The What, