6 min read
Spreadsheets vs. dedicated charter software: when Excel stops working for a charter company
An honest comparison for yacht charter offices: what a spreadsheet does well, where it breaks during the season, and what a charter management system changes.
Most charter companies start with a spreadsheet: one tab per yacht, one row per week, a column for the agent and a few colours for "paid" and "not paid". It is free, everyone knows it, and for a small fleet it works.
The problem is not Excel itself. The problem is everything around the spreadsheet that it was never designed to do: chasing instalments, alerting owners, printing confirmations, preparing the charter party. Here is a practical comparison.
What a spreadsheet does well
- It costs nothing and everyone in the office can open it.
- It is flexible: any column, any layout, any colour.
- It is fine for a handful of bookings that one person follows from memory.
If you have two yachts and you personally handle every booking, a spreadsheet may be enough. Be honest with yourself about that.
Where it breaks during the season
| Task | With a spreadsheet | With charter management software |
|---|---|---|
| Deposit and balance | Calculated by hand, due dates in your head | Calculated from the net price and your payment terms, with due dates per booking |
| Payment status | A colour someone has to remember to change | Paid, partial, pending or overdue, updated the moment a payment is recorded |
| Chasing unpaid instalments | Someone notices, writes an email, forgets the follow-up | Automatic payment reminders to the agent and unpaid alerts to the owner, on a schedule you set |
| Agent prepayments | A note in a cell | Partner credit, applied to bookings and always balanced |
| Booking confirmation | Copy-paste into a Word file | PDF or Word confirmation with your logo, prices, payment schedule and owner bank details |
| Greek e-charter party | Retyped field by field on the platform | Built from the booking, checked, exported as JSON for bulk upload |
| Who changed what | Unknown | Activity log with user, action and time |
| A wrong deletion | Gone, unless you have an old copy | Recycle bin with restore |
The hidden cost: money you forget to collect
The most expensive spreadsheet mistake is not a typo. It is an instalment nobody chased because the season got busy. In Basenautic, every booking has a first payment and a balance, each with a due date, and a daily check emails the client (through the agent's email) and, if you want, the yacht owner. Each reminder is sent once, then repeated at the interval you choose, and paid instalments are never reminded. See Automatic payment reminders.
The Greek e-charter party
In Greece, every professional charter must be declared on the e-charter party platform before departure. From a spreadsheet, that means retyping the yacht, the charterer, the broker, the captain and everyone on board, for every booking. In Basenautic, you press ⚓ on the booking, add the people on board, and the checks tell you what the platform would reject before you export. Greek names are converted to Latin capitals with ELOT 743 automatically. See What is the e-charter party export?.
Owners and profit per yacht
A spreadsheet can total income. It rarely shows, per yacht, income against expenses, occupancy and what is still outstanding. Basenautic's dashboard does, this year against the two before. See Profit per yacht and owner reporting.
When to switch
Consider moving off the spreadsheet when one of these is true:
- more than one person enters bookings,
- you work with agents and track commissions or prepayments,
- you have missed or chased an instalment late,
- you prepare e-charter parties in Greece,
- owners ask you how their yacht is doing.
The best time is before the season starts. During onboarding we help you bring your current season over from Excel: email contact@basenautic.com with your file. See Can I import my existing bookings?.
You can try everything for 14 days, no card needed. Our first-day plan for moving off spreadsheets shows the order that gets you working fastest.
More guides
5 min read
The Greek e-charter party: a practical checklist before every departure
What the e-charter party platform needs, the mistakes that get a file rejected, and how to prepare it from the booking you already have.
Read the guide4 min read
Stop chasing instalments: setting up automatic payment reminders
How to remind clients and agents about deposits and balances, alert yacht owners about unpaid bookings, and keep a record of every email sent.
Read the guideTry it on your own season.
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