Real case: a logistics company whose clients check their own stock

Each client logs in from their phone and sees their stock, their inbound and outbound movements, read from the same spreadsheet the warehouse already used. In production, with the company's real clients. Here's how it was built.

A logistics company · WarehouseLive

The challenge: its clients had no way to see their stock

How they worked

The warehouse recorded each client's stock and movements in its spreadsheet. Only the company had that information: a client couldn't check for themselves what they had left, or what had come in or gone out.

What was essential

That each client could only see their own data, and never the company's prices or rates.

What stayed the same

The warehouse's spreadsheet. Staff keep recording things where they always have: nobody enters anything twice.

From the warehouse spreadsheet to the client's phone

A private portal, designed to be opened from a phone. Four steps, from what the warehouse records to what each client sees.

Each client sees only their own data, and it updates itself without anyone touching it.

Reads the warehouse's spreadsheet
The company uploads its spreadsheet to the portal, and the portal re-reads it every 10 minutes, so each client sees the latest version uploaded. If a spreadsheet arrives incomplete, it keeps showing the previous one, which was fine: clients never see half-finished data.
Splits out each client's data
Each client had their own spreadsheet workbook, and each one recorded things their own way. The portal understands every format. It reads dates, delivery notes, recipients and destinations, and of numbers, only quantities, weights and days: not a single amount.
Each client logs in and sees their own data
With their own account, from their phone: their stock, what's come in and gone out, and the tracking of each delivery note when their spreadsheet records it. And they can download it as a spreadsheet so they don't have to copy it out by hand.
If they need something, they leave it in writing
Taking goods out, or making an enquiry, with no phone calls. The request is handled by someone at the company, so the relationship with the client stays theirs, and the client can see the status of it at every point.

Reliable data from day one

Whatever the spreadsheet doesn't make clear isn't filled in by guesswork. These three doubts came up when reading the real data, and here's how they were resolved.

Spreadsheet doubts · how they were resolved3 cases

Outbound movements that seemed to have no quantity

The first read found 21 outbound movements with a date but no quantity. Instead of setting them to zero, which would say nothing had gone out, each one was checked by hand: the quantity was recorded one cell to the left. They're now read correctly, using a rule verified against the rows that were in the right place. Today none of them are left set aside.

A piece of data the spreadsheet doesn't record

If a workbook doesn't keep delivery note numbers, the portal explains this on screen and says what's enough to record to get item-by-item tracking.

Only real issues

Only what the spreadsheet itself defines as an issue counts as one. That way, a client only sees a notice about their goods when there really is one.

Where it stands today

In production, with the company's real clients signed up.

Stock portalLive

5 of 5ways of trying to see another client's data, blocked

10 minhow often it updates with the latest spreadsheet uploaded

Who sees what

Each client, only their own data, and not a single euro: no prices or rates from the company. Who has logged in and when is seen only by the company, and by me, since I maintain it.

How it's looked after

Passwords aren't stored in plain text. A backup is made every night and the last 30 are kept, plus another one off the server every week, verified. It's monitored automatically and recovers on its own, without anyone having to touch anything.

Checked on 22 September 2026: all ten data-returning endpoints, one by one, verifying that each one takes the client from who's logged in, not from whatever is written in the address.

How it fits into everyday work

The warehouse's spreadsheet still drives the stock: a single source of truth, with nothing recorded twice.
Requests are handled by someone at the company, and the client can see the status of theirs without having to call.
The portal shows everything the spreadsheet records; if you want to see something else, all you need to do is start recording it.

Do your clients want to see their own data too?

A client who can check for themselves how much they have left, what's gone out, and the status of their order doesn't have to call you to ask, and your service looks more professional without you doing any more work. What works here adapts to any business that already records things in a spreadsheet.

All that's needed is a sample of those files and the list of clients who'd log in. I set it up on its own server, with backups and monitoring, and your clients use it from day one.

Tell me how many of those calls you get

If your clients also call you to ask about their own stock, we'll cover it in a free 30-minute call, and send you the quote afterwards.

Book the 30-minute call Custom automations