SolderDesk compared
SolderDesk vs Excel for running a phone repair shop
Excel is where most shops start, and for good reason: it's already on the computer, it costs nothing extra, and you can shape it however you like. The trouble starts when the shop grows past one person and one sheet.
What Excel does well
- It's free, or already paid for, and everyone knows the basics.
- You can add a column for anything, the moment you think of it.
- For a price list or a simple monthly sum, it's hard to beat.
Where it stops working for a shop
- One file, many people. The front desk, the technicians and the accountant can't all work in it at once without copies going out of step. Someone ends up with "final-final-2.xlsx".
- Nothing happens by itself. A sheet doesn't tell a customer the phone is ready, doesn't tell you the last screen for a popular model just left the shelf, and doesn't notice an invoice is three weeks overdue.
- Warranties live in someone's head. A sheet doesn't count 90 days from the day of hand-over, and it doesn't link the phone that came back to the repair it came back from.
- Invoices are hand-made. Tax numbers, VAT, the Saudi QR code and the next invoice number are all typed by someone, and one typo is a wrong invoice.
- No link between the repair and the shelf. Parts fitted on repairs and parts in stock live in different places, so they drift apart, and the difference is money.
- One phone, one row, many columns. A used phone needs its IMEI, its grade, its battery health, what you paid and who bought it. That is a lot to keep right by hand.
- The customer can't see anything. Estimates go out as photos of a screen, and approvals come back as a voice note.
- Anyone can change anything. There's no record of who changed a price or deleted a row.
Side by side
| Excel | SolderDesk | |
|---|---|---|
| Several people working at the same time | ✗ | ✓ |
| Repair ticket with the IMEI, photos and a signed condition report | Your own template | ✓ |
| Estimate the customer approves on the phone | ✗ | ✓ |
| Repair warranty counted from hand-over | By hand | ✓ |
| Tax invoice with numbering, VAT and the ZATCA QR | By hand | ✓ |
| Stock that goes down when a part is fitted or an accessory is sold | ✗ | ✓ |
| Phones for sale kept by IMEI | A row each, by hand | ✓ |
| Follow-ups on WhatsApp | ✗ | ✓ |
| Who changed what, and when | ✗ | ✓ |
| Reports without building them | Formulas | ✓ |
| Cost | Free | Monthly plan |
| Shape it any way you like | ✓ | Within the product |
When Excel is enough
If you work alone, take in a handful of repairs a week and keep almost no stock, a sheet and a ticket book will do. The case for changing starts with the second person, the first shelf of parts, or the first warranty argument you can't settle.
Moving your sheets across
You don't have to start from nothing. Save your customer list and your parts and accessories list as CSV or Excel, and import them from Customers and Parts & Stock. A preview shows what will be added before anything is saved. Keep the old file as an archive, and keep Excel for anything SolderDesk doesn't need to do: every list in SolderDesk exports back to Excel when you want it.
Try it with your own data: the free trial needs no card, and you can import your sheets on day one.