Google Sheets Time Tracking: Is It Right for Your Business?

More than 900 million people are using Google Sheets each month, according to Google’s own estimates.

So, the probability of you having a Google Sheets open tab right now is quite high, am I right? But only because it has such a massive user base, you shouldn’t conclude it’s effective for all purposes, including time tracking.

But you’re not here to see me bashing over G-Sheets but to learn how Google Sheets time tracking works, so I’ll teach you all about it!

⏰ Key takeaways

If you’re like me, you need to make decisions like yesterday, so here’s a breakdown of this article. You’ll likely read these in 30 seconds 😉:

📈 Google Sheets time tracking

• is free, customizable (to an extent), and integrated with other tools, but it also requires manual data entry, as it’s not automated. Ultimately, once your team and projects evolve, you’ll outgrow what G-sheets can do for you.
• you need to create your own formulas and graphs, but if you’re not spreadsheet savvy, I’ve shared reliable sources so you can learn, including free templates.

🕒 When to upgrade to a time-tracking app:

• if you’re frequently switching between multiple tasks and projects.
• your team is growing beyond 2-3 people, and you’re already starting to waste time creating reports from spreadsheet data.
• you need insights into productivity patterns and work habits.

✅ EARLY: the best alternative

An all-in-one solution for all your time-tracking needs: Track time automatically or with AI, capture billable hours with one click, and generate automatic reports with overtime and time off included.

Discover an automated time-tracking alternative to Google Sheets

Track time automatically or with AI, capture billable hours with one click, and generate automatic reports with overtime and time off included.

Try EARLY for free

Why track time in Google Sheets?/ benefits

So, what’s the appeal of tracking time in a Google Sheet? Here are a few key benefits:

⭐ It’s free and accessible: Most people already have a Google account, so Sheets is available at no extra cost. It’s also easy to access it across devices.

⭐ It has a familiar interface: Most of you already know how to use spreadsheets, so you’re one step ahead of the learning curve associated with dedicated software.

⭐ It’s customizable: You have full control to set up custom formulas and formatting to track time just how you want. The sky’s not the limit, though. In the G-Sheets time-tracking process, you can design your timesheet templates to match your specific workflow, client billing requirements, and reporting needs.

⭐ It integrates with other tools: G-Sheets play nicely with the rest of the Google Workspace ecosystem, as well as tons of other apps via add-ons and Zapier automation.

⭐ Cloud-based collaborations: As opposed to Excel time-tracking, with Google Sheets, the entire team seems to receive real-time updates from anyone, and you can access time data from anywhere.

⭐ Basic time tracking: Use simple functions and charts to total up hours, analyze weekly trends, compare estimated vs actual time, and more.

Sold on giving Sheets a shot? Let’s move on to the steps of tracking hours spent on work with Google Sheets.

The steps for Google Sheets time tracking

Here’s the general process to track time in Google Sheets:

1. Create and design a blank timesheet

You first need to create your timesheet based on your tracking needs. Here’s what your Google Sheets timesheet template should include in its columns:

• Date – when work was performed;
• Employee name – identify who is logging the hours;
• Start time and finish time – log when the task was started and completed. It should be at least a daily log, as employees tend to forget the precise hours worked;
• Regular work hours – in this category employees should be allowed to add the number of hours worked, like 8 hours per day.
• PTO – some days will be off for your team, so they need to have the option to signal that in the timesheet.
• Sick – in case anyone can’t track work hours as they are sick for a day or more.
• Overtime hours – if working beyond normal hours, a column to indicate overtime is super helpful, as you want to stay on top of your team’s well-being.
• Total hours – calculate the total hours worked on the task (this can be automated with a formula in the timesheet);

Here’s a preview of a Google spreadsheet with the column I mentioned:

The columns I introduced you to above are the basis, but you can customize your template in many ways and add columns to track different projects, individual tasks, lunch breaks, and many more. These are some other ideas:

• Category/type of work – classify the task under categories as design, development, or administration;
• Project name/code – indicate the specific project or client the work is for;
• Billable vs. non-billable hours – distinguish between hours that can be billed to the client and not.
• Status – indicate the status of the task (e.g., In Progress, Completed).

💡 Pro tip: Don’t copy and paste someone’s template unless it’s matching your needs and workflow. However, you can customize your own template with the above example in mind to give you a comprehensive view of time utilization.

