Comparison
ProkatOS vs Excel for rental tracking
A spreadsheet is an honest way to start a rental business. But once you have more than a dozen items and more than one shift, Excel stops showing what is out, who owes what and where the deposit is.
Who took what and until when
ProkatOS: Active rentals with a return timer and overdue status
Excel / Google Sheets: Rows someone has to remember to update
Late returns
ProkatOS: Late fees charged automatically per day, hour or 15 minutes, with a free grace period
Excel / Google Sheets: Calculated by hand
Deposits and debt
ProkatOS: Deposit, payments and debt per rental and client; deposit refund in one click
Excel / Google Sheets: Extra columns and formulas that drift from the cash box
Several items in one rental
ProkatOS: Kits: one period and total, one handover and one return
Excel / Google Sheets: Several rows to close together
Contract
ProkatOS: Printed from a template or e-signed on a tablet or by link
Excel / Google Sheets: A separate Word file
Staff
ProkatOS: Roles, permissions, action log and cash shifts
Excel / Google Sheets: Anyone can change any cell
Several locations
ProkatOS: Items, cash and stock per location, transfers between them
Excel / Google Sheets: A sheet or file per location
Online booking
ProkatOS: A booking page for customers with email confirmation
Excel / Google Sheets: None
Reports
ProkatOS: Revenue, utilisation and item profitability without formulas
Excel / Google Sheets: Pivot tables the owner builds
Cost
ProkatOS: Subscription, 14 days free
Excel / Google Sheets: Free or part of an office suite
When Excel is still enough
- Up to 5–10 items and one person running the business.
- Daily rentals only, no deposits or renewals.
- No need to check the cash box or staff actions.
When it is time to switch
- Items get “lost”: free in the sheet, out with a customer in reality.
- Late returns and debts surface at the end of the month.
- Shifts are handed over in chat and the cash never matches.
- A second location or online requests appear.
Moving your data
Clients, items and stock can be loaded from the same spreadsheet: the app imports Excel and CSV and checks every row. Moving usually takes one evening.
Frequently asked questions
Can I import my spreadsheet into ProkatOS?
Yes. Clients, items and stock load from Excel or CSV; rows with errors are shown before the import.
How does the price compare with a free spreadsheet?
A spreadsheet is free, but reconciliations, forgotten late fees and lost deposits cost money. You can test ProkatOS on your own data free for 14 days.
Can I export data back to Excel?
Yes, reports export to CSV, which opens in Excel.
See also: ProkatOS vs Booqable, view pricing
