If you've made the decision to start an affiliate program for your business, congrats! Now it's time to get everything up and running.
Understandably, you don't want to overcommit by adopting expensive affiliate software. Your tool of choice to manage your affiliates will likely go to spreadsheets.
We've come across many businesses using spreadsheets as their affiliate management solution.
Countless affiliate managers are hunched over Excel files, frantically cross-referencing cells before the next affiliate payout cycle. This is, of course, not the ideal approach to manage your affiliates.
We'll demonstrate the limitations of spreadsheets for affiliate management by examining their practicality and scalability.
Then, we'll recommend affiliate software equipped with all the essential features you need to build a successful affiliate program.
Spreadsheets Aren’t Made for Growth-Driven Affiliate Programs
If you just started an affiliate program, tracking a handful of affiliates in a spreadsheet may not be an issue.
Plus, Excel sheets are something that you’re already familiar with, requiring almost no extra costs and onboarding effort.
However, as soon as real growth kicks in, those DIY spreadsheet systems quickly become a liability in managing a thriving affiliate program rather than an asset.
The spreadsheet approach is fundamentally built on manual processes that don't scale. It's not that the spreadsheets fall short—their systems work—but that it's impossible for anyone to handle the amount of growing data correctly and rapidly.
And that's where you lose that control.
What started as a simple affiliate tracking system inevitably morphs into a complex web of interconnected sheets—one for tracking affiliate traffic, another for affiliate conversions and contact information, and others for calculating affiliate commissions, payout schedules, etc.
Before long, you're juggling a digital house of cards that is waiting to collapse.
Why Using Spreadsheets for Managing Affiliate Programs Cost You Money
If you are using spreadsheets as your affiliate marketing software, you're typing and copy-and-pasting numbers that very much translate to real money.
A simple typo could cost you real dollars and your reputation. This is basically what happened to Citibank in 2024, causing them to lose around 81 trillion dollars (no, that's not a typo).
While it may not have been spreadsheets in their case (we hope) it does show the risk of relying on manual input—and unfortunately, there are plenty more risks looming in spreadsheets for affiliate management.
1. Managing Affiliates with Spreadsheets Is Time-Consuming
Time flies when you're managing spreadsheets—in a negative way.
While using spreadsheets to track affiliates may work in theory, the inefficiency is staggering.
Think about each step involved in manual affiliate commission tracking:
- Extracting referral data from your website analytics
- Cross-referencing that sales data with actual purchases
- Calculating different commission rates for different affiliates
- Tracking refunds and returns that affect commissions
- Creating payout reports
- Sending individual payments
And that's only after you've created a working spreadsheet with all the right formulas in all the right places.
Keep in mind that affiliate program management can easily consume 15-20 hours weekly.
That's half a workweek spent on admin instead of actually growing your program. This is definitely not the most efficient way to use your valuable time.
2. Spreadsheets for Managing Affiliates Present Data Inaccuracies
Manual data entry is prone to human error.
Consequently, manually inputting affiliate program data into spreadsheets carries significant risk. One misplaced decimal point can lead to:
- Overpaying affiliates - impacting your revenue
- Underpaying affiliates - damaging affiliate relationships that you’ve built upon
- Incorrect performance analysis - leading to poor strategic decisions and stagnant affiliate program growth
And it's not just about sending the wrong amount and having to fix it—it'll hurt your reputation with your affiliates as well.
Yes, even if you accidentally pay them more (in which you’re likely for them to transfer the amount back).
What they're seeing is that you don't have your ducks in a row, and that's not a good look.
3. Managing Affiliates with Spreadsheets Causes Delayed Affiliate Insights
Timely data drives decision-making in affiliate marketing.
When you're working with spreadsheets, you're always looking in the rearview mirror.
By the time you've manually compiled last month's performance data, precious weeks have passed—weeks when you could have been addressing affiliate management challenges.
For example, optimizing affiliate campaigns, addressing underperforming segments, or doubling down on what's working.
4. Spreadsheets for Managing Affiliates Contain Security Vulnerabilities
Speaking of delayed insights: how are you going to catch any self-referral affiliate frauds in a spreadsheet?
It could take weeks or months to notice if there are any discrepancies in numbers (or you won’t notice it at all).
On top of that, spreadsheets containing affiliate payment details and performance data represent a security liability.
They're typically:
- Stored locally without proper encryption
- Shared via email without access controls
- Lacking audit trails for changes
- Vulnerable to accidental deletion or corruption
One data breach or accidentally shared file can expose sensitive information about your business and affiliates to unwanted parties.
5. Managing Affiliates with Spreadsheets Isn’t Scalable
When your program has just a dozen affiliates, you can handle the affiliate program management on a spreadsheet.
But what if it turns 50? Or 500?
Spreadsheets aren't just limited in terms of scaling the numbers.
They also don't offer any CRM-like features and don't help you automate communications or store marketing content.
You'd have to jump from tool to tool to get things done.
