diff --git a/sample_config.json b/sample_config.json
index 89acf67..8d8abab 100644
--- a/sample_config.json
+++ b/sample_config.json
@@ -14,7 +14,7 @@
             "prefer_number_vs_integer": true,
             "schema_overrides": {
                 "column_name": {
-                    "type": "integer",
+                    "type": "integer"
                 }
             }
         },
@@ -27,7 +27,7 @@
             "format": "excel",
             "schema_overrides": {
                 "id": {
-                    "type": "integer",
+                    "type": "integer"
                 }
             }
         }
diff --git a/tap_spreadsheets_anywhere/__init__.py b/tap_spreadsheets_anywhere/__init__.py
index 00d29bb..32be6a6 100644
--- a/tap_spreadsheets_anywhere/__init__.py
+++ b/tap_spreadsheets_anywhere/__init__.py
@@ -47,7 +47,8 @@ def generate_schema(table_spec, samples):
         '_smart_source_lineno': {'type': 'integer'},
     }
     prefer_number_vs_integer = table_spec.get('prefer_number_vs_integer', False)
-    data_schema = conversion.generate_schema(samples, prefer_number_vs_integer=prefer_number_vs_integer)
+    prefer_schema_as_string = table_spec.get('prefer_schema_as_string', False)
+    data_schema = conversion.generate_schema(samples, prefer_number_vs_integer=prefer_number_vs_integer, prefer_schema_as_string=prefer_schema_as_string)
     inferred_schema = {
         'type': 'object',
         'properties': merge_dicts(data_schema, metadata_schema)
diff --git a/tap_spreadsheets_anywhere/configuration.py b/tap_spreadsheets_anywhere/configuration.py
index 86fd984..fdb187b 100644
--- a/tap_spreadsheets_anywhere/configuration.py
+++ b/tap_spreadsheets_anywhere/configuration.py
@@ -27,6 +27,7 @@
         Optional('max_records_per_run'): int,
         Optional('max_sampled_files'): int,
         Optional('prefer_number_vs_integer'): bool,
+        Optional('prefer_schema_as_string'): bool,
         Optional('schema_overrides'): {
             str: {
                 Required('type'): Any(Any('null','string','integer','number','date-time'),
diff --git a/tap_spreadsheets_anywhere/conversion.py b/tap_spreadsheets_anywhere/conversion.py
index b2294a6..e333bec 100644
--- a/tap_spreadsheets_anywhere/conversion.py
+++ b/tap_spreadsheets_anywhere/conversion.py
@@ -130,23 +130,28 @@ def pick_datatype(counts,prefer_number_vs_integer=False):
     return to_return
 
 
-def generate_schema(samples,prefer_number_vs_integer=False):
+def generate_schema(samples,prefer_number_vs_integer=False, prefer_schema_as_string=False):
     to_return = {}
     counts = count_samples(samples)
 
     for key, value in counts.items():
-        datatype = pick_datatype(value,prefer_number_vs_integer)
-        # if "survey_responses_count" == key:
-        #     LOGGER.error(f"Key '{key}' held {value} and was typed as {datatype} with prefer_number_vs_integer={prefer_number_vs_integer}")
-
-        if datatype == 'date-time':
+        if(prefer_schema_as_string):
             to_return[key] = {
-                'type': ['null', 'string'],
-                'format': 'date-time',
+                'type':['null','string']
             }
         else:
-            to_return[key] = {
-                'type': ['null', datatype],
-            }
+            datatype = pick_datatype(value,prefer_number_vs_integer)
+            # if "survey_responses_count" == key:
+            #     LOGGER.error(f"Key '{key}' held {value} and was typed as {datatype} with prefer_number_vs_integer={prefer_number_vs_integer}")
+
+            if datatype == 'date-time':
+                to_return[key] = {
+                    'type': ['null', 'string'],
+                    'format': 'date-time',
+                }
+            else:
+                to_return[key] = {
+                    'type': ['null', datatype],
+                }
 
     return to_return
diff --git a/tap_spreadsheets_anywhere/file_utils.py b/tap_spreadsheets_anywhere/file_utils.py
index e626888..b82067e 100644
--- a/tap_spreadsheets_anywhere/file_utils.py
+++ b/tap_spreadsheets_anywhere/file_utils.py
@@ -320,6 +320,7 @@ def config_by_crawl(crawl_config):
                         "max_sampling_read": source.get('max_sampling_read', 1000),
                         "universal_newlines": source.get('universal_newlines', True),
                         "prefer_number_vs_integer": source.get('prefer_number_vs_integer', False),
+                        "prefer_schema_as_string": source.get('prefer_schema_as_string', False),
                         "start_date": modified_since.isoformat()
                     }
                 elif abs_pattern != entries[table]["pattern"]:
@@ -340,6 +341,7 @@ def config_by_crawl(crawl_config):
                             "max_sampling_read": source.get('max_sampling_read', 1000),
                             "universal_newlines": source.get('universal_newlines', True),
                             "prefer_number_vs_integer": source.get('prefer_number_vs_integer', False),
+                            "prefer_schema_as_string": source.get('prefer_schema_as_string', False),
                             "start_date": modified_since.isoformat()
                         }
 
diff --git a/tap_spreadsheets_anywhere/test/test_format.py b/tap_spreadsheets_anywhere/test/test_format.py
index 54fd656..7a0f6d8 100644
--- a/tap_spreadsheets_anywhere/test/test_format.py
+++ b/tap_spreadsheets_anywhere/test/test_format.py
@@ -24,6 +24,7 @@
             "key_properties": ["id"],
             "format": "csv",
             "prefer_number_vs_integer": True,
+            "prefer_schema_as_string": True,
             "universal_newlines": False,
             "sample_rate": 5,
             "max_sampling_read": 2000,