# Should You Run a Fish Farm on Excel or Software?

> The pros and limits of running a fish farm on Excel; when to switch to software, how to migrate and what gets automated.

- URL: https://demo.fcrsoft.com/en/aquaculture/excel-vs-fish-farm-software
- Language: en
- Updated: 2026-10-03
- Publisher: FCRSOFT (https://fcrsoft.com)

[Demos](https://demo.fcrsoft.com/?hl=en) / [Knowledge Center](https://demo.fcrsoft.com/en/guides) / Excel or Fish Farm Software? Guide

# Excel or Fish Farm Software?

Excel is a good starting tool. But as cages, staff and data grow, scattered files lead to errors, lost time and problems noticed too late.
[See the system that does this automatically Open the live demo](https://demo.fcrsoft.com/login.php?package=farmint)

## Excel’s strengths

- Free and familiar

- Quick start and flexible sheets

- Can be enough for small farms

## Excel’s limits

- Real-time entry from the field is hard, so records lag.

- Several people editing the same file creates version chaos.

- Formula errors affect decisions unnoticed.

- There are no alerts when thresholds are crossed.

- Feed stock, biomass and FCR are not linked automatically.

**One System Instead of Excel**Instead of scattered Excel sheets, run the whole operation from one system; easily import the data from your templates into FCRSOFT.
[Open the live demo](https://demo.fcrsoft.com/login.php?package=farmint) [Fish Farm Software](https://demo.fcrsoft.com/en/solutions/fish-farm-software)

## When should you switch to software?

- If you manage several cages, ponds or sites

- If several people enter records in the field

- If you want to see FCR and costs weekly

- If buyers ask for traceability records

## How to make the switch

Stock, cage and feed data from your current Excel sheets is imported, and the team starts entering records by phone in the field. Every calculation you did by hand is then done automatically.
[Free tool Free Excel Templates](https://demo.fcrsoft.com/en/tools/excel-templates) FCRSOFT

## FCRSOFT does this for you automatically

You don’t need to do the calculations and checks on this page by hand every day. FCRSOFT derives them all automatically from the records entered in the field.

- Every calculation in the templates is done automatically in FCRSOFT.

- Field records by phone, no copying into Excel

- Instant alerts when thresholds are crossed

[Open the live demo](https://demo.fcrsoft.com/login.php?package=farmint) [Explore the Integrated Farm package](https://demo.fcrsoft.com/demo/farmint?hl=en)

[demo.fcrsoft.com](https://demo.fcrsoft.com/login.php?package=farmint)

Last updated: 10/3/2026

## Related tools and guides

[Free tool ### Free Excel Templates Free Excel templates with ready-made formulas for feeding logs, FCR calculation, biomass, mortality, feed stock, water quality and harvest planning. Open the tool](https://demo.fcrsoft.com/en/tools/excel-templates) [Solution ### Fish Farm Software Fish farm software that runs in the cloud, installs on your phone like an app and supports 15 languages. Try it now with a live demo that needs no installation. Explore the solution](https://demo.fcrsoft.com/en/solutions/fish-farm-software) [Guide ### Seafood Traceability What seafood traceability from juvenile to customer means, which data to record, how to design lot numbers and how to manage recalls. Read the guide](https://demo.fcrsoft.com/en/aquaculture/seafood-traceability) [Free tool ### FCR Calculator Free FCR calculator: instantly work out economic and biological FCR, feed cost per kg and the savings from a 0.1 FCR improvement, from biomass gain and feed given. Open the tool](https://demo.fcrsoft.com/en/tools/fcr-calculator)