That's why affiliate management software beats spreadsheets, even for the smallest, newest affiliate programs.
Signs You Should Abandon Affiliate Management Spreadsheets
How do you know when it's time to graduate from spreadsheets?
These are the warning signs your affiliate program shows:
- You're spending more than 5 hours weekly on affiliate admin.
- Your affiliate count exceeds 20 active partners.
- You've experienced at least one significant payment error.
- You can't provide affiliates with real-time performance data.
- You're constantly worried about making mistakes.
- You're hopping from tool to tool for affiliate content management, communications, and commission tracking.
If three or more of these apply to you, your affiliate management spreadsheet system is already holding you back.
Rewardful Is a Better Affiliate Management Tool than Spreadsheets
If you're wondering about the best tool for managing an affiliate program, the answer is Rewardful affiliate software.
Our affiliate tool is specifically built for SaaS and subscription-based businesses, making managing an affiliate program a breeze.
Here are some of the key features Rewardful offers:
- Automated affiliate sales and commission tracking: Through the seamless Rewardful-Stripe integration, Rewardful accurately captures referral sales, affiliate conversions, and commissions without manual data entry.
- Integrated affiliate payments: Direct connections to payment processors such as PayPal and Wise, helping you pay up to 5,000 affiliates with a single click.
- Affiliate coupon codes and links: easily generate affiliate coupons or links for your affiliates, enabling them to promote your brand on any online platform.
- Fraud detection: Automated systems that flag suspicious activities like self-referrals, keeping your affiliate program safe.
- Customizable affiliate dashboards: train your affiliates to be self-service in checking their performance, available marketing materials, and more.
- Unlimited scalability: The capacity to grow from 10 to 10,000 affiliates without changing the affiliate marketing software.
Spreadsheets Aren’t Made for Affiliate Management, but Rewardful Is
Spreadsheets might be free to use, but they can be costly.
You’ll have to make many manual affiliate data entries, which is not only time-consuming but also prone to errors.
As your affiliate program grows, you’ll deal with a lot of affiliate data and complex migration.
This headache can be avoided if you use dedicated affiliate software from the start.
If you’re looking for a cost-friendly affiliate marketing software that is super easy to use, quick to set up (15-minute installation process on average), and has many powerful affiliate management features, try out Rewardful.
Explore Rewardful's pricing plans to see the complete features, the benefits you can get, and how to get started.
These affiliate marketing blogs and tips may interest you:
- The Best Affiliate Management Tools for Indie Hackers (Under $100)
- How Rewardful Simplifies Affiliate Management for SaaS Businesses
- When and How to Migrate to Another Affiliate Software
FAQs - Why Excel Is a Poor Choice for Affiliate Management
Answering your questions about using spreadsheets for managing affiliates and Rewardful.
1. What Is the Best Way to Start Running an Affiliate Program?
The best way to start running an affiliate program is to begin with dedicated affiliate marketing software rather than spreadsheets.
While spreadsheets might seem like a low-cost entry point, they quickly become inefficient and error-prone as your program grows.
Purpose-built affiliate tools like Rewardful provide automated tracking, simplified payouts, and professional dashboards for your affiliates from day one.
2. What Are the Best Affiliate Program Tools for Beginners?
Beginners should look for affiliate program tools like Rewardful that offer ease of setup, intuitive interfaces, and reliable support.
Key features to prioritize include automated tracking, simple commission structures, easy affiliate onboarding, and direct integration with Stripe.
Avoid complex solutions with steep learning curves, and instead choose affiliate management platforms designed with simplicity in mind.
3. How Do I Track Affiliate Commissions without Spreadsheets?
To track affiliate commissions without spreadsheets, implement dedicated affiliate tracking software that automatically captures referrals, conversions, and calculates commissions based on your predefined rules.
These systems integrate directly with your website and payment processors, such as Stripe, to ensure accurate, real-time tracking without manual data entry.
Learn more about affiliate commissions.
4. What’s the Best Affiliate Commission Tracking Solution?
Rewardful is one of the best affiliate commission tracking solutions.
It provides accurate attribution, handles various commission structures, manages refunds automatically, and integrates directly with Stripe.
Furthermore, Rewardful's ability to generate and track link-based and coupon codes enables versatile marketing strategies.
5. How Many Affiliates Can I Manage with a Spreadsheet?
While a spreadsheet technically allows you to manage 5-10 affiliates (or more), the system quickly becomes unwieldy beyond that number.
Each additional affiliate increases the complexity and time commitment exponentially, especially when dealing with different commission structures, refunds, and varying payment schedules.
6. What Are the Best Tools for Managing an Affiliate Program?
The best affiliate program management tools offer automated tracking, flexible commission structures, and intuitive affiliate portals, among others.
When evaluating solutions, prioritize those that integrate seamlessly with your existing technology, provide dependable support, and scale effortlessly with your program's growth.
Rewardful excels in all these areas, making it the ideal choice for comprehensive affiliate management.
