From spreadsheet to Bobuild

Spreadsheets are a great starting point. Bobuild becomes valuable when several people need permissions, workflows, portals, or automations that a shared file cannot enforce safely.

When to leave the sheet

Move to Bobuild when you need any of:

• different views for staff vs customers vs the public;
• status workflows with e-mail or document generation;
• audit-friendly history instead of overwritten cells;
• structured relationships (orders belong to customers) instead of duplicated columns;
• an API or embed into your website.

Keep a spreadsheet for one-off analysis exports — grids and the SQL Console can still produce CSVs.

Mapping sheets to objects

Spreadsheet habit	Bobuild approach
One sheet, many column groups	Split into objects linked by References
VLOOKUP to another sheet	Reference field (or auto field copying a related value)
Status column with free text	Choice field with a fixed list
“Assignee” as a name string	Reference to a User/Operator object
Totals in footer rows	Auto fields (sum/count) or a Chart / Pivot
Hidden columns for internal notes	Separate fields + portal/widget visibility so customers never see them
Macro to send mail	E-mail task on form or batch

Flat vs relational

Keep one object when every row is independent and you never need a child list (simple mailing list, single FAQ entries).

Split objects when:

• the same person or company appears on many rows → Customer + child records;
• line items need quantities → Order + OrderLine + Product;
• comments, files, or history accumulate per parent → child object with a Reference.

See Data modeling for Reference vs Reference Array vs join objects.

Import path

1. Clean headers (one header row, stable names).
2. Create objects and fields in Bobuild (or let Builder import create fields carefully).
3. Import parents first (customers), then children (orders) with reference columns mapped.
4. For large files, disable automatic fields during import.
5. Validate with a grid filter and a few detail pages before inviting users.

Details: Builder import and export.

First week checklist

• Objects and relationships match the real process
• Staff portal with grids; public/customer portals only if needed
• Status Choice values agreed with the team
• Snapshot taken after the first clean import
• One automation (confirmation e-mail or assignment) proving the workflow