Google Sheets timesheet template or Google Calendar as a timesheet?

Using a Google Sheets timesheet template

Using a Google Sheets timesheet template seems a good choice for a simple and easy time recording system. Google Sheets is free and there are free timesheet template spreadsheets readily available to help get you started, what’s not to like? However, there is perhaps an even better answer than a Google sheets timesheet, and that’s to use your Google calendar as your timesheet.

Example Google Sheets timesheet template – requires manual data entry. Imagine if there was a way to use data from elsewhere to prefill the timesheet and save time – well this is what Timewatch’s Google Calendar timesheet does.

What are the alternatives to a Google Sheets timesheet?

So, although Google Sheets is free, employees still need to spend time entering timesheets, and  admin staff spend time collating and consolidating timesheets, preparing reports and analytics. Where rating or billing is needed, charge rates need to be applied, projects prepared for billing. and then all this needs to be entered into financial system.

Commercial systems can automate a lot of this work. They are not free and employees still need to spend time entering timesheets, but they often streamline business processes and save admin staff time as well as making timesheet entry faster, easier and more accurate.

Another approach is to combine the benefits of a commercial system with the benefits of a free Google system, but not Google Sheets – Google Calendar!

How using Google Calendar as a timesheet saves people time and companies money

If your company uses Google calendar, your employees have already entered a lot of the information needed for a timesheet. By using this information in your timesheets your employees save time they’d spend entering into a Google Sheets timesheet.

This calendar has five appointments that can be used in a timesheet – saving the user time wasted entering it again into a Google Sheets timesheet template.

A Google appointment is a timesheet entry waiting to happen

Google Calendar appointments already hold the data needed in a timesheet. Our system adds these as draft entries. All the end user needs to do is allocate a customer / project to add the time, or delete it. It takes seconds. Users can also add non-appointment time entries to complete their timesheet.

Together, Timewatch and Google Calendar makes time tracking faster, easier, and more accurate as it uses data already in your Google Calendar.

If your organization uses Google calendars, has more than five employees, needs to track time  / timesheets, and wants to save time and money, contact Timewatch. We’ll show you how a free Google Sheets time sheet template costs more than a Google Calendar time tracking system.

How does a Google Timesheet work?

Timewatch’s Google timesheet works with Google Calendar as it alreday has data in appointments that can be used in the timesheet. As you can see below, our Google Timesheet includes all the appointments from the Google calendar above.

This timesheet above has been prefilled with appointments from Google Calendar. Users can add customer and project details or ignore appointments. It’s easy, it takes seconds, saving employees hours each week, and as it uses data already in Google, it is more accurate.

Users can amend the hours they wish to add to their timesheet, and add not appointment time from the ‘New’ button in the menu. And that’s it! Simple, easy, fast Google timesheet entry.

Prefilling timesheets with data already in Google Calendars saves employees around two work hours a week. It also increases the accuracy of timesheets and increases staff morale. Timesheet entry is often seen as a chore, and Timewatch takes that chore out of timesheet entry and frees up employee time that they can spend on more productive and possibly chargeable work.

Timewatch and Google Calendar really is the perfect relationship for your business success. If you use Google calendar, you already have the data you need for time tracking and timesheet entry. Our system allows you to use this data directly in your timesheet, saving users time. Non-appointment time can also be added to the timesheet

How a Google timesheet increases weekly timesheet accuracy

Not all of the appointments in Google Calendar are needed to prefill timesheets, so Timewatch lets employees add items they want and ignore the ones they don’t. Many users typically complete their timesheet at the end of the week and check back manually through notes and their calendar to remember what projects they have worked on. They often miss important details that make their timesheets inaccurate. With Google calendar timesheets, users are prompted with entries from their own calendar. Nothing is left to chance which increases timesheet accuracy as well as saving time and increasing employee productivity.

Timewatch provides powerful consolidated weekly timesheet reporting, and not only saves timesheet users one to two days a month in work time – it streamlines administration and management. Our software saves administrators, managers and business leaders time, too.

A timesheet template links to Google seamlessly

Google and Timewatch are both cloud applications. There’s nothing to download and install, no apps to integrate or plug in. The systems seamlessly link with each other. Appointments in Google automatically prefill the timesheet, combining timesheet data in Timewatch with the appointments in Google that are available to add to the timesheet. Users simply click on a Google appointment to allocate a customer and project to add it to their timesheet.

Appointments already hold most of the information needed for a timesheet entry: the date, start and end time, duration, subject, location and notes. By using this data rather than re-entering it all again, Timewatch saves users valuable time. No matter which Google Calendar you use: PC, Mac, Phone or Tablet, Timewatch can turn appointments into timesheets in seconds.