2. Add formulas and create graphs for reports

Once you have your basic timesheet set up, it’s time to make it work for you by adding some formulas and visual reports:

• Use formulas – automatically calculate the total duration of the time tracking data based on start and end times. This saves manual data entry for something that could be done simply with built-in formulas.
• Create separate sheets – pull data from your main timesheet to generate summary tables and charts. This gives you high-level insights at a glance, without trying to understand plain numbers in a timesheet.
• Use graphs and pivot tables – with spot trends, compare estimated vs actual time spent, analyze time usage across projects, clients, or task types, and more.
• Set up a dashboard-style report sheet with auto-updating charts to always see the latest data.

💡 Pro tip: Don’t know how to create visuals in Google Sheets? This Google News lesson might be exactly what you need!

3. Remind your team to track their time

Without consistency, you’re tracking time for no reason, as you can’t gather any productivity trends or invoice your clients accurately. But getting your whole team to religiously log their hours in Google Sheets can be as challenging as getting sales and marketing teams to agree on a campaign strategy.

To make things work, try these tips:

• Clearly communicate expectations around time tracking – what info to include, how often to log time, deadlines for filling out timesheets, etc.
• Send timesheet reminders via email, Slack, or your team’s preferred comms channels to prompt them to fill out their timesheets. Consider setting up recurring calendar invites, and why not send timesheet memes?
• Lead by example – if you want time tracking to be a priority for your team, demonstrate that by diligently logging your own hours and referencing your own timesheet data.

4. Adjust your Google Sheets time tracking process

Even the most well-designed weekly time-tracking template will likely need some tweaks once you start using it in practice. Review regularly what’s working and what could be better to optimize your time-tracking experience:

• Are certain columns always left blank? Maybe they’re not as relevant as you thought, so consider removing them to streamline data entry.
• Are you getting questions from the team about how to log certain scenarios? Update your timesheet with clearer instructions or additional options to capture those edge cases.
• Spending too much time manually compiling reports each week? Look for opportunities to further automate things with formulas and connected sheets.
• Consistently running into the same data entry errors? Add data validation rules to reduce mistakes.
• Feeling overwhelmed by the sheer volume of data? Play around with filters and views to create focused views of just the information you need at the moment.

Free timesheet templates

Don’t want to create your template? I get it. Honestly, I wouldn’t create a template for myself either, as there are so many free options out there. We created free G-Sheet templates for you with different purposes, from a daily timesheet template to project timesheet templates.

Free weekly timesheet template

If you’re not spreadsheet savvy, our team made a free timesheet template for you that’s also customizable. So, feel free to experiment with it and reorganize the respective columns inside as you wish.

💡 Pro tip:I won’t get into details, but you’ll find your weekly timesheet template at the link provided, including formulas and how to make use of this weekly timesheet template. It can be used as a biweekly timesheet template, too.

Free monthly timesheet template

If you’d rather benefit from a monthly overview, download your monthly timesheet template. Note: If using a monthly timesheet template, we highly recommend adding time entries on a daily basis. Employee time tracking is prone to errors, and your team could forget the precise timings of the work performed.

Free project timesheet template

Alternatively, use this Project timesheet template if you’re interested in tracking projects.

💡 Pro tip: Need another Google Sheets template? We’ve got more! Check out and download the template that works best for you from our list:

• Free schedule templates
• Free billable hours templates
• 24-hour daily timesheet template
• Daily employee timesheet template
• Freelancer timesheet template

Why is Google Sheets time tracking ineffective?

If I portrayed Google Sheets specifically for time tracking in a good light, you need to know that once you get into the nitty-gritty, you’ll stumble upon challenges.

Google Sheets isimpractical and inefficient for the scope of time tracking. Many of the businesses we discussed with at EARLY told us that Google Sheets time tracking is “clunky,” “tedious,” and “we’re always chasing team members to fill them in.”

Here are some of the drawbacks:

🚫 Substantial manual interference: With Google Sheets, you have to manually insert start and end times, project details, and other metadata for each time entry. This process is time-consuming, error-prone, and a major productivity killer.

🚫 Relies heavily on formulas, which becomes an issue if they’re unintentionally modified and tracked data disappears from your reports. There’s no automatic timer, no intelligent categorization of activities, and no seamless integration with your workflow.

🚫 Scalability issues: As the larger the dataset gets, the more difficult it is for managers to make sense of the information and keep track of it.

🚫 No instant insights for quick decision-making, as Google Sheets doesn’t provide a way to track time as you work, and reports take time to be generated. You’re always logging time after the fact, which can lead to inaccuracies and forgotten entries.

