Google Calendar time tracking – how to use Google calendars as a timesheet

Google calendar time tracking is easy with Timewatch:

1. Link your Google calendar to Timewatch, then sit back and let Timewatch do the heavy lifting for you.
2. Users carry on using Google calendar as they normally do.
3. If users enter information about the customer/project into the appointment, Timewatch’s AI timesheet automatically matches the appointment to the customer/project.
4. Where customer/project information is found, the items are shown in green or blue, depending on whether the employee wants time to be automatically added (blue) or if they want to review entries first (green).
5. Appointments are colored red if a customer/project cannot be found or needs confirmation.
6. That’s it! Semi or fully automated Google calendar time tracking, but there are spreadsheet and calendar timesheet views if needed.

What are the benefits of Google Calendar time tracking?

As the time tracked is derived from users’ Google calendars, timesheets are:

• More accurate as time tracked is derived from existing data
• Saves time – no duplicated entry, no need to look back through calendars to see what was done yesterday or last week
• No time is missed
• Non appointment time can be added as needed
• Data is instantly available for reporting
• Saves administrators time as well
• Better reporting and analytics (Google has none)

How much time does Google Calendar time tracking save?

Depending upon the level of time sheet details required, calendar time tracking typically saves employees between one and four hours a week, or up to two days a month – a potential increase in productivity of 2.5 – 10%. As one customer explained:

“Our technology team suggested Timewatch’s calendar timesheet system would help us get faster at tracking time and also help us with reports. Both those suggestions have been proven true.”

How does Timewatch’s Google Calendar time tracking work?

Timewatch’s Google Timesheet displays each user’s timesheet as a calendar that looks virtually identical to a Google calendar, except the appointments are color coded to show their timesheet status. Blue items are in the timesheet. Green items are ready to add to the timesheet, but the customer / project need to be checked. Red items indicate  ones the user needs to review as Timewatch could not work out which customer/project to assign.

How is a Google Calendar timesheet more accurate than a traditional timesheet?

Calendar timesheets benefit from the accuracy with which people manage their calendars, which are less prone to error than manual time tracking. With Google appointments present in their timesheet, users don’t need to look back in their calendar or try to remember what they did three weeks ago. They simply update the item in their timesheet.

How Google Calendar time tracking saves administrators time

Although time tracking may be similar from one company to the next, there are always differences in the way companies work. Differences in the requirements, workflow, procedure, reporting or the analytics that companies need. These differences add up to a lot of time spent working outside the system to make it work.

Timewatch helps customers configure and tailor their timesheet system to perfectly match the way they work. The terminology, rules, analysis levels, entry fields, workflow, notifications, and analytics your organization needs. Once setup, it is as if Timewatch was created specifically for that organization – except for the pain, cost, and maintenance headaches of a custom solution. Timewatch works the way your company works, not the other way around. This makes for the most powerful, intuitive and easiest system for administrators and managers, and this saves everyone time.

“We previously used a web-based program but most of our staff didn’t care for it because of the amount of manual entry on the front end. Timewatch automates most of our time tracking,”

“I would say that 20 percent of our staff struggled to get their time in at the end of the month. Our staff, however, is very diligent about calendars and Timewatch® has made it possible for employees to go from their calendars to their timesheet with a few clicks, and from any device. It has made our employees’ lives better.”

What about reporting and analytics?

One of Timewatch’s key strengths is its reporting and analytics. The system includes traditional reporting tools, as well as dynamic, interactive drill down tools, dashboards and notification systems. There are also optional report writers and dashboard designers which allows customers to create custom reports and dashboards, and Timewatch also provides a reporting writing and dashboard creation service.