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ControlBoard vs spreadsheets and whiteboards

A whiteboard or a spreadsheet is the right schedule for a small company with one scheduler, a few jobs and crews that rarely change. It stops working when two people change the plan at once, when the field needs the change before 6 AM, or when payroll retypes the hours. ControlBoard® keeps the same picture, jobs down the side and days across, and adds conflict marks, history, the field app, time from the schedule and a payroll file. Your spreadsheet comes in through an import workbook, or Congistics loads and checks it with you, usually the same day.

Facts checked October 31, 2026 from public sources listed below.

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Choose Spreadsheets and whiteboards if

A small company with one scheduler, a handful of jobs and steady crews, where everyone can see the board in the shop and nobody needs the schedule on a phone or the hours in payroll from it.

Choose ControlBoard® if

A company where several people change the schedule, crews and machines move between jobs during the week, the field needs changes before the shift, and the office wants approved hours and job cost without retyping.

Side by side

	ControlBoard®	Spreadsheets and whiteboards
Cost	Published, per person, from $4 a month	Usually already paid for, or a marker
Several people changing it at once	Yes; every change shows for everyone at once	A shared spreadsheet can; a whiteboard is in one room
Double bookings	Marked as conflicts on every board	Only if someone notices or builds a formula
Labor and equipment together	Yes, with rentals, moves and trips	Yes, if the scheduler keeps it up
Telling the field	App, text or email per person; replies filed on the job	Photos of the board, group texts, phone calls
History of changes	Full change history and undo	Version history in some spreadsheet tools; none on a whiteboard
Field time and payroll	Hours from the schedule, weekly approval, payroll file	Typed again from paper or texts
Forecast and job cost	Labor forecast, labor plan and projected final cost	Built and kept by hand
Moving in	Import workbook, or loaded and checked with you, usually the same day ($1,250 one time)	Nothing to move

From people who switched

“Great support with great scheduling software”

I love the support that we get. The company make enhancements and really listens to what we need for our company. The tool is very easy to use and it updates with our system so it works well with what we need.

★★★★★

Anna L, Director of Software DevelopmentConstruction, 201-500 employees
Capterra review, 01/17/2024

“Skeptical at first, but really quite good”

The info that the crews get is instant, and uniform, and via the expected channels. There is no lag from having to recommunicate changes in plans. The cleanliness and organization makes it easy to see both overviews and details of daily and weekly work. The ability to attach work packages has helped control engineering/installer communication. The site info and colors and customization to our customers, job names, …

★★★★

Noah B, Project ManagerMachinery, 11-50 employees
Capterra review, 06/19/2023

Common questions

When is a whiteboard or spreadsheet enough to schedule crews?

When one person schedules a few jobs with steady crews, and everyone who needs the schedule can see it in the shop. A whiteboard is fast to change and costs almost nothing. It stops being enough when several people change the plan, crews and machines move during the week, or payroll has to retype the hours from it.

How do we move a spreadsheet schedule into ControlBoard?

Your people, equipment, jobs, cost codes and staffing needs go into a starter workbook with the same columns for every company, and ControlBoard checks it before anything is saved. Or Congistics loads and checks your spreadsheets with you, usually the same day, for a one-time $1,250. Scheduling can start as soon as the lists are in.

Will our schedulers find ControlBoard harder than Excel?

ControlBoard keeps the picture schedulers know from a spreadsheet: jobs or people down the side, days across, with bookings dragged and dropped. Capterra reviewers who came from spreadsheets wrote that it felt very similar but easier to change, and that crews got the information instantly and the same way every time. Training and phone support are included.

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