Spreadsheet block or Excel workbook: where should your pricing live?
QuoteCloud can hold your Excel calculator inside the quote, or leave the workbook in Microsoft 365 and move rows with Zaps. Here's an honest guide to which suits which job.
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Use the Spreadsheet block when the maths prices one quote: import the .xlsx, and its cells set the lines and react to the options your client ticks. Keep an Excel workbook, connected by Zapier or Make, for lists across many quotes: registers, request logs and month-end reports. Most teams use both, on Essentials and up.
Last reviewed by the QuoteCloud team
Which one fits the job?
Question by question. Where both work, both are marked.
| Spreadsheet blockYour calculator inside the quote | Excel workbook + ZapsRows moved by Zapier or Make | |
|---|---|---|
| Where does the pricing maths run? | Spreadsheet blockInside the quote. Cells set each line's description and unit price as the estimator types. Better fit | Excel workbook + ZapsIn the workbook. A Zap copies the answer into a price-table row when it creates the quote. |
| Do the options the client ticks change the maths? | Spreadsheet blockYes. The price table total comes back into a cell, so margins and checks follow the options. Better fit | Excel workbook + ZapsNo. The workbook only sees what the Zap wrote when the quote was created. |
| Who types the inputs? | Spreadsheet blockThe estimator, in the quote's editor. | Excel workbook + ZapsAnyone who uses the workbook, such as customer service logging requests. Better fit |
| Can the client see it? | Spreadsheet blockOnly if you want. Hide the section from the recipient to keep costs out of sight. Both fit | Excel workbook + ZapsNo. It stays in your Microsoft 365. Both fit |
| Macros, VBA and pivot tables? | Spreadsheet blockDon't come across in the import. Rebuild macros with formulas. | Excel workbook + ZapsKeep working, in Excel. Better fit |
| One quote, or a list across many? | Spreadsheet blockOne quote at a time: each document carries its own calculator. | Excel workbook + ZapsLists across every quote: registers, request logs and month-end reports. Better fit |
| Where must the file live? | Spreadsheet blockNowhere. The import copies it into your template. Better fit | Excel workbook + ZapsOneDrive for Business, a SharePoint site (the default site) or a Group Drive, with a formatted table. |
| Does it need Zapier? | Spreadsheet blockNo. The block is part of the quote, on Essentials and up. Better fit | Excel workbook + ZapsYes, or Make. QuoteCloud's Zapier app is on Essentials and up. |
| Is there a per-document fee? | Spreadsheet blockNo. The block is part of your plan. Both fit | Excel workbook + ZapsOnly when a Zap creates documents. Adding and updating rows has none. Both fit |
Both run on QuoteCloud's Essentials plan and up. Neither is a live, two-way link: the import is a copy, and each Zap runs one way.
Three set-ups we see most
Calculator in the block, register in Excel
Corbel Building Co. prices fit-outs from its cost book in a Spreadsheet block, and Zaps log every proposal to the register in SharePoint. See the register.
Calculator in the block, nothing else
Tessmore Engineering moved its costing workbook into the RFQ template. The estimator never opens Excel to price a part. See the calculator.
Workbook prices, Zap drafts
Wexmoor Freight's request table looks up the lane rate; a Zap drafts the quote from each new row and writes the reference back. See the recipe.
What does using both look like?
Tessa Gray measures Halloran Optometry's shop and types the areas into the Summary tab of Corbel's cost book, which sits in a Spreadsheet block in the fit-out template. Each Amount cell sets a price line; the price table total comes back for the margin check.
When she sends the proposal, a Zap writes Sent and $95,062.00 to the register in SharePoint. The pricing lives in the quote; the reporting lives in Excel.
- The calculator: one per quote, inside it, reacting to options.
- The workbook: one row per quote, across the business, for reports.
