Before you start setting player targets, building tiers, or thinking about draft-day strategy, there are a few things you need to do first: install the Auction Command Center add-on, create your workbook, configure it for your league, and load your player data.

This guide walks through that process from beginning to end.

By the time you're finished, you'll have a working Auction Command Center built around your league settings, your owners, your roster rules, and your auction values.

Then you can start making it yours.

What You'll Need

Before you begin, have these ready:

• The Lemon Squeezy order email from your Auction Command Center purchase

• The Google account you'll use with Auction Command Center

• Your league's auction budget

• Your league's roster settings

• Your list of teams or owners

• The player values or rankings you want to use as your starting market data

Plan to do the initial setup on a desktop or laptop. Auction Command Center is built to operate inside Google Sheets and is not designed around the mobile Sheets experience.

One other recommendation: use the same Google account throughout the entire setup process—installing the add-on, creating the workbook, and operating Auction Command Center.

That keeps things simple.

Step 1: Start With Your Purchase

Your Lemon Squeezy order is your starting point.

It contains the current fulfillment links for Auction Command Center, including the link to install the add-on and the link to create your workbook.

Keep that email.

If you ever need to create a fresh workbook later, your order gives you a clean path back to the current customer version.

There are two pieces of Auction Command Center you'll be setting up:

1. The Auction Command Center Google Sheets add-on

2. Your own Auction Command Center workbook

You'll need both.

Step 2: Install the Auction Command Center Add-On

From your Lemon Squeezy order, open the link labeled Install Auction Command Center.

Make sure you're signed into the Google account you intend to use with the product.

Follow Google's installation prompts to install the Auction Command Center add-on.

Once installation is complete, you can move on to the workbook.

If you don't immediately see Auction Command Center later

Google Sheets occasionally needs a refresh after a new add-on is installed.

If the Auction Command Center menu doesn't appear when you first open your workbook, reload the browser tab once and check again.

You should eventually see:

Extensions → Auction Command Center

Step 3: Create Your Auction Command Center Workbook

Return to your Lemon Squeezy order and select Create Your Auction Command Center Workbook.

One important distinction here:

You aren't downloading a static Excel file.

Auction Command Center is a Google Sheets product. The fulfillment link creates your own copy of the Auction Command Center workbook in Google Drive.

That copy is yours to configure and use.

You should not request edit access to the original source workbook.

Once your copy opens, give it a useful name. For example:

Auction Command Center — 2026 Home League

If you play in multiple auction leagues, naming each copy clearly will save you some headaches later.

Step 4: Make Sure You Have the Right Workbook

Before changing anything, open the Start Here tab.

This is the launchpad for the workbook.

For the 2026 Founding Edition, confirm that the workbook identifies itself as the current production version and that the major customer-facing tabs are present.

You'll be working with areas such as:

• Start Here

• Setup

• Owners Setup

• Import Template

• Player Strategy

• Console

• Player Board

• Budget

• Owners

• Nomination

• Auction Log

You'll also notice that some areas of the workbook are calculated or protected.

That's intentional.

Auction Command Center contains a substantial amount of underlying logic that connects your league settings, player values, roster state, owner budgets, and live auction results.

As a general rule:

If a cell isn't identified as a customer input, leave it alone.

You shouldn't need to modify formulas, restructure tables, rename system tabs, or edit the underlying model to use Auction Command Center.

Step 5: Open Auction Controls and Authorize the Add-On

Now let's make sure the workbook and add-on can talk to each other.

From the Google Sheets menu, choose:

Extensions → Auction Command Center → Open Auction Controls

The Auction Command Center sidebar should open.

The first time you use Auction Command Center, Google may ask you to authorize the permissions required for the add-on to operate in the current spreadsheet.

Follow Google's authorization prompts using the same Google account you've been using throughout setup.

Depending on the authorization step, you may need to return to the workbook and run the command again after approving access.

That's normal.

Once the Auction Controls sidebar opens successfully, the core installation is complete.

Stop if something looks wrong

If you receive an unexpected Google security warning, are asked for permissions that don't appear related to operating the spreadsheet, or the workbook appears damaged before you've changed anything, don't try to work around it.

