In short
A company needs management software instead of Excel when its spreadsheets cause more work than they save. Four signs show this: several versions of the same spreadsheet are going round, orders are typed in more than once, the weekly figures are put together by hand, and there is an old system nobody maintains.
Key points
- Excel is a good tool while a few people use it for one purpose, but a weak foundation for a whole company's day-to-day work.
- The four signs: several versions of the same spreadsheet, orders typed in three times, weekly figures put together by hand, an old system nobody looks after.
- According to Eurostat's 2025 data, only 24% of Hungarian companies with 10 to 49 people use ERP software; the EU average is 41%.
- Our view: at that point the company isn't too small for a system; the system has become too small for the company, and the switch is best started with the most painful process.
When do you need management software instead of Excel?
When spreadsheets are no longer kept by one person for one purpose, but the company's daily operations run on them: orders, stock, quotes, invoicing. Management software is a program that handles these processes in one place, with shared data, and logs who changed what. The four signs below show that this point has been reached.
1. Three versions of the same spreadsheet are going round
One colleague works in the shared folder, another in their own copy, a third got the file by e-mail last week. If a meeting turns into a question of which number is right, the spreadsheet is no longer doing its job. The problem isn't a lack of discipline: in a shared file it is hard to track who changed what, and the rules are easy to get around.
2. The same order is typed in three times
The order arrives in the webshop, then someone copies it into the admin spreadsheet, and once more into the invoicing tool. Every retyping costs time and is a chance for errors: a mistyped item number, a wrong price, a missed discount. Retyping grows with the number of orders, and errors often come to light only when the customer complains.
3. Someone puts the weekly figures together by hand on Friday
If management only sees the weekly revenue, the open orders or the stock when someone copies them together on Friday afternoon, the figures are always late, and one person's holiday stops the report. In a management system the same figures are available at any time, because they come from the same data the company works with every day.
4. There is an old system nobody maintains any more
Many companies run a program built years ago, or a workbook full of macros, written by someone who has since left. It works, but nobody dares to touch it, it can't be connected to the webshop or the invoicing tool, and if it stops, there is nobody to fix it. An orphaned old system is not an IT question; it is a business risk.
How common are errors in spreadsheets?
More common than most managers think. In a 2009 study, Stephen Powell, Kenneth Baker and Barry Lawson examined fifty spreadsheets actually in use at organisations. In only seven of the fifty workbooks did they find no error that produces a wrong result; in other words, 86% contained at least one such error.
The authors themselves stress that a formula error does not by itself mean the decision was wrong too. The research isn't new, but its lesson still stands: if a company's order and financial data live in spreadsheets, someone has to find the errors by hand.
How many Hungarian companies already use an ERP system?
Fewer than a quarter of companies with 10 to 49 people. According to Eurostat's 2025 data, 24% of Hungarian companies with 10 to 49 people use ERP software. ERP (enterprise resource planning) software is a program in which a company's different areas, such as orders, the warehouse and finance, see the same data. The EU average for this size is 41%.
| Company size | Hungary, 2023 | Hungary, 2025 | EU average, 2025 |
|---|---|---|---|
| 10 to 49 people | 29% | 24% | 41% |
| 50 to 249 people | 64% | 61% | 70% |
| more than 250 people | 91% | 93% | 89% |
- 10 to 49 people
- Hungary, 202329%
- Hungary, 202524%
- EU average, 202541%
- 50 to 249 people
- Hungary, 202364%
- Hungary, 202561%
- EU average, 202570%
- more than 250 people
- Hungary, 202391%
- Hungary, 202593%
- EU average, 202589%
Among large companies the Hungarian share is above the EU average; the gap shows in the 10 to 250 range. Among companies with 10 to 49 people the share hasn't grown since 2023. The survey is based on a sample, so small changes should be read with care, but the distance from the EU average is large.
Off-the-shelf ERP or custom management software?
An off-the-shelf ERP is a good choice if the company's processes are similar to the market average and the company is willing to adapt its work to the software. Custom management software pays off if the company is good precisely because of the way it works and doesn't want to bend that to fit a boxed product.
| Stay with Excel | Off-the-shelf ERP | Custom management software | |
|---|---|---|---|
| When it fits | Few users, a simple process | Average, standard processes | Your own processes, many tools to connect |
| Who adapts to whom | The spreadsheet to the company, without checks | Mostly the company to the software | The software to the company |
| Webshop and invoicing | Copied by hand | The tools the vendor supports | The ones the company already uses |
| Rollout | None | Following the vendor's method | In phases, starting with one process |
| Log and permissions | Limited | Yes | Yes, following the company's rules |
- When it fits
- Stay with ExcelFew users, a simple process
- Off-the-shelf ERPAverage, standard processes
- Custom management softwareYour own processes, many tools to connect
- Who adapts to whom
- Stay with ExcelThe spreadsheet to the company, without checks
- Off-the-shelf ERPMostly the company to the software
- Custom management softwareThe software to the company
- Webshop and invoicing
- Stay with ExcelCopied by hand
- Off-the-shelf ERPThe tools the vendor supports
- Custom management softwareThe ones the company already uses
- Rollout
- Stay with ExcelNone
- Off-the-shelf ERPFollowing the vendor's method
- Custom management softwareIn phases, starting with one process
- Log and permissions
- Stay with ExcelLimited
- Off-the-shelf ERPYes
- Custom management softwareYes, following the company's rules
How should you move away from Excel?
Step by step, starting with the most painful process. In a working company you don't need to replace everything at once.
- 01
Pick the most painful process. Where there is the most retyping, or where errors cost the most. Often it is the path from order to invoice.
- 02
Draw how it works today. Who does what, from which spreadsheet, into which tool. Drawing it out shows what is unnecessary.
- 03
Build that one process. The smallest usable version (MVP) runs live, connected to the webshop and the invoicing tool.
- 04
Move the data across and check it together. Keep the old spreadsheet read-only for a while, so anything can still be looked up.
- 05
Extend module by module. Stock, quotes, customer portal, reports: in the order that pays back first.
What does this mean for a company of 10 to 250 people?
We think the four signs are not a failure but a sign of growth. The company isn't too small for a system; the system has become too small for the company. The answer, though, is not one big project that replaces everything at once.
That is why we build custom management software in phases. In Phase 0 we map the process together and choose what hurts most. After Phase 1 (MVP) that one process already runs live, and you use it while the next phase is built (Phase 2 and on). The system connects to the tools you already use: a Shopify, WooCommerce, UNAS or Shoprenter webshop, Számlázz.hu or Billingo for invoicing, and Excel or Google Sheets if needed. It is built on Laravel and Filament, runs on EU servers, and logs who changed what. Where money or a customer is involved, a person approves the step.
Where it makes sense, artificial intelligence goes in too, for example pre-filling an order that arrives by e-mail, which a colleague checks and approves. After go-live we run and update the system. The price is fixed, and we quote it after the first conversation.
What not to do: start with the biggest module, or copy the old spreadsheet one to one.