Drowning in Spreadsheets: Why Using Excel for Reporting is Unsustainable

by Trevor Calton

I’ve seen this story play out over and over again. Different companies, different teams, but the same broken systems.

The Situation

When I first sit down with the leadership teams, the frustration is obvious. Reports don’t match. Data is scattered across dozens of spreadsheets. Forecasts are reactive at best. Strategic decisions are made on ‘gut instinct’ instead of reliable data and analysis. And nobody can tell whether the numbers they are seeing are the most current, or the most accurate.

Sound familiar?

These aren’t failing teams. These are smart, committed professionals doing their best with the tools they have. 

Spreadsheets are for analysis, not data storage and reporting.

Those tools, namely Excel, weren’t designed for a billion-dollar real estate portfolio or a national mortgage bank originating thousands of loans per month. These firms need complex reporting and real-time decision-making, but the tools don’t keep up.

They weren’t just outgrowing spreadsheets. They were falling behind in risk, reporting, and readiness.

The Problem

The deeper issue isn’t just messy spreadsheets, it’s fragmentation. Each team has its own template, its own assumptions, and its own version of the truth. There’s no centralized system for portfolio oversight, so reporting becomes a game of reconciling disconnected data sources. 

Every month, hours are spent manually copying, pasting, and checking formulas just to get a baseline. Forecasting becomes slow and reactive, lagging behind the pace of real decision-making. 

And the risks start compounding, especially during audits, transitions, or when key people leave. One manager put it plainly

“If that person leaves, we’re not sure how to rebuild these reports.”

Most firms don’t realize how much time, trust, and opportunity they’re losing, until something breaks. 

And by then, it’s no longer a systems issue, it’s a leadership problem.

The Solution

I'm brought in to help modernize their asset and financial reporting systems. These projects typically last 9-18 months and are broken down into four phases:

Discovery & Assessment is all about figuring out what's currently happening. We'll dig into your workflows, tools, and reporting, find where your data doesn't match up, pinpointing different versions of portfolio data across departments, and map out your internal challenges by documenting cross-team dependencies and pain points.

Planning & Buy-In is where we pick the right vendors. For example, in a recent project, MRI Investment Central was a great choice for its integration and scalability. Then we'll create a step-by-step plan with internal milestones and clear responsibilities. We get everyone on the same page, from IT, finance, asset management, and the executive team.

Implementation & Testing is about getting everything set up and working properly. We oversee all the data migration, system integrations, and custom configurations. We work hand-in-hand with your internal teams to replace those clunky, fragmented workflows with smooth, automated processes. And we make sure everyone gets the training they need so they actually use the new system.

Documentation & Sustainability is the final phase, which is all about making sure you're set up for the long haul. We create a detailed workflow handbook with all your policies, procedures, and SOPs. Together with your teams, we'll design and build custom reporting templates and dashboards, and help you transition from needing outside help to being fully self-sufficient. 

The Results

The reporting cycle went from 3-4 weeks to under 3 days, with data errors cut by 99%. Forecasting is now real-time and proactive. Data reconciliation time decreased from over 50% to under 10%, freeing up bandwidth, and allowing people to focus more on strategic work. These changes create efficiency, accuracy, team confidence, and a scalable system everyone can trust.

More importantly, teams at every level gain confidence. They stop second-guessing their data. They’re able to start planning proactively, because they finally have a system that handles the scale and complexity of the organization.

The Lesson

Now for the real talk, and C-level & senior leadership, I’m talking to you. 

Your people can’t do this themselves, and deep down, you know it. They’re too busy. They’re drowning. Because these aren’t minor workflow tweaks or software projects, they’re business transformations.

You can’t effectively manage, or scale, a billion dollar portfolio without an enterprise database system.

I’ve led multiple projects like this over three decades, and the same pattern emerges every time: Smart, hardworking teams using outdated systems.

If you’re still relying on spreadsheets for workflows and reporting, you’re not alone, but you’re seriously behind. The longer you wait to fix it, the harder the pivot becomes.

Final Takeaway

When your finance and reporting systems are built on sand, you can’t scale. But when you replace fragmented workflows with a unified system, everything else accelerates: decisions, accountability, communication, and confidence.

I help companies move from chaos to clarity. If your team is stuck in the weeds with broken reports, outdated tools, and systems you’ve outgrown, let’s talk. 

Trevor Calton is a 25+year veteran of the commercial real estate industry who has originated billions worth of commercial multifamily loans, executed over $5B in acquisitions, and directed the asset management of more than 6,000 multifamily units. As the founder of the Real Estate Finance Academy and Evergreen Capital Advisors, he now serves as a trusted strategic partner for owners and operators navigating high-stakes capital decisions.

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