Start by reopening the current fulfillment links from your order. If the problem remains, contact:

support@auctioncommandcenter.app

It's much safer to start from a clean copy than to manually repair the underlying workbook.

Step 6: Configure Your League

Now Auction Command Center needs to learn the rules of your auction.

This part matters.

ACC's live recommendations depend on things like your budget, roster requirements, open roster spots, positional needs, and the amount of money still available in the room.

If the league configuration is wrong, the downstream recommendations will be wrong too.

So don't rush this step.

Open the Setup tab and begin with the basic league settings.

League Name and Season

Enter a recognizable name for the league.

This doesn't affect the auction math, but it becomes especially useful if you create separate ACC workbooks for mocks or multiple leagues.

Number of Teams

Enter the number of teams participating in the auction.

Your active owner list should eventually match this number.

If you're in a 12-team league, for example, Auction Command Center needs 12 active owners—not 11 and not 13.

Unused owner rows should remain inactive.

Starting Auction Budget

Enter the amount every team receives at the beginning of the auction.

For many leagues that's:

$200

But ACC is designed to use your league's actual setting.

The starting budget drives a large part of the system, including remaining money, maximum bids, spending plans, owner buying power, and endgame calculations.

Minimum Bid

Enter the minimum legal bid in your auction.

In a typical auction league, that's:

$1

This matters more than it might seem.

Auction Command Center has to preserve enough money to fill every remaining roster spot. Your minimum bid therefore affects the amount of money you can safely spend on any individual player.

Step 7: Configure Your Roster

Next, tell Auction Command Center what a completed roster looks like.

Configure the supported positions used by your league:

• QB

• RB

• WR

• TE

• DST

• K

For each position, Auction Command Center can distinguish between different roster planning concepts.

Minimum

How many players at that position do you actually need?

Goal

How many would you ideally like to roster?

Maximum

At what point should the model stop encouraging you to add more players at that position?

Those aren't necessarily the same number.

You might, for example, need two running backs to fill your starting lineup, plan to roster five, and be willing to carry a sixth only under unusual circumstances.

Auction Command Center uses those differences when assessing roster need and available opportunities during the auction.

Don't simply enter starter counts and move on. Configure the roster you actually intend to build.

Step 8: Build Your Position Budget

Now decide how you intend to spend your auction dollars.

Auction Command Center lets you allocate your starting budget across:

• QB

• RB

• WR

• TE

• DST

• K

Your position budgets should add up to your total starting auction budget.

For example, if your league uses a $200 budget, your complete position plan should account for all $200.

This isn't a rule that locks you into spending an exact amount at each position.

Quite the opposite.

Auction drafts are chaotic.

You may spend $7 less than expected on your first running back and redirect that money toward wide receiver. You may pay more than planned for an elite player and need to tighten another part of the roster.

Auction Command Center is built to help manage those changes.

But it needs a starting plan before it can tell whether you're ahead of it or behind it.

Think of the position budget as your opening allocation—not six sealed envelopes of money.

Step 9: Configure Your Role Plan

This is where the setup becomes more sophisticated than a simple position budget.

Auction Command Center can also think in terms of roster roles.

For example:

• QB1

• RB1

• RB2

• WR1

• WR2

• FLEX1

• TE1

• DST1

• K1

Why does that matter?

Because two running backs aren't necessarily supposed to serve the same purpose on your roster.

You may be willing to spend $35 on the player you expect to fill your RB1 role but only $20 on the player filling RB2.

Simply knowing that you have "$55 left for running backs" doesn't capture that distinction.

The role plan helps Auction Command Center understand what job you're still trying to fill, not just which position is currently empty.

Configure the available role settings, including the eligible position, planned spending range, and priority.

You don't have to predict the draft perfectly.

You just need to give the system a reasonable picture of the roster you're trying to build.

Step 10: Add the Owners in Your League

Next, open Owners Setup.

Enter the teams participating in your auction.

For each active owner, make sure the identifying information and starting budget are correct.

Most importantly:

Exactly one owner must be identified as your team.

Auction Command Center uses the owner list throughout the live product.

When a player sells, the Console needs to know who bought him. ACC then updates that owner's remaining budget, roster, maximum bid, open positions, and buying power.

