks to dramatically increase your chances of finding and solving the problem with your macro that is generating the debug error.

Tip #1 – Google Search. Do whatever activity generates the debug error in Excel and copy the code and error message. Paste it into Google and search for an explanation of the error. Spending 15-30 minutes on a Google search and doing some reading can go a long way towards helping with the other steps.

Tip #2 – Use Excel’s built-in debug tools. Unless you have some background in visual basic programming or your code is annotated really well, when you first hit “debug” after the macro error appears, the line of code it highlights will probably mean very little to you. In order to see what the sheet is trying to do at that moment (which will sometimes show you right away exactly what the problem is), you need to use these debug tools. Follow the steps below to do a quick debug session.

First, get the Visual Basic window and the regular Excel window both open. If you have two monitors/screens, that’s perfect. If not, just position them side-by-side on your one monitor.

#1 – Hit the Reset Button in the Visual Basic window toolbar.

#2 – Left-click to get your mouse cursor in the name of the Sub Routine you are trying to debug. (see example screenshot below).

#3 – Hit F8 on your keyboard. This steps into the vba code. Continue hitting the F8 key to step through the code one line at a time, while monitoring what the code is doing in the spreadsheet. Continue this until you get to the line of code that generates the error and take note of what the spreadsheet was doing/trying to do. (Tip: if you have code that runs loops which could mean hitting F8 hundreds of times, you can use the “step over” or “run to cursor” features under the “Debug” menu to get passed these loops.

#4 – Another helpful debug tool is the “Locals” window which will track the values being passed to variables as the code runs. To turn this on go to View > Locals Window.

#5 – An even more advanced feature than the “Locals” window is the “Watch Window” which can be accessed under View > Watch Window. With the window open, you can highlight variables from the code and drag and drop them into the watch window, add functions to/around them and monitor their results.

If you want more information an the tools described above, I recommend heading over to YouTube and searching for “beginner’s guide to vba debugging in Excel.”

Tip #3 – Compare Previous Versions

If you have a version of the sheet that works properly, compare the two sheets side by side to see what is different? Here are some common culprits to look out for:

Added or deleted columns
Added or deleted rows, especially above tables and data ranges
Filters applied to tables
Re-named or deleted tabs at the bottom of the workbook

Artificial Intelligence

If used properly, free Artificial Intelligence models like OpenAI’s ChatGPT can be a major asset for debugging macros in Excel.

If you don’t already have an account, you can create a free ChatGPT account here. Once you’re logged in, use the chat interface to describe your problem and ask for guidance on identifying and solving the problem. To make this even easier for you, here’s a template prompt you can copy and paste into the chat:

I have a spreadsheet in Microsoft Excel with a macro. When I run the macro it is supposed to [insert your description here]. But when I run it, instead I get a debug error that reads “[insert debug error code and message here].” I’m trying to figure out what is causing this problem. Can you give me some guidance?

The video below shows just how easy it is to enter a prompt like this and get instant, detailed feedback from the artificial intelligence model on how to fix your macro error.

Assuming the macro code doesn’t exceed the limit for ChatGPT’s prompt length, you can also copy and paste the code directly into the ChatGPT prompt as part of your discussion with the artificial intelligence. Consider telling ChatGPT that you are pasting the macro code that is generating the error, along with the error message and asking if it has any recommendations on how to modify the code to solve the problem.

WARNING: Make sure you save a back up of your spreadsheet elsewhere before making any of the changes recommended by ChatGPT. The AI behind it may solve your problem within minutes, or it may suggest changes that make the code completely unusable in your spreadsheet— remember, it can’t see the spreadsheet you are using and so is relying on your descriptions.

Conclusion

Even the best Excel users sometimes get stumped. Some of the most common and frustrating problems that pop up and render your favorite spreadsheet useless are related to Excel macros due to a problem with the vba code. Thankfully, you’re not alone! There are Excel experts for hire, an Excel community on Excel help forums and even Artificial Intelligence that can help you figure out what’s causing your debug error and get it resolved. Using a combination of the tips, tricks and resources outlined above, you can get out of any macro-induced nightmare.

