Google Sheets

Read and write spreadsheet rows like a database

Sheets is the workflow builder integration for structured data. It works with rows and cells, not whole files. Your workflow can read from a spreadsheet, write back to it, and search it, the way a database integration would. If a spreadsheet is already the system of record for a process, Sheets lets your workflow treat it like one.

How it works

Your workflow can get a single row, insert one row or several at once, update one row or several, or delete a row. That covers the basic read and write operations most processes need.

Two more actions let a workflow act like a queue. It can find rows that match a condition, or pull the next unprocessed row. The workflow grabs whatever has not been handled yet, so you never need to know a row number in advance.

You can also shape the spreadsheet itself. A workflow can create a spreadsheet or worksheet from scratch, add a column, clear a sheet's contents, copy a worksheet, or find a spreadsheet or worksheet by name. The integration is not limited to sheets that already exist with a fixed layout.

Sheets also connects to Slides. Slides can refresh charts sourced from a Sheet, so a row your workflow just inserted or updated can show up in a presentation in the same run. Nobody touches the spreadsheet or the deck by hand.

Where this is useful

Freight and logistics operations

Many teams track loads, carrier invoices, and rate confirmations in a shared spreadsheet. Your workflow can insert a new row for each load manifest, update it as a POD comes in, and pull the next unprocessed row when it is ready for the next job. Dispatchers stop hunting for row numbers.

Customs brokers

Entry tracking often lives in a spreadsheet: commercial invoices received, HS codes checked, declared values entered. Your workflow can find every row that matches a condition, such as entries not yet processed, and update each one as work moves along. You keep the sheet you already trust, and the workflow keeps it current.

Lending and mortgage

Loan status and borrower details can live in a Sheet that your workflow reads from and writes back to directly. A loan application or income verification sheet can add a row, and later steps can update that same row as the file moves forward.

Manufacturing and procurement

Purchase order line items sitting in a Sheet can be inserted, updated, or checked row by row as your workflow runs. Nobody on the procurement team opens the spreadsheet by hand to do it.

Marketing and web operations

A Sheet can act as the source for the numbers a Slides deck pulls from. Your workflow updates the rows, and the deck refreshes with current figures ahead of a review.