That means the owner setup is not just cosmetic.

It's part of the live auction model.

Before moving on, verify that:

• Every participating team is active

• Each owner is uniquely identified

• Starting budgets are correct

• Your team is marked correctly

• Unused owner rows are inactive

Step 11: Run the Setup Readiness Check

Before loading hundreds of players, check the foundation.

Use the available setup or readiness check in Auction Command Center.

The system is looking for configuration problems that could cause trouble later.

Examples include:

• No owner marked as your team

• More than one owner marked as your team

• Position budgets that don't equal the starting budget

• Roster goals that conflict with the total roster structure

• Missing required settings

• Unsupported position labels

Treat a blocking readiness error as exactly that:

a blocker.

Fix it now.

A fantasy auction is a terrible time to discover that your workbook thought there were ten teams when there are actually twelve.

Step 12: Prepare Your Player Data

Now we get to the fun part.

Auction Command Center doesn't force you to use one particular set of fantasy rankings or auction values.

You can start with the source you trust.

That might be your preferred fantasy site, projection system, auction-value model, or your own calculations.

ACC's job is to turn that information into something useful once the auction starts.

Open the Import Template.

This is the staging area for bringing player data into the product.

Do not paste your player list directly into Player Board or into underlying model or source tabs.

The Import Template exists so Auction Command Center can validate what you're giving it before those records enter the working player pool.

Step 13: Clean the Data Before Importing It

The cleaner your source data is, the easier this process will be.

Keep one player per row.

Supported positions are:

• QB

• RB

• WR

• TE

• DST

• K

A typical player record will include information such as:

• Player name

• Position

• NFL team

• Bye week, when available

• Auction value or supported source values

• Tier or ranking information, when available

Auction values need to be numeric.

For example:

20

or a properly formatted currency cell representing $20 is usable.

A text entry like:

$20 value

is not.

Also remove things that aren't players:

• Section headings

• Totals

• Blank divider rows

• Footnotes

• Ranking labels embedded in the player field

• Other formatting artifacts from the source

Finally, scan for duplicate player names and make sure suffixes and team information are clean.

Auction Command Center maintains its own player registry. Good player names, positions, and NFL teams make matching far more reliable.

Step 14: Validate the Import

Don't commit the player data yet.

First, run the import validation or preview workflow.

This is an important safety layer.

Auction Command Center can check for problems such as:

• Missing required information

• Unsupported positions

• Invalid team information

• Duplicate players

• Players that can't be matched cleanly

• Non-numeric auction values

• Unexpected player counts

• Other import exceptions

Review the results.

The goal isn't to get "most" of the player pool right.

Resolve or intentionally exclude material exceptions before committing the import.

When the Import Template reaches READY, you're ready for the final step.

Step 15: Commit Your Player Import

Open Auction Controls and choose:

Commit Customer Import

Review the confirmation and proceed.

Let Auction Command Center finish the import before making additional workbook changes.

Google Sheets may occasionally need a moment to process a large update, so don't assume something is wrong because every output doesn't change instantly.

Once the import finishes, check the Player Board.

You should see your expected player pool along with the imported source values and calculated market information.

Do a quick sanity check:

• Are the players you expected present?

• Are their positions correct?

• Do the auction values look reasonable?

• Are there obvious duplicates?

• Did the expected number of players load?

• Does the import or source-health status show that the data loaded successfully?

If the answer is yes, you're done with initial setup.

You're Ready for the Next Phase

At this point, Auction Command Center knows:

• The structure of your league

• Your auction budget

• Your roster requirements

• Your initial spending plan

• The other teams in the room

• Which team is yours

• The player pool

• The market values you're bringing into the draft

That's the foundation.

What it doesn't know yet is what you think about those players.

Which players are you willing to pay up for?

Which ones do you only want at a discount?

Which players fit the roster you're trying to build?

Which ones do you want nothing to do with?

That's the next step: turning imported market information into your auction strategy.

But don't rush there until the setup above is clean.

Auction Command Center becomes much more powerful once the auction starts—but only because it begins with a reliable picture of your league, your budget, and the player market.

Build that foundation first.

Then you're ready to command the room.