# Excel for Project Tracking or SmartPM? | SmartPM

Project tracking in an Excel sheet versus SmartPM: dependencies, automatic shifting, critical path, teamwork, permissions, clients and history.

# Project tracking with Excel or SmartPM?

For a small, single-person to-do list, Excel is sufficient; but if tasks are dependent, multiple people work simultaneously, or sharing with customers is needed, project management software like SmartPM saves time.

## What is the difference between Excel and SmartPM?

A comparison of doing the same things two different ways.

Excel spreadsheet vs SmartPM comparison

| Requirement | Excel spreadsheet | SmartPM |

| Task dependencies | Manually set with formulas; may break when rows are added | Four dependency types, delay by working days |

| Date shifts affect successors | Each date updated manually | Successor tasks shift automatically |

| Critical path | Not calculated | Marked in red on the Gantt chart, showing slack |

| Simultaneous work | File copies and version confusion | Changes visible to everyone instantly without page refresh |

| Who sees what | Anyone with the file sees everything | Administrator, member, viewer and customer roles |

| Sharing with customers | Separate files or emails | Customers see only opened tasks, can comment and approve |

| Reminders and notifications | None | Assignment, comment, mention and due date reminders; instant email or daily digest |

| Change history | Cannot track who changed what | Task history, undo and audit log |

| Time logging | Collected manually on a separate sheet | Timer on task, weekly schedule, CSV |

| Return to Excel | — | Tables, reports and time logs downloadable as CSV |

## When is Excel sufficient?

If your tasks are not interdependent, the list is updated by a single person, and you do not need to share it with anyone, Excel or a similar spreadsheet will suffice. As the number of tasks increases, dates begin to influence one another, and when multiple people start editing the same list, keeping the spreadsheet up to date becomes a task in itself.

## How do I migrate my project from Excel to SmartPM?

SmartPM imports Excel and CSV files; you map columns to task name, list, person, date and label. Up to 3,000 cards can be imported at once. Imports from Trello, Asana and Jira are also supported; steps are in the import documentation.

## Move from spreadsheet to plan

Start with your existing Excel list, let SmartPM handle dependencies.