Should I start with a spreadsheet or with Obra?

If you have one job and you hold every receipt, start with a spreadsheet — ours is free and already has the columns. Move to Obra when a second job or a second person makes the sheet fall behind. Obra is free for one project, so the switch costs nothing to try.

Can I keep using my spreadsheet alongside Obra?

Yes. Obra exports filtered CSVs of any project's transactions, so a spreadsheet becomes a report you generate rather than a ledger you maintain.

Is Obra just a spreadsheet with a receipt scanner?

The scanner is the smallest part. The difference is who can put a cost in (anyone on the crew, from a phone, without seeing the totals), that every entry is reviewed before it counts, and that the forecast, change orders and financial close are built in rather than formulas you maintain.

Obra vs a spreadsheet for job costing: when the sheet is enough, and the week it stops being

A spreadsheet is free and honest until nobody updates it. Where Excel or Google Sheets works for job costing, where it breaks, and what Obra changes for a small crew.

The short version

A spreadsheet is the right first job-costing tool, and we give one away. It stops being right the week receipts pile up faster than someone types them — usually the second concurrent job, or the first crew member who is not you. Obra keeps the spreadsheet's honesty (every number is a line you can see) and removes the typing: receipts from WhatsApp, email or photo become entries a person confirms, and the totals, forecast and margin update themselves.

Obra is the better fit when

You have more than one job running and receipts from more than one person
The sheet is a week or more behind by the time you look at it
Your crew sends photos over WhatsApp and someone retypes them at night
You want a forecast and a margin you did not have to build formulas for

a spreadsheet is the better fit when

One job at a time, and you hold every receipt yourself
You are testing whether tracking costs is worth the habit before paying for anything
You need a layout no software offers and are comfortable maintaining formulas
Your accountant has a template they want you to fill and nothing else

Side by side

What you're comparing	Obra	a spreadsheet
Price	Free for one active project; Pro is $12 per user per month or $120 per year.	Free with Google Sheets or an Office subscription you likely already have.
Getting a cost in	Photograph, forward or WhatsApp the receipt; the amount, date, vendor and category are read for you.	Someone types every line, usually later, from a pile.
Who can enter costs	Anyone you make a submitter, from their own phone, without seeing the totals; a reviewer approves.	Whoever has the file and the discipline; sharing means sharing everything.
Receipts and proof	Attached to each entry; exportable with the data.	In a folder, a glovebox or a camera roll, unlinked to the line.
Change orders	Logged per project with date, amount and attachment; the original contract stays visible.	A cell you overwrite, and the original number is gone.
Forecast and margin	Expected final cost and margin per project, never below what is recorded.	Only if you build and maintain the formulas.
Errors	Nothing is saved without a person confirming it; totals cannot be overtyped.	A dragged formula or a deleted row silently changes the answer.
Languages	English and Spanish, in the app and on WhatsApp.	Whatever you type.
Getting your data out	CSV of anything, anytime — including into a spreadsheet.	It already is a spreadsheet.

Facts about a spreadsheet checked on September 1, 2026. Prices and plan names change; check the vendor's own site before you buy, and tell us at support@tryobra.com if something here is out of date.

Nobody at Obra will tell you a spreadsheet is a bad way to start tracking job costs. It is the right way. It is free, every number is visible, and the discipline of filling it teaches you what your jobs actually cost. We publish a free one with the columns already set up, and the guide that goes with it is the most-read page on this site.

The week it stops working

A spreadsheet has one input method: a person typing. That person is you, and the receipts are somewhere else — a glovebox, a camera roll, a WhatsApp group where the foreman posted a photo of the lumber ticket at 7:40 this morning. The sheet is accurate exactly as often as you sit down and transcribe, and that frequency drops the moment a second job or a second person shows up.

The failure is silent. The sheet does not tell you it is two weeks behind; it shows you a margin that looks fine because half the costs are not in it yet. You find out when the bills arrive.

What Obra keeps

The spreadsheet's honesty. Every project in Obra is a list of transactions you can read line by line, filter and export back to a spreadsheet whenever you like. There is no black box between the receipt and the total.

What Obra changes

Who can put a cost in, and how. A photo sent to Obra's WhatsApp number, a forwarded invoice or a snap in the app becomes a draft with the amount, date, vendor and category already read. Anyone you make a submitter can do it from their own phone without seeing the project's finances. A reviewer approves it, and only then does it count.

And what happens after the entry: change orders that keep the original contract visible, a forecast of the job's final cost that never dips below what is already recorded, and a financial close when the last receipt is in. In a spreadsheet those are formulas you build and protect. In Obra they are just there.

A fair test

Keep your spreadsheet for the next job. Note how many days behind it is each Friday, and how many receipts you could not find. If the answer is "zero and none," you do not need Obra yet. If it is anything else, one project in Obra is free.

Questions people ask

Should I start with a spreadsheet or with Obra?: If you have one job and you hold every receipt, start with a spreadsheet — ours is free and already has the columns. Move to Obra when a second job or a second person makes the sheet fall behind. Obra is free for one project, so the switch costs nothing to try.
Can I keep using my spreadsheet alongside Obra?: Yes. Obra exports filtered CSVs of any project's transactions, so a spreadsheet becomes a report you generate rather than a ledger you maintain.
Is Obra just a spreadsheet with a receipt scanner?: The scanner is the smallest part. The difference is who can put a cost in (anyone on the crew, from a phone, without seeing the totals), that every entry is reviewed before it counts, and that the forecast, change orders and financial close are built in rather than formulas you maintain.

Free download

Not ready for an app? Start with our free Excel template.

A ready-made spreadsheet to track costs and income per project — with categories and the totals already set up.