How to use Google calendar for time tracking
You’ve probably already realized that Google calendars has most of the information needed for time tracking. If only you could add a customer, maybe a project, report on time spent, or maybe link this information with your timesheet. Well, you can do all this with Timewatch.
Timewatch allows you to add customer and project details to Google appointments and use them in your timesheet. Using Google calendar for time tracking saves employees time, increases timesheet accuracy, employee productivity, and adds reporting and analytics. Best of all, the time employees save can be spent on more productive or billable tasks.
Google calendar time tracking is easy with Timewatch:
- Link your Google calendar to Timewatch, then sit back and let Timewatch do the heavy lifting for you.
- Users carry on using Google calendar as they normally do.
- If users enter information about the customer/project into the appointment, Timewatch’s AI timesheet automatically matches the appointment to the customer/project.
- 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).
- Appointments are colored red if a customer/project cannot be found or needs confirmation.
- That’s it! Semi or fully automated Google calendar time tracking, but there are spreadsheet and calendar timesheet views if needed.
A Google calendar showing the appointments that are used in the calendar timesheet to the right
The screen above shows a user’s Google appointments as shown in Timewatch’s Google calendar timesheet.
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.
The items in the calendar timesheet are color coded. The blue appointments are calendar entries that have successfully been added to the timesheet. The red appointments are ones that need a customer/project.
A personal dashboard shows employees their current timesheet status, PTO and vacation time taken and remaining.
The calendar timesheet format can be displayed in work week, full week, two week, bi-weekly and 4 weekly formats.
Google appointments are automatically included in the calendar timesheet, but they can also be viewed as a list of appointments here.
This Google appointment is colored green to show that it has a Customer / Project assigned, but needs the end user to approve it’s inclusion in the timesheet. This is a two step timesheet where users approve additions to the timesheet, but it could be a 1 step timesheet where items are automatically added.
This item is blue because the user has added it to their timesheet.
Appointments colored red indicate ones that need a Customer / Project to be added.
This item has come from Google, which can be seen from the Google Calendar icon in the appointment
You may be wondering why there is an appointment in Google, but not in the timesheet. This is because the Google appointment is a personal appointment, and these can be set to be ignored.
Users can toggle between the classic spreadsheet timesheet format and this calendar timesheet format.
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.
Discuss your time tracking requirements
Let us show you how Timewatch® can save your employees time, increase timesheet accuracy, staff productivity, improve business analytics and more.
We provide access to product specialists free of charge to help you appreciate how Timewatch can help your organization. After all, we provide Software as a Service, so we let you experience our software AND our services. Contact us today to book a free session with an implementation specialist.
Speak with a specialist
Learn more about Google Calendar time tracking.
Other posts you may be interested in:
 | Google Sheets timesheet or Google Calendar timesheet, which is best?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? |
 | How our Teams time tracking system saves employees hours each weekDuring Covid we’ve seen communication platforms and collaborative interfaces change the way we work – whether we are logging in from home or returning to the office. Many businesses have also had to rethink how they keep track of work and project time for employees. |
 | The top ten timesheet tips to help your staff quickly and easily fill out timesheets – Part 2During Covid we’ve seen communication platforms and collaborative interfaces change the way we work – whether we are logging in from home or returning to the office. Many businesses have also had to rethink how they keep track of work and project time for employees. |
 | A Secure Timesheet Should Be Priority #1 When Choosing Timesheet SoftwareTimesheet apps are a corporate security risk. Scary Fact: Research by Arxan, experts in mobile security, found that it took less than 10 minutes to hack into the top 30 financial sector apps, and they discovered 180 vulnerabilities! Demonstrating the vulnerabilities exposed by downloadable mobile apps. Timesheet apps risk your customer, employee, project and billing data. In this article we explain how, and why Timewatch does not suffer from this security risk. |
Tags:
Best timesheetCalendar reportingCalendar time trackingCalendar TimesheetCustom timesheet templategoogleGoogle calendar time trackingGoogle time trackingSimple time trackingSimple timesheetTime trackingTimesheetTimesheet Reporter