The post How to Fix ANY Macro Debug Error in Excel (Guaranteed) appeared first on customexcelspreadsheets.com.

How to Calculate Commissions Using Excel

Colton Cauthen — Fri, 11 Aug 2023 21:02:37 +0000

Introduction

In the world of sales, accurately calculating and tracking commissions is crucial for both the success of your sales team and the overall growth of your business. A well-designed commission system not only motivates your sales representatives but also ensures fairness and transparency in rewarding their efforts. While there are several other tools available for commission management, Microsoft Excel stands out as a versatile and accessible option that provides a wide range of functionalities to streamline and automate the process.

In this blog post, I’ll walk you through the process of calculating and tracking commissions for your sales team using Microsoft Excel based on my experience helping hundreds of other businesses. Whether you’re a small business owner, a sales manager, or an aspiring entrepreneur, understanding how to leverage Excel for commission management can save you time and money while greasing the wheels of your sales machine.

Commission Tracking Components

Before you go to town building your own rock star commission spreadsheet, take a few minutes to do some preliminary planning. It will pay dividends, I promise. This section is designed to help you understand the essential components of your commission tracking system before you get started in Excel.

Below are some questions you’ll want to get clarity around as you proceed. If you don’t have answers to all of these just yet, don’t worry— the beauty of Excel is its flexibility. Even so, the more clarity you have at the outset, the better.

What is the ideal commission structure that you want to use for your sales team?
What are all of the rules that make up that commission structure? Think exceptions, thresholds, special conditions based on salesperson position, etc.
Where are you currently recording or processing sales transactions? Will these be manually entered in the spreadsheet, or automatically imported?
Will more than one person need edit-access to the spreadsheet (e.g., to input data)?
Do you allow refunds and if so, how do these impact commission calculations?

Create Commission Spreadsheet

This article assumes you have some how-to Excel knowledge and are familiar with basic terminology and formulas. If that is not the case for you, you may want to reach out to us for customized help instead.

Commission Structure Tab

Open a new workbook in Microsoft Excel and be sure to go ahead and do a Save As to save the file on your computer or network. Then create a Commission Structure tab. This tab should contain any table(s) that are necessary to define the rules of your incentive structure for sales commissions and bonuses. I recommend keeping the information in a single table if possible.

The commission incentive structure you select will largely determine what columns are needed. Below are some common ones I have seen working with clients who use a variety of different incentive structures.

Employee Name – Unique First & Last Name.

Position – If different commission rules apply for different positions, this can provide a clean way to keep track of that.

Base Pay – Amount salesperson gets independent of sales activity (if they are not straight commission)

Commission Rate – Standard commission rate to be applied to sales totals

Override Rate – Percentage of sales payable to a Head of Sales or Sales Manager

Volume Bonus Tier – Threshold where an additional bonus kicks in.

Volume Bonus Basis – What is the basis for this bonus. For example: cash collected; sales closed; contracts executed

Volume Bonus Amount – This can be either a fixed value (e.g., $1,000) or an additional percentage above and beyond the standard commission rate which gets applied to sales beyond the bonus tier.

PIF Bonus Tier – If you want to reward salespeople for deals on which payment is made in full upfront, enter the amount of deals that need to be closed with ‘paid in full’ (PIF) status in order for this bonus to kick in.

PIF Bonus Amount – This can be either a fixed value (e.g., $1,000) or an additional percentage above and beyond the standard commission rate which gets applied to sales beyond the bonus tier.

Tip: Once you have your columns created, enter one row of example data in the table (doesn’t need to be real, you can overwrite it later), then format the range as a table. To do this, highlight the range of the table then go to the Home ribbon in Excel and select Format as Table and pick your color scheme.

Sales Data Tab

Next you will need a tab to record sales data. One approach to consider is temporarily housing new sales data that will be used for the current payroll cycle, then once that commission is processed, this data can be archived to another tab which contains historical sales data.

