Web app and custom software development: the internal tool your spreadsheet is quietly becoming.
Manifold and Quarterly are custom software we built and run ourselves
The spreadsheet retired, the process intact
Roles, audit trail and reporting built in
Boring, reliable tech you will not rescue in two years
A process that used to fit in a spreadsheet has outgrown it: too many people, too many rules, too many mistakes, and off-the-shelf software doesn't fit how you actually work.
- Custom web applications and internal tools built around your real process
- The reporting designed in from day one, because we run a data practice too
- Sensible, boring, reliable technology choices you won't have to rescue in two years
- Built by one senior team end to end: no handoff between the people who design and the people who build
When the spreadsheet becomes an app.
The same order-tracking data, once as the spreadsheet everyone is scared to touch, and once as the app it should have been.
orders-tracker-v7 FINAL(2).xlsx · last saved by three different people this week
| Order | Owner | Status | Due |
|---|---|---|---|
| ORD-1042 | R. Shaw | Approved | 14 Jul |
| ORD-1043duplicate row | K. Patel | Pending | 15 Jul |
| ORD-1043duplicate row | K. Patel | Pending | 15 Jul |
| ORD-1044 | J. Ahmed | #REF! | 16 Jul |
| ORD-1045 | R. Shaw2 people editing | Approved | 17 Jul |
| ORD-1046 | K. Patel | Rejected | 18 Jul |
A duplicate row, a broken formula, and two people editing the same order at once. Example data, all too familiar.
From spreadsheet to shipped software
Understand
We learn the process as it really runs, including the exceptions everyone works around.
Build the core
We ship the smallest version that replaces the spreadsheet, then extend from real use.
Grow
We add what use actually demands, not what a feature list guessed you'd want.
Six weeks, on a slider.
What exists at each point of a typical internal-tool build. Drag the slider through the weeks; a real project would flex around this shape, but the shape holds.
Week 1: Wireframes and the real process
We map the process as it actually runs, exceptions included, and sketch screens people can argue with. Changes cost pennies at this stage; the arguing is the point.
A typical build, not a quoted one: your fixed estimate and timeline come from the scoping call, in writing.
Web apps and internal tools typically from £8,000.
One call to scope screens, roles and exceptions, then a fixed estimate in writing. There is no hourly rate to stretch as the build progresses.
Manifold and Quarterly are custom software we built and run ourselves. The same discipline goes into yours: role-based access, an audit trail and management reporting from day one, because we have run enough operations software to know what gets asked for in month two.
Asked before the spreadsheet retires
How do you price a web app?+
Fixed estimate after one scoping call. The price is driven by screens, roles and exceptions, and we tell you which of those to cut to hit a budget.
Can it talk to our existing systems?+
Almost always: anything with an API, a database or even a scheduled export can feed it. Integration scope is agreed up front so there are no surprise connectors later.
How long until the spreadsheet is actually retired?+
The six-week shape shown on this page is the honest pattern for a focused internal tool, and a real project flexes around scope. Your scoping call ends with a fixed timeline in writing alongside the fixed price, and if a deadline you need is not achievable we say so before you commit.
The first step in Web Apps & Custom Software is a look at the spreadsheet.
- Show us the spreadsheet. Warts and all; we come back to you within one working day.
- Talk through the process. You scope it with the developer who would build the tool, not an account manager.
- Decide on a written price. A fixed estimate, plus a straight 'the spreadsheet is still fine' if that is what we find.