What spreadsheets do well
Excel and Google Sheets are inexpensive, familiar and highly customizable. For a very small portfolio, that flexibility can be enough.
Where the workflow starts breaking
Multiple people editing the same operational data
Manual reservation and turnover updates
No reliable source of truth for today
Property details split across tabs and documents
Reporting that depends on manual formulas
What changes with a PMS
A PMS moves the operation from static rows into connected records. Reservations can connect to units, guests, turnovers, expenses and performance instead of requiring separate manual reconciliation.
Who should replace the spreadsheet?
If your team is already maintaining multiple sheets plus chat threads, task boards and channel calendars, the issue is usually no longer data storage. It is operational coordination.