Another approach is to have a single tab which will contain all sales data in perpetuity. Lastly, if you don’t need or want historical data, you can have a single tab and clear out all sales data after every payroll cycle. Regardless of the approach you take, here is how to set up this critical tab in the spreadsheet.

Again, you will need to create the columns that make the most sense for your unique needs, but below you will find some of the common columns I see and how they are used to help you get started.

Payment Date – Date payment was received.

Customer ID – If you assign unique identifiers to your customers, it can be recorded here.

Customer Email – Email address of customer (if applicable).

Customer Name – Customer first and last name.

Transaction Amount – Amount of the transaction (actual amount paid, which may differ from total sale).

Total Sale Amount – Amount of the deal/sale that was closed, which this payment applies to.

Description – Description of the product or service that was sold.

Payment Source – Stripe, PayPal, Check, etc.

Payment # – If you allow multiple payments, this is where you record whether this is the 1st, 2nd, 3rd, etc. payment being made.

Payment # / Total – If this customer was set up on 3 payments and this is the 2nd of those, this column would display 2 / 3.

Appt Setter Name – The name of the appointment setter associated with this deal/sale (if applicable).

Salesperson Name – The name of the person to be credited with the sale and primary sale commission.

Appt Setter Commission – This will be a formula that calculates the base commission amount generated by this sale for the appointment setter.

Salesperson Commission – This will be a formula that calculates the base commission amount generated by this sale for the salesperson.

Override Commission – This will be a formula that calculates the override commission that will go to the head of sales/ sales manager for this transaction.

We’ll work out the formulas for the table above later. For now the goal is to get the structure of your sales commission spreadsheet built out in Excel.

Commission Calculation (Payroll Report) Tab

Now it’s time to set up the Commission Calculation sheet (aka payroll report tab). This is where you will be able to select a member from your sales team and see a rollup report, as well as a detailed breakdown of where their commissions are coming from. This provides you with the bottom-line summary information you need for Payroll, as well as details for improved transparency.

Create a new tab and rename it Payroll Report (or whatever makes sense to you). How you lay this sheet out will depend on how you plan to use it and what information is important to you and your team. Below is an example calculator report which shows some common information I like to include.

The main sections are:

Employee Selection Cell – this is where you select the specific employee you want to view or process commission payroll for. You can also set it up with an “all” option to see the entire team’s performance.

Date Range Cells – this is where you enter the from and to dates for the current payroll cycle.

Summary of Commission Payment – this section will contain the different amounts that make up the employee’s total payment amount. For simple single-rate, straight-commission employees, this would just be one cell. But often it includes volume bonuses, base pay, standard commission and/or override commission.

Details Table – this section includes a list of all sales that were attributed to the salesperson for the current payroll cycle. I like this because it adds a level of transparency and the opportunity to cross-check to make sure nothing was missed.

See the screenshot below for an example of what this might look like, but feel free to be creative and design a layout that makes sense to you.

Add Excel Formulas

With the structure of the workbook mostly built-out, you can now begin adding in the formulas and features that will make the sheet functional. Since the Commission Structure tab is just a static table(s), we will skip that one and begin with the Sales Data tab.

SALES DATA TAB

While more advanced automation features can be implemented, to avoid getting too complex at this stage, we are going to allow for manual entry in all but 4 columns of this tab.

All of these formulas will use an INDEX / MATCH nested formula approach. However, if you have Microsoft 365 Excel, you will also have access to XLOOKUP which can do the same thing. I do not recommend using VLOOKUP as it may cause issues with the sheet down the road as you make further adjustments.

Appt Setter Commission

This will be a formula that calculates the base commission amount generated by this sale for the appointment setter. Enter this formula on the first row of the Sales data table, in the Appt Setter Commission column. In my example, this is row 2 of the spreadsheet.

#1 – the column in the Commission Structure table that lists the % commission rate for each employee.

#2 – the cell containing the Appointment setter’s name on the Sales Data tab.

#3 – the column in the Commission Structure table that lists the employee names.

