Excel Quote-Invoice Maker needs to scan the template to find all the field placeholders in all the cells before it can merge data from ACT!. This can sometimes take a long time, particularly if you applied formatting to whole rows or columns.
But there is a way to make the whole process faster: you can limit the search of the add-on by creating a range named "AreaToScan". When the add-on finds such a range in your sheets, it will not scan the whole sheet but only this range.
Be careful: if your "AreaToScan" does not include all field placeholders, the placeholders outside the range will just be ignored.
How to create the "AreaToScan" range
First, select the proper area in your sheet. Make sure you select all of your field placeholders.
Then under the Formulas Tab of Excel, click on Define Name.
Then type AreaToScan as name and select the current sheet under Scope.
It is very important to not leave the scope set to Workbook and to select the proper sheet.
IT WILL NOT WORK IF THE SCOPE IS SET TO WORKBOOK.
Repeat for each of the sheets of your workbook if necessary. Then save your template and you're done. You can now test. For large spreadsheets, the difference should be noticeable.