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VariationFlow vs Spreadsheets
The QS’s own workbook, in Excel or Google Sheets: a variation register, an application and often a CVR, kept by hand. It is what most specialist subcontractors run today, and it costs nothing extra.
Checked 10 October 2026
Choose a spreadsheet if
One or two live jobs, a QS with the time to keep the workbook meticulously, and a site team that reports every change the same day.
Choose VariationFlow if
Several live jobs, crews who meet changes on site, and contracts whose deadlines cost money when they are missed.
Side by side
| VariationFlow | Spreadsheets | |
|---|---|---|
| Who it is built for | VariationFlowUK specialist subcontractors working under main contractors: fit-out, dry lining, flooring, electrical, mechanical, fire protection, roofing and groundworks among them. Domestic builders have a plan of their own. | SpreadsheetsAnyone. It is a general tool, shaped by whoever builds the workbook. |
| Pricing | VariationFlowPublished. VariationFlow is £200 a month + VAT with unlimited users; VariationFlow + QA Flow £400; Builder £49 for domestic builders. 6-month minimum term, 20% off annually. | SpreadsheetsUsually nothing extra: most firms already have the software. |
| Variations from site | VariationFlowCaptured on site on a phone in about a minute: photos, a voice note, the location and the requester’s signature. Each gets a project reference and goes to the main contractor with a review link that needs no account. | SpreadsheetsNot captured on site. The variation reaches the workbook later, typed in from notes, messages and photos on somebody’s phone. |
| UK contract and payment deadlines | VariationFlowNEC4 subcontract compensation event clocks (61.3 notification, 62.3 and 62.6 quotation), JCT confirmation of verbal instructions, and Construction Act payment dates: due date, payment notice, pay less notice and final date. | SpreadsheetsOnly the dates somebody works out and types in, and only if they remember to. |
| Cost value reconciliation | VariationFlowA CVR per project and period: value from your valuations, cost by head with accruals and provisions, and your QS’s forecast, with a portfolio view across jobs. | SpreadsheetsCommon, and capable. The value is usually re-keyed from the applications, so the two have to be kept in step by hand. |
| Accounts, ERP and CIS | VariationFlowNot an ERP. It holds no ledger, runs no payroll, files no CIS returns and raises no purchase orders. Costs come in from an export of your accounts package. | SpreadsheetsSits beside the accounts package, with costs copied across by hand. |
| Mobile app and no signal | VariationFlowiPhone and Android app that captures with or without signal and sends when the phone is back online, in the crew’s own language. | SpreadsheetsHard to use on site. Evidence stays on phones and in inboxes until somebody gathers it. |
| Free plan or trial | VariationFlowFree for your first job: 1 project and 2 users, no card. | SpreadsheetsFree, in the sense that it is already paid for. |
Questions
- Is a spreadsheet good enough to track variations?
- For one or two jobs with a disciplined QS, it can be. It struggles when variations start on site: the workbook only knows what somebody types in later, and the contract deadlines are only tracked if somebody works them out by hand.
- What does VariationFlow add to a QS’s workbook?
- Capture on site with photos, a voice note, the location and a signature; contract clocks for the NEC4 subcontract, JCT and the Construction Act worked out for you; and a CVR whose value comes from the valuations rather than being re-keyed.
- Can I keep my spreadsheet and still use VariationFlow?
- Yes. The variation register and valuations export as CSV, so a workbook the QS relies on can keep being fed while the capture and the clocks move into VariationFlow.
Checked 10 October 2026. Something wrong or out of date? Tell us and we will correct it.