#4 – the cell containing the Transaction Amount on the Sales Data tab.

Salesperson Commission

This will be a formula that calculates the base commission amount generated by this sale for the salesperson. Enter this formula on the first row of the Sales data table, in the Appt Setter Commission column. In my example, this is row 2 of the spreadsheet.

#1 – the column in the Commission Structure table that lists the % commission rate for each employee.

#2 – the cell containing the Salesperson’s name on the Sales Data tab.

#3 – the column in the Commission Structure table that lists the employee names.

#4 – the cell containing the Transaction Amount on the Sales Data tab.

Override Commission

This will be a formula that calculates the override commission that will go to the head of sales/ sales manager for this transaction.

#1 – the column in the Commission Structure table that lists the % override rate that each employee generates for the sales manager/head of sales.

#2 – the cell containing the Salesperson’s name on the Sales Data tab.

#3 – the column in the Commission Structure table that lists the employee names.

#4 – the cell containing the Transaction Amount on the Sales Data tab.

PAYROLL REPORT TAB

Now for the really fun part. This tab will be highly-customized to your business and preferences which will dictate the layout and what to include on it.

Step # 1 – Set up the Staff Member drop-down menu.

1. On the Commission Structure tab, select the data (not the header) in the Employee Name column of your table.

2. On the Formulas ribbon, click “Define Name”

3. In the pop-up window, in the Name field, enter “EmployeeName” without any spaces and click “OK.”

4. On the Payroll Report tab, select the cell where you plan to enter the Staff Member’s name to view their payroll report. Then go to the Data ribbon and click “Data Validation.”

5. From the “Allow” drop-down menu, select “List.” Then in the Source field, enter =EmployeeName and click OK. The selected cell should now contain a drop-down menu which will show any employee names you have entered in the Commission Structure table.

Step # 2 – Set up the date range cells.

1. Create two cells where you will enter the start and end date for the payroll report.

2. Enter example dates in each cell which will prompt Excel to format these cells as dates.

Step #3 – Create formulas to summarize payroll information such as payments collected, and commissions earned. Below are some examples that will get you headed in the right direction.

We’ll be using the SUMIFS formula a lot in this section. If you aren’t familiar with how it works, check out my quick tutorial video here, which will teach you everything you need to know about what SUMIFS is and how it works.

Cash Collected Formula: the amount of cash the company collected through this person’s sales or appointment setting for the selected date range.

Use a formula like the following by entering it in the cell where you want the Cash Collected amount to be displayed.

=SUMIFS(Table2[Transaction Amount],Table2[Salesperson],C3,Table2[Payment Date],”>=”&C5,Table2[Payment Date],”<=”&E5)+SUMIFS(Table2[Transaction Amount],Table2[Appt Setter],C3,Table2[Payment Date],”>=”&C5,Table2[Payment Date],”<=”&E5)

Formula Key:

Table2 – Sales Data table

C3 – Replace this with the cell where you select the staff member

C5 – Replace this with the cell where you enter the start date for the payroll cycle.

E5 – Replace this with the cell where you enter the end date for the payroll cycle.

Also note that if you don’t use appointment setters, you won’t need to include the “+” symbol or anything after it in this formula.

Standard Commission Formula – the amount of commission the employee earned based on their standard percent-of-sales commission rate.

=SUMIFS(Table2[Salesperson Commission],Table2[Salesperson],C3,Table2[Payment Date],”>=”&C5,Table2[Payment Date],”<=”&E5)

The formula key from the previous section is exactly the same for this one!

Note: If you are using appointment setters you should duplicate this formula for appointment setters and change the two salesperson fields in the formula to the corresponding appointment setter fields. See the Cash Collected formula above to follow as an example.

Volume Bonus Formula – the fixed bonus amount for crossing the volume bonus threshold on cash received.

