Guides
Excel vs Software — when is switching worth it?
Excel is free and flexible. But you have to keep up with every change in the law yourself, calculate the CO₂ tiers yourself and build your own deadline tracking. When does switching to software make sense?
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What Excel can do
A self-built Excel template is cheap, flexible, and you keep full control. For 1–2 units it can be a sensible solution. But: every law change you have to research and build in yourself.
Where Excel reaches its limits
- CO₂ cost allocation since 2023: 10 tiers, fuel factors, tier classification — error-prone manually
- German heating regulation § 6a monthly consumption info since 2022 — Excel can't send this automatically
- Tenant change mid-year — day-accurate apportionment is more complex than most templates can handle
- HMRC compliance — Excel is not audit-proof, problematic in a tax audit
- AI receipt recognition — typing each receipt in by hand takes 3-4 minutes
- Deadline tracking — Excel does not remind you of the 12-month deadline
- Tenant portal — does not exist in Excel
Your utility bill statement in 10 minutes instead of 3 hours
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Rule of thumb: when to switch?
- 1 unit, few receipts: Excel is usually enough
- 2-3 units: borderline case, software pays off mainly because of CO₂ cost allocation
- From 4 units: software is almost always faster and safer
- With a tenant change: software strongly recommended
- With dunning needs: software clearly wins
Time-cost comparison
Assumption: 4 units in a house, annual utility billing.
- Excel: 6-10 hours per year · €0 software · time cost at €30/h internal rate: €180-300
- Rentprime Solo: 1 Stunde pro Jahr · 190,80 € Software · Zeitkosten: 30 € · Gesamt: 220,80 €
Similar monetary value — but with software you save 5-9 hours per year, less stress, less error risk, and you're automatically up-to-date on law changes.