Why using Google Sheets has changed my business!
Who uses spreadsheets?
As a Virtual Assistant I use Spreadsheets a lot. I use them to keep track of my hours, do my invoices, plan social media posts, log my income and expenditure, log research for clients and so on… the list is endless, and I’m sure you can add to it.
“What’s wrong with Excel?” – I hear you ask
While I have nothing against Microsoft Excel spreadsheets (I used them a lot when I started out), I run a Mac for my work, and it’s not usually the default software on there. This means sometimes it doesn’t always transfer compatibly between my clients and me, or it doesn’t format correctly.
Then it’s a case of sending it in an email, and often losing where that email is, especially if a week has passed by. Then if one of us edits it, we have to send it back and make sure we overwrite the original with the new version… I was ending up with so many different versions of the same document, it was very confusing. Plus it’s easy to make mistakes or lose data if you overwrite the wrong one.
Introducing Google Sheets...
Google Sheets is all online. It goes without saying these days that we all generally have a Google login of some kind. Whether it be a Gmail account, a YouTube account or even if you don’t then it’s pretty simple to set one up.
How do I go about using Google Sheets?
You log into Google, click on Google Sheets in the top right hand menu, and everything that you have ever done using Google Sheets is just listed there (or will be once you get started).
It autosaves every few seconds too so you never risk losing your work.
But what if I already have loads of documents set up in Excel? How do I integrate them across to Google Sheets?
Easy! Go into a new blank document and then “file” and “import”. It will give you the option to choose an Excel spreadsheet saved on your computer. You choose it, and voila! It’s all there!
What are the benefits of using Google Sheets?
There are so many things you can do using Google Sheets, and I am going to cover a few features that I find really useful, in this blog and in detail in future blogs.
Topics I will be covering:
- Sharing using Google Sheets
- Duplicating using Google Sheets
- Downloading options using Google Sheets
- Saving in Google Sheets
- Simple Formulas in Google Sheets
- Text Wrapping using Google Sheets
- Borders and Colours in Google Sheets
- Inserting or deleting new columns and rows
- Freezing columns and rows
- Changing the type of data format in a column/row/box
- Embedding your Google Sheet in a website
- Creating your own invoice