=IF(D9>INDEX(Table1[Volume Bonus Tier],MATCH(C3,Table1[Employee Name],0)),INDEX(Table1[Volume Bonus Amount],MATCH(C3,Table1[Employee Name],0)),0)

Formula Key:

C3 – Replace this with the cell where you select the staff member

D9 – Replace this with the cell where you entered the total cash collected formula

Table1 = Commission Structure table

Paid in Full Bonus Formula – the fixed bonus amount for crossing the PIF threshold on cash received for deals paid in full upfront.

=IF(SUMIFS(Table2[Transaction Amount],Table2[Payment ‘# / Total],”1 / 1″,Table2[Salesperson],C3)>INDEX(Table1[PIF Bonus Tier],MATCH(C3,Table1[Employee Name],0)),INDEX(Table1[PIF Bonus Amount],MATCH(C3,Table1[Employee Name],0)),0)

For this formula, the Formula Keys provided above will apply. The only additional thing to note is that the “1 / 1” must match the designation used on the Sales Data tab for payments that are made in full upfront. In this case “1 / 1” means it is payment 1 of 1 which indicates there are no future payment and therefore this is a PIF transaction.

Step #4 – The last step here would be to add a variety of formulas to automatically pull in a list of transactions on which the employee earned commission this pay cycle. These formulas will not be included in this blog post as their complexity would make effective communication via a blog article prohibitive.

Upgrade Your Spreadsheet

The goal of this article is to help you get a relatively simple commission calculator and commission tracker in place for your business using Excel. While this is a good starting point, there are quite a few other features and improvements I would recommend.

Implementing these will make your system more bullet proof, will save you even more time on data entry and will give you access to additional insights and capabilities.

Just a few examples would include:

Automating a customized PDF commission report that gets emailed to each person on your sales team.
Incorporating the ability to handle chargebacks/refunds.
Automatic archiving of old sales data.
Adding a visualization dashboard with graphs and charts to bring your sales and commission data to life and help you understand positive and negative trends that are important for your business.

If you get stuck building out your commission system, need help taking it to the next level, or would prefer to wash your hands of it and have someone else build out a fully customized system that does exactly what you need, you can book a free consultation with someone from our team today.

Concluding Thoughts

Excel can be the perfect tool for streamlining and automating your commission management system. When it comes to getting your hands on a fully-customized solution with powerful automation capabilities without breaking the bank, Excel is hard to beat.

One of the benefits of using Excel for your commission is that you don’t have to start out with a full solution with all the bells and whistles. Especially if you have a small business and a sales team with a relatively simple commission structure, you can start simple and build on it from there.

The post How to Calculate Commissions Using Excel appeared first on customexcelspreadsheets.com.

Top 4 Places to Hire an Excel Expert in 2025

Colton Cauthen — Tue, 30 May 2023 14:42:07 +0000

Introduction

Excel and Google Sheets continue to be the go-to tools for business owners and professionals looking for a quick way to solve problems, get organized and streamline their business operations. But getting a spreadsheet that does all of that often involves hiring a spreadsheet expert who can design and develop the perfect spreadsheet for your business.

So, where is the best place to hire an Excel or Google Sheets expert for your next spreadsheet project? As it turns out, there are quite a few options. In this article, I’ll cut to the chase and show you exactly where you can find the best spreadsheet talent for your project.

#1 - CES

CES is a spreadsheet consulting, development and programming firm that works with businesses across all industries, covering a broad array of bespoke solutions. With no project minimums, CES is a great fit regardless of the project size or platform. The CES team has experience in VBA programming, Microsoft Excel, Google Sheets, Google App Scripts and more. This breadth and depth of knowledge and experience allows for optimal problem-solution mapping to ensure your project utilizes the best technology to fit your unique needs.

CES uses a transparent, pre-approved hourly billing approach which allows you as the customer to remain in control of the project costs, while also accommodating unlimited scope adjustments and review cycles as needed so that the end result is a spreadsheet that does exactly what you need.

At CES, hiring an Excel expert for your next project is really simple. Just click here to book a free call with a spreadsheet professional who can guide you through the process of figuring out what you need and if CES is the right fit. During your call you’ll also be able to get a rough scope and quote for the project.

