Why almost every agency starts with Excel
A spreadsheet with one row per service, columns for the date, the tour operator, PAX, language and guide, and a WhatsApp group to let people know. It is quick to set up, costs nothing and everyone in the office can use it.
With a few services a month and two or three trusted guides, it works. The problem is not Excel itself: a spreadsheet tells no one anything, cannot tell whether the guide has seen the message and keeps no record of what happened with each service. One person does all of that by hand, every day.
When it stops working
The breaking point usually arrives with growth: more tour operators, more guides and more last-minute changes. These are the clearest signs that the spreadsheet has become too small:
- Two versions of the same Excel file going round by email, and nobody is sure which one is right.
- A guide who does not reply and you have no idea whether they have seen the message.
- A change of time to fix in the spreadsheet and pass on to everyone, with the risk of forgetting someone.
- Two guides on the same group, or none, because someone copied a row wrong.
- Month end: yet another spreadsheet to match guide invoices against the services they actually ran.
Excel and WhatsApp vs Partners, point by point
| Task | With Excel and WhatsApp | With Partners |
|---|---|---|
| Assign a service | You copy the row and message each guide | You choose the guides and the rate; the guide gets an email straight away |
| Know whether the guide has confirmed | You wait for a reply in the chat | The request moves to accepted or partially accepted on its own |
| Choose a guide | From memory or by checking the spreadsheet | Suggestions based on language, availability and history |
| Change of time or meeting point | You fix the spreadsheet and tell everyone | You edit the record and the people affected are notified by email |
| See the week | Filtering and colouring cells | Month, week, day and list schedule |
| Talk about a service | A WhatsApp group where everything gets mixed up | Messaging inside each request |
| Guide invoices | A separate spreadsheet, matching amounts | Each invoice linked to its services, with VAT |
| History | Digging through old messages and emails | Each service records who ran it, when, and what was paid |
| Cost | Free in licences, expensive in hours | Free up to 5 guides; founder price €49 a month excl. VAT |
What changes day to day
The main difference is that in Partners the status of each service does not depend on someone writing it down. When you create a request with its reference, tour operator, date, PAX, language, meeting point and tickets, and assign it to one or more guides, each of them accepts or declines it from their own area. The list, the schedule and the guide's record all update at the same time.
Questions about a service are handled in that request's messaging, not in a group with forty conversations. And once the service is done, the guide selects it from their services to invoice and uploads their invoice, with the net amount and VAT shown separately. You check it and mark it as paid. We explain it step by step in guide invoices.
Leaving Excel without stopping work
If you do not have a well-organised spreadsheet yet, start with our Excel template for guides: it has the same columns as a Partners request and imports later without any changes.
- You import your spreadsheet. We load your services, guides and tour operators from the Excel file you already use, with the bulk import.
- You set things up once. Rates, languages, tour types and meeting points are saved for every new request.
- You invite your guides. Each guide gets free access to their own area from their phone, with nothing to install.
- You run both side by side. During the 30-day trial you can keep your spreadsheet as a backup until you feel confident.
What it costs to leave Excel
Excel costs nothing in licences, but every badly coordinated service costs office hours, a guide who turns up at the wrong place or a client who does not come back. Partners is free up to 5 guides. The first 25 agencies can join at the founder price of €49 a month excl. VAT for the Pro plan (up to 50 guides), fixed for as long as they keep their subscription. No commission per service, and your guides pay nothing. All the details are on the pricing page. The app interface is in Spanish.
Updated on October 20, 2026
