In January, we said goodbye to spreadsheet chaos and demonstrated how Grist improves upon Excel-based expense tracking. Watch as we walk through importing data from Excel and Google Sheets, setting up intuitive dashboards, and managing access control with ease.

Timestamps

01:30 Overview of typical expense workflow in Excel
03:58 Importing data into Grist
05:33 Changing column type and cell format
07:53 Formulas in Grist
08:30 Extract month/year from Date using strftime()
10:32 Data Cleaning: Converting values to title case
12:46 ❔ User Question: If multiple users are in the document, can we see the cursor of other users, similar to Sheets?
14:10 Creating a summary table
16:03 Linking summary tables
17:48 Rearranging widgets
20:00 Charts
21:13 Creating dynamic charts
22:24 💡Tip: Collapse widgets to simplify your view
23:44 💡Tip: Using formulas to transform data during import
26:32 Access Rules
28:52 User Attributes (user.Name, user.Email) and trigger formulas
32:24 Adding Table Rules
32:47 Restricting row-level access with email
34:44 Restricting access to columns
35:12 Restricting access to tables
37:34 Summarizing workflow improvements
38:53 ❔ User Question: Can we remove the editing bar on the right-hand side? (✅ Answer: Yes! See Embedding Grist)
39:48 ❔ User Question: Is there a way to limit users from editing records from previous months?
40:35 ❔ User Question: What do the letters mean for each permission in access rules and what does the grey color mean?
42:44 ❔ User Question: How to set up a document for two users with different preferences?
45:31 ❔ User Question: How can I add explanations for columns/widgets?
46:26 ❔ User Question: What are some common mistakes when migrating from Excel/Sheets to Grist?

Links

• Grist: https://www.getgrist.com/
• Community Forum: https://community.getgrist.com/
• Help Center: https://support.getgrist.com/
• 📰 Strftime() Cheat Sheet: https://strftime.org/
• 📺 Access Rules Webinar: https://youtu.be/chDCNUHqi6w?si=nKWa9fad1HPLJJvH

Document shown

• Expense Tracking for Teams: https://templates.getgrist.com/55Q2EtTbFvB1/Expense-Tracking-for-Teams