Cost book · Summaryimported from Corbel cost book 2026.xlsx
=B4*D4
| A | B | C | D | E | |
| 1 | Item | Qty | Unit | Rate | Amount |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2 | Strip-out & make good | 86 | m² | 38.00 (formula =XLOOKUP(A2,Rates!A:A,Rates!D:D)) | 3,268.00 line 1 |
| 3 | Partitions & doors | 32 | lm | 420.00 (formula =XLOOKUP(A3,Rates!A:A,Rates!D:D)) | 13,440.00 line 2 |
| 4 | Joinery, display & dispensing | 24 | lm | 1,150.00 (formula =XLOOKUP(A4,Rates!A:A,Rates!D:D)) | 27,600.00 line 3 |
| 5 | Ceiling & lighting | 86 | m² | 185.00 (formula =XLOOKUP(A5,Rates!A:A,Rates!D:D)) | 15,910.00 line 4 |
| 6 | Flooring | 86 | m² | 96.00 (formula =XLOOKUP(A6,Rates!A:A,Rates!D:D)) | 8,256.00 line 5 |
| 7 | Electrical & data | 1 | job | 9,400.00 | 9,400.00 line 6 |
| 8 | Preliminaries | 1 | job | 8,546.00 | 8,546.00 line 7 |
| 9 | Price table total | 86,420.00 | |||
| 10 | Our cost | 69,780.00 (formula =SUM(Measure!H2:H8)) | |||
| 11 | Margin | 19.3% (formula =(E9-E10)/E9) |
- Typed in
- Your rates
- Formula
- Sets a price line
- From the price table
Try both on a free trial
The Spreadsheet block and QuoteCloud's Zapier app are on the Essentials plan and up. Import your calculator and connect a copy of your register.
Block or workbook questions
Should I move my Excel calculator into QuoteCloud or keep it in Excel?
Move it if it prices one quote at a time: a Spreadsheet block sets the quote's lines from its cells and reacts to the options your client ticks. Keep it in Excel if it relies on macros, or if it's a list across many quotes, and connect it with Zapier or Make.
Is the Spreadsheet block linked to my Excel file?
No. Importing an .xlsx copies it into the block, and later edits to the file don't flow into quotes. Keep the calculator in your quote template and update the template when your rates change. For live lists, keep the workbook and connect it with Zaps.
Can I use both the Spreadsheet block and an Excel workbook?
Yes, and most Excel teams do. The block prices each quote inside QuoteCloud; Zaps write each quote's status, total and dates to a register table in Excel for reporting. Both are on the Essentials plan and up.
More on QuoteCloud and Excel
Use cases with the exact steps, then how to connect, test and what it costs.
- Import your Excel pricing calculator into a quoteImport the .xlsx into a Spreadsheet block; its cells set the price lines and the total comes back into a cell.
- Log every QuoteCloud document to an Excel tableEach new document adds a row to your register, and its status, signed date and value update as it moves.
- Create QuoteCloud quotes from Excel table rowsA new row in a request table drafts the quote from your template and writes its reference back to the row.
- Month-end quote reporting in ExcelQuoted, signed and deposit figures already in the table, ready for the pivot table finance runs at month end.
- Connect Microsoft Excel to QuoteCloud, step by stepCheck where the workbook lives, format a table, connect both apps in Zapier and build the first Zap.
- Excel to QuoteCloud field mapEvery column the Excel Zaps on this site fill or read, which way it travels and a sample value.
- Test and troubleshoot the Excel ZapsTest with a copy of the workbook, then fix the usual problems: no workbook listed, no table, no row found.
- What QuoteCloud with Excel can and can't doWhat the Spreadsheet block and the Zaps do, where they stop, Zapier or Make, and what we haven't confirmed.
- What the Excel connection costsEssentials and up for the Spreadsheet block and Zapier, plus a fee only for documents a Zap creates.
- FAQAnswers to the questions estimators and finance teams ask before connecting QuoteCloud and Excel.
Pricing in the quote. Reporting in Excel.
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