diff --git a/work_helpers/excel2changelog.py b/work_helpers/excel2changelog.py
index ffe27f2..92fc86b 100644
--- a/work_helpers/excel2changelog.py
+++ b/work_helpers/excel2changelog.py
@@ -13,6 +13,12 @@ sheet = "Input_Data_*"
 col_start = "A"
 row_start = 8
 
+def xls_formula_spacing(formula):
+    for c in "();=":
+        formula = formula.replace(c, f"{c} ")
+    return formula
+
+
 
 def text_to_changelog(
     raw_text, sheet, start_column, start_row, compact=False, keep=False
@@ -35,6 +41,8 @@ def text_to_changelog(
             cell = cell.strip()
             if not (cell or keep):
                 continue
+            if compact:
+                cell = xls_formula_spacing(cell)
             output.append(f"{sheet}{xls_sep}{column}{row}\t{cell}")
 
     iterator = iter(output)