Keep Excel and Word if…
- You quote once or twice a month and never chase anyone.
- Nobody else, no office, crew or accountant, ever touches the estimate.
- You invoice from another tool and retyping three lines a month does not hurt.
Helmar.AI vs Excel and Word.
Spreadsheets were never built to hold a promise. Here is what changes when the estimate, the acceptance and the payment live in one record, and when a spreadsheet is still enough.
Product preview. Helmar.AI is in development. The features shown are planned; accounts and integrations are not open yet.
- Import your Excelconfirm every row before it is active
- Sent quotes keep their pricesa price book change never rewrites them
- One accepted versionlocked with a name and a time
Verdict
Keep the spreadsheet if quoting is rare. Switch when silence and paperwork cost you evenings.
Switch if…
- Quotes go quiet and you find out weeks later.
- “Which version did they accept?” has cost you an argument or a discount.
- The advance and the VAT invoice are retyped from the quote, and sometimes wrong.
- Prices in the sheet and prices in the owner’s head are not the same number.
The same job
One facade, stage by stage.
Lukas asks for a price on a 240 m² facade. Here is what happens in each tool, from the site visit to the money on the account.
- 01Quote
Excel and Word: Copy last year’s sheet, change the numbers you remember, hope the formulas still hold.
Helmar.AI: Measure on site, price from the confirmed book; margin and VAT checked before it can go out.
- 02Send
Excel and Word: A Word file or PDF by email. The customer compares it with two others in a viewer.
Helmar.AI: A page and a PDF of the exact version, opened from email, SMS or WhatsApp. No account.
- 03Silence
Excel and Word: Nothing happens unless you remember. Most people remember on a Friday.
Helmar.AI: Day 3, 7 and 14 from your own address. Opening the page does not count as a reply.
- 04Yes
Excel and Word: “Ok, let’s do it” in a chat. Which version? The one with the sills, or without?
Helmar.AI: One exact version accepted with a 6-digit code: name, time, version and hash recorded.
- 05Invoice
Excel and Word: Retype the lines into an invoice template. An advance invoiced as if the work were done.
Helmar.AI: The advance request goes out with the acceptance; the VAT invoice follows the completion act.
- 06Paid
Excel and Word: Check the bank app in the evening, tick a cell.
Helmar.AI: The bank feed matches the payment to the document; reminders stop within a minute.
Feature by feature
What each one does, honestly.
“Partly” means it can be done with effort or an add-on. Hover or tap a row for the detail.
Excel and Word covers 1 of 26 fully and 7 partly. Helmar.AI covers all 26, some on Team or Business.
| What the job needs | Excel and Word | Helmar.AI |
|---|---|---|
| Quoting | ||
| Price book with rows you confirmedExcel and Word: a sheet, with no record of who changed a price and when | ||
| Quantities measured on site, linked to each line | ||
| Assemblies: one measurement becomes every lineExcel and Word: formulas, until someone breaks one | ||
| Options the customer ticks, priced and locked | ||
| Margin, VAT and validity checked before sendingExcel and Word: a formula, if it was kept up to date | ||
| Sending and acceptance | ||
| Customer page and PDF, no account, no app | ||
| One exact version accepted, changes become v2 | ||
| Evidence: name, time, version and document hashExcel and Word: an email reply, if you can find it | ||
| Smart-ID and Mobile-ID when it matters | Business | |
| Change orders accepted before the extra work | ||
| Follow-ups and replies | ||
| Follow-ups on real silence, day 3, 7 and 14 | ||
| Any reply stops the sequence within 60 seconds | ||
| Replies queue with an owner and a due time | ||
| Safe mode: preview the next seven days | ||
| Money and documents | ||
| Advance request, act and VAT invoice in the Lithuanian orderExcel and Word: word templates, retyped from the quote | ||
| Payment plan frozen with the accepted versionExcel and Word: written in the quote, edited later | ||
| Bank feed matches payments to documents | Team and Business | |
| Bank link and card payments from the customer's phone | ||
| Rivilė sync, i.SAF export, Peppol e-invoices | Team and Business; Peppol on Business | |
| Crew and jobs | ||
| Crew app without prices, also offline | ||
| Checklists, photos and the signed handover | ||
| Job margin against the estimate as costs arriveExcel and Word: a second sheet, updated when there is time | ||
| Purchase orders from the accepted lines | ||
| Control | ||
| Audit trail nobody can edit | ||
| Roles: the office works without seeing margins | ||
| Export everything, any time | ||
- Yes
- Partly
- No
- “Partly” means it can be done with effort, a workaround or an add-on.
Your numbers
What silence costs you, in your own numbers.
Most estimates are not lost to a competitor. They go quiet. Put in your own figures; the defaults are only examples.
Example values. Change them to your own numbers; nothing here is a benchmark or a promise.
At stake every month
€5,760
€69,120 a year
Work that goes silent and is never followed up. Helmar.AI follows up on day 3, 7 and 14 from your own address, and any reply stops the rest within 60 seconds.
How follow-ups workSwitching
An afternoon, then a real customer.
Bring what you have. Nothing goes out to a customer until you approve it.
01
Import your prices
Upload your Excel or CSV, map the columns and confirm each row. Or send it to us and we import it for you.
02
Add the quotes you already sent
Add them in 30 seconds each, forward the email or import a list. Follow-ups start from the real sent dates.
03
Approve the follow-up templates
Read the day 3, 7 and 14 notes, edit the wording, and check safe mode: the next seven days before anything goes out.
04
Invite the office and the crews
The office answers replies without seeing margins; crew app users are free and never see a price.
When Excel is enough
Honestly: sometimes it is.
You quote once or twice a month
Starter starts at 15 estimates a month for one person. Below that, a good spreadsheet and a careful inbox can carry you.
Nobody else needs the numbers
If no office, crew or accountant ever touches the estimate, keeping it in a file costs you little.
You never follow up or invoice from the quote
Helmar.AI pays for itself on the silence after sending and on the paperwork after acceptance. Without either, wait.
Questions
Straight answers.
- Can I bring my prices from Excel?
- Yes. Import a CSV export of your spreadsheet and confirm each row before it becomes active.
- I already sent quotes this month — can I track them?
- Yes. Add each one in 30 seconds, forward the email, or import a list. Follow-ups start from the real sent dates.
- What if material prices change after I send?
- Sent estimates keep their prices until they expire. After that you requote at today’s supplier prices in one step; labour stays as it was.
- What happens to my data if I leave?
- Export everything any time: every document as a PDF, photos, and every record as CSV. The export keeps working for 90 days after you cancel.
See the preview
Import the spreadsheet. Send one real estimate.
Explore the product preview in a 20-minute demo. Accounts are not open yet. No card, no obligation.