Maybe you were supposed to identify what business need they were trying to solve and see if there was anything better than a spreadsheet?

Spreadsheets are a tricky one some people like the power and automomy they have with spreadsheets.

But more often spreadsheets are the only way to transfer data between solos and it wastes a lot of time and is error-prone.

It really depends on how much time is spent filling out the spreadsheet.

If they are collectively spending 1hr/mo on the spreadsheet then it’s not worth an SWE’s time to optimize it. If they are spending 4hr/day on the spreadsheet then it’s a prime candidate for automation.