Spreadsheets, email and chat
vs one workspace.
Most small forwarders start with Excel, an inbox and a messenger — and they work, until they don't. Here's what changes when the deal lives in one place.
The short answer
Spreadsheets are free and flexible, and for a handful of shipments a month they're enough. Once several people quote, chase and invoice at the same time, the cost moves to missed emails, retyping and margins you only see at month end. That's where a freight forwarding system pays for itself.
At a glance
| DO IT ALL SOFT | Spreadsheets & email | |
|---|---|---|
| Inquiries | One inbox for email, web form and portal requests | Spread across personal inboxes and chats |
| Quotes | Options with buy, sell and margin per line | A spreadsheet per quote, copied from the last one |
| Tracking | Ocean and air updated automatically | Carrier websites checked by hand |
| Customer updates | Portal and app with live status | Status emails written one by one |
| Documents | Generated from the deal | Typed again for every shipment |
| Profit per deal | Live, on every shipment | At month end, if the sheet is up to date |
| When someone leaves | The history stays with the company | The history leaves with their inbox |
What forwarders notice first
No more "which version is right?"
One record per deal, with every email, file and price change attached.
Quotes in minutes
AI fills the request; you price it, compare options and send.
Fewer status calls
Customers check their shipment in the portal instead of calling you.
Margins before month end
Profit on every shipment, as soon as prices and costs are in.
When it may suit you better
If you handle a few shipments a month on your own, a well-kept spreadsheet may still be the cheapest option. Consider a system when a second person joins, when customers ask for visibility, or when you can't say today which deals made money.
Switching is simpler than you think
- 1 A 30-minute demo We map your current workflow and show the same day in DO IT ALL SOFT.
- 2 Your data, imported Customers, vendors and contacts from Excel; document templates set up for you.
- 3 Run in parallel Use the free trial on live shipments before you switch anything off.
Frequently asked questions
Can a freight forwarder run on Excel?
A very small one can, for a while. Excel has no shared history, no tracking, no customer access and no link between the email, the quote and the invoice — so the work and the risk grow with every shipment and every new colleague.
Is there free freight forwarding software?
Some tools have free tiers, usually limited in users or modules. DO IT ALL SOFT offers a free trial of up to 90 days, then one per-user price with everything included.
How do we move our spreadsheets into DO IT ALL SOFT?
Customers, vendors and contacts import from Excel, and we help you set up your company, documents and data during onboarding.
See everything.
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