🚫 Siloed data: Time-tracking data in Google Sheets often lives in isolation from the rest of your workload management tools. There’s no easy way to connect that data to your project management software, invoicing system, or productivity apps.

🚫 Requires chasing teams to fill them out, as often employees forget to fill them in.

Google Sheets time tracking alternatives: EARLY ✨

So if Google Sheets falls short, what’s the alternative? I’m definitely biased, as EARLY is my go-to automatic time tracker, but the thing about EARLY is that it solves all of the pain points of G-sheets.

As EARLY is purpose-built for accurate, effortless time tracking, it removes the pain of manually entering data or generating reports based on large datasets with intricate formulas. Here’s what sets it apart: EARLY is a one-stop solution for all time-tracking needs. This time clock app generates detailed reports and allows overtime, leave,and work hours tracking, as well as tracking billable and non billable hours.

Here’s what sets it apart:

✨ Easy navigation: Coming with an intuitive calendar-like interface, EARLY makes it easy to start, stop, and manage time-tracking tasks with one click.

✨ AI time tracking: Create timesheets without manual input, but only with AI-generated time entry suggestions based on your calendar events and past entries. One-click, and your time entry is saved.

✨ Automatic time tracking: If G-sheets force its users to track time manually, EARLY automatically tracks all your work in the background. This way, your timesheet will be automatically filled with your app and tool usage, visited websites, and scheduled calendar events.

✨ Real-time tracking and accuracy: EARLY tracks what you’re working on in real-time across all your devices, so you don’t have to guesstimate hours after the fact or forget to log time altogether.

✨ Automated reports and insights: Rather than cobbling together reports in Google Sheets, benefit from visual reports with actionable insights. Filter, drill down, and explore your time data with just a few clicks in a customizable time reporting system.

✨ Hassle-free overtime tracking: Your team is working overtime, but you’re not sure if they’re marking it off? You don’t have to make another column and formula for that! You can see their additional time records in the timesheet – automatically logged! EARLY works as an overtime tracker, too, so it automatically calculates overtime and deficit hours for you.

✨ Leave tracking: Monitor and handle all types of leaves with one click in this leave tracking system integrated into EARLY.

✨ Billable and non-billable hours tracking: Unlike Google Sheets, EARLY allows you to categorize tasks as either billable or non-billable with one click and will automatically calculate the total hours worked without manual interference.

When to stick with Google Sheets vs. when to upgrade

If it’s not clear to you if you should upgrade to a paid tool such as EARLY, I’ll clarify this to you in two simple ways: with some indicators about your business context and a comparison table between the two.

Google Sheets works well when:

• You’re just starting out with time-tracking, and you have simple tracking needs with few projects.
• You have budget constraints, so you need a free tool.
• You have highly specialized tracking requirements that need custom formulas that G-sheets have.
• You track time infrequently or primarily in big blocks.

Consider upgrading to EARLY when:

• You frequently switch between multiple tasks and projects, as manual time entry leads to forgotten or inaccurate entries.
• You need to track billable hours accurately for client billing.
• Your team is growing beyond 2-3 people, and you’re already starting to waste time creating reports from spreadsheet data.
• You need insights into productivity patterns and work habits, and you want to reduce admin overhead.

Revolutionize your time tracking with EARLY

Track time automatically or with AI, capture billable hours with one click, and generate automatic reports with overtime and time off included.

Try EARLY for free

Here’s the head-to-head comparison between the two tools:

To conclude

Google Sheets is a good starting point for basic time tracking if you have very small teams or budget constraints, but as your business scales, consider upgrading, as your needs will outgrow what G-sheets can do for you.

If you find yourself spending more time managing your timesheet than actually working, it’s a clear sign that you’ve outgrown Google Sheets.

The time savings and productivity gains from using EARLY often outweigh the modest subscription cost, especially as your team and project load expands. Plus, with integrations to popular tools you’re likely already using, EARLY fits seamlessly into your existing workflow.

If any of the pain points in the “Consider upgrading to EARLY when” list resonate with you, it’s worth exploring how EARLY can revolutionize your time tracking. With a 30-day free trial, you can experience the full power of the platform risk-free. Chances are, you’ll wonder how you ever managed with a spreadsheet alone.

Sources

https://explodingtopics.com/blog/google-workspace-stats

https://newsinitiative.withgoogle.com/en-gb/resources/trainings/google-sheets-visualizing-data