When is Excel enough?
Spreadsheets work well at first: one person enters the bookings, there are few a month and almost all are paid in one go and in one currency. Excel is flexible, everyone knows it and each agency shapes it its own way.
The limit shows up with volume and with the team: one spreadsheet for bookings, another for collections, another for cash and another for commissions, all of which have to stay in sync, plus several versions of the same file going around by email.
How do they compare, task by task?
| Task | With Excel spreadsheets | With Tripwise |
|---|---|---|
| Entering a booking | Typed into a spreadsheet, with the columns each agency set up. | Entered with its services and operators, or imported with AI from the wholesaler's PDF. |
| Booking profit | Comes from formulas built by hand. | Calculated automatically, service by service, with VAT separated if the agency is VAT-registered. |
| Pesos and dollars | Separate columns or files, with the exchange rate noted somewhere else. | Separate balances per currency and the rate saved with its source. |
| Instalments | Reminders in someone's personal calendar. | A payment plan with an alert before each due date. |
| Electronic invoice | Issued separately, in ARCA's portal, copying the data. | Issued from the booking, with the right letter and tax status. |
| VAT books | Built by hand from the invoices. | VAT books for sales and purchases, built from the invoices and exportable. |
| Commissions | Worked out at month end, in a separate spreadsheet. | Calculated when each booking is saved, with each seller's rule. |
| Who changed what | Spread across versions of the file. | Kept in the change history, field by field. |
| Cost | Included in the Office license the agency already has. | A monthly or annual plan based on booking volume (pricing). |
How do you move from spreadsheets to a system?
- Enter the fixed data first: the agency, its tax status, the operators and the users.
- Start with new bookings and let the old ones finish in the spreadsheet.
- From day one, record every payment in and out in the system, so the cash starts in order.
- Ask your accountant to check the first invoice and the first month-end close.
The passenger database builds itself as bookings are entered: each person gets a record that is reused on their next trips.
How does Tripwise handle it?
Tripwise replaces scattered spreadsheets for bookings, collections, commissions and due dates with a single source of truth: the booking feeds the collection, the cash, the electronic invoice, the VAT books and each seller's commission, with nothing entered twice.
It runs in the browser, it is in Spanish and English, it exports cash movements and VAT books to Excel, and it has plans by booking volume with a free trial and no card (pricing).
Sources
- Factura electrónica · ARCA, checked on October 29, 2026
- ARCA, Resolución General 5616/2024: condición frente al IVA del receptor y comprobantes en moneda extranjera · Boletín Oficial de la República Argentina, checked on October 29, 2026