Who is CES not a good fit for?

You are looking for the cheapest solution possible,
Your project requires advanced financial modeling knowledge,
You are a student needing help on homework assignments

#2 - Joshua Wilson Consulting

Joshua Wilson Consulting (JWC) is a one-man Excel consulting firm run by Joshua Wilson. With more than 25 years of experience in roles such as financial analyst, business analyst, operations manager, and insurance rating expert, Joshua has the Excel skills and financial analyst experience to provide a unique intersection of value for certain Excel projects.

JWC offers expert Excel services and is uniquely qualified to handle projects involving financial modeling, analysis, forecasting, and insurance premium rating. His consulting and development services are top-notch and the professionalism of his business and approach sets him apart from the competition. If he’s not the best fit for your project needs, he’ll let you know up front.

Who is JWC not a good fit for?

Your project budget is less than $2,500
You are not located in the USA
You need bids from multiple companies
Your core needs require advanced vba programming skills
You are a student needing help on assignments

#3 - TopTal

Toptal is an organized network of developers that focuses on trying to match clients with top-tier developers based on their project needs. It is similar to sites like Fiverr and Upwork, but specializes in higher quality developers with more security and controls in place.

If you are looking for an expert in Excel or a specific programming language, you can fill out a questionnaire on Toptal’s website and a Toptal placement specialist can help match you to a developer or you can browse Toptal freelancer profiles on your own.

The benefit of using a service like Toptal is that you get access to a broad variety of developers and can hand-pick the one that seems like a good fit for your project.

However, using Toptal will tend to require more effort on your part trying to sift through and evaluate the available freelancers. Freelancers may also only be working part-time and have limited availability and if they do not specialize exclusively on spreadsheets, they may not have the true expertise your project requires.

You may also find it more difficult to get back in touch with your freelancer if your project needs maintenance or further development a couple years from now and if they have quit the freelance scene and moved onto something else, you might be left up the creek without a paddle.

#4 - Upwork

Upwork is another organized network of developers. They focus on providing a massive network with a broad array of skill sets in multiple different industries.

To hire a developer on Upwork, you can either post jobs and receive proposals from potential freelancers or browse freelancer profiles to find one that seems to suite your project well.

Generally speaking, Upwork can be a good solution if you are looking for a small to medium-sized project and are working on a more limited budget.

However, as with Toptal, expect to spend more time upfront getting used to the Upwork platform, reviewing proposals or profiles and trying to decide on the right freelancer.

As always when working with freelancers, there’s no guarantee they’ll be around once the project is complete when you need further assistance. At CES, we’ve had quite a few clients come to us who had been working with a freelancer previously but could no longer get in touch with them when updates were needed.

Recap

Our top 4 choices for where to hire your next spreadsheet expert are Custom Excel Spreadsheets, Joshua Wilson Consulting, Toptal and Upwork. Of these options, the best fit for you will depend on your unique project needs and preferences. The table below offers a quick-reference guide for making the right decision.

Metric	CES	JWC	Toptal	Upwork
Ease of Use / Customer Experience	★★★★★	★★★★★	★★★	★★★
Quality Guarantee	★★★★★	★★★★★	★★★	★★
Long-term Support	★★★★★	★★★★	★★	★★
Developer Availability	★★★★★	★★★★	★★★	★★★
Access to a Team of Experts	Yes	No	No	No
Developers Based in the U.S.	Yes	Yes	Varies	Varies
Covered by E&O Insurance	Yes	Yes	Varies	Varies
Cost	$$$	$$$$	$$-$$$	$-$$$

Hiring an Excel expert continues to be a solid option for business owners and professionals who want a professional-grade spreadsheet built from scratch, or who just need some help topping off an existing workbook. I hope this guide will provide you with a helpful resource to help you pick the best option for your spreadsheet needs in the future. Armed with the insights above, go get an awesome spreadsheet made that will make your life easier and your business better!

The post Top 4 Places to Hire an Excel Expert in 2025 appeared first on customexcelspreadsheets.com.