Airtable

Didn't find your answer?

I'm not sure this will get much of a response but is anyone using Airtable?

I have a lot of questions about this collaboration service, and I would be really grateful if anyone at all could spare me a few minutes to pick their brains.

Thought I had better ask the accountants than attempt to wade through Airtable's PR guff.

Many thanks in advance to anyone who can put me out of my misery.

Replies (10)

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John Toon
By John Toon
07th Oct 2020 10:01

Hey Maddy,

I'm using Airtable in a fairly rudimentary way - tracking client filing deadlines. I have it connected to Companies House, Charity Commission and HMRC.

Alastair Barlow is the man to speak to about Airtable as he's probably using it in a more sophisticated manner!

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Replying to johnt27:
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By SE_Confused
08th Oct 2020 09:47

Hi John
i would be interested to see how you connected to HMRC.
many thanks

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Replying to johnt27:
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By GeoffArcher
08th Oct 2020 09:50

Hi. I'd be really interested to know how you have it connected. Sounds like I'm missing out on a major piece of automation. I'm using Airtable, among other things, to track dates for comp Hse, CC and HMRC, but all manually. Would you be willing to share how you connect it? Many thanks.

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Replying to GeoffArcher:
John Toon
By John Toon
08th Oct 2020 11:14

To connect Airtable to CoHo etc you need access to their APIs. To do that you sign up to their developer hubs from which you can generate an API key - you'll find them through a quick google search.

Once you have the API key you can call for data and populate Airtable using the scripting app. You do need some coding skills to do this though. My reference point is the registration or UTR numbers in each instance, which allows me to update other details that may change like company names, for example.

Off the back of this you can trigger all sorts of automations/processes - simple email alerts being just one.

So far I'm connected to CoHo, CC, HMRC and FCA for managing deadlines, client details etc.

Also worth noting any of the good practice management systems will do this for you as they have built the same connections into their apps. The scripting app within Airtable is only free until 31 March 2021.

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Replying to johnt27:
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By GeoffArcher
08th Oct 2020 11:50

Thanks for sharing that. Much appreciated. I'll take a look and see if I can figure it out. I do have a little programming knowledge so hopefully, that will help. Sounds like a nice little project to get my teeth into. Thanks again.

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Ivor Windybottom
By Ivor Windybottom
07th Oct 2020 10:19

Airtable seems great.

Wanted to use it for collaborative shared lists, etc., but concerned about:
(a) data security
(b) whether the service would shut without warning at some point

So ended back with Excel spreadsheets, despite not being as good or usable!

When we have something equivalent in Microsoft Teams that establishes itself then Airtable will struggle to compete, due to the above concerns.

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RLI
By lionofludesch
07th Oct 2020 11:13

I thought it was one of those arcade games where you knock a puck around the table, trying to get it into a slot at the far end.

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boxfile
By spilly
07th Oct 2020 13:10

I wondered if it was like AirB&B; people rock up at mealtimes and get fed by someone hosting at their home.

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By Simpleton2
08th Oct 2020 09:40

I have used it a little. It seems effectively a half-way house between Trello and Excel, with a little Access on the side. The setup for a new sheet/board is more complex than excel/trello, though less than access. But you can make changes to structure even after entering data so you don't have to plan everything out from the start.

I am quite happy using it though I haven't done anything very complicated with it and I have only been trying it on my own so I can't speak to the collaborative elements.

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By JD
08th Oct 2020 10:11

Not really used it myself, my my 9 year old daughter took to it like a duck to water. I suspect it will be one of those, if you like excel you will stick to it, but new kid on the block may find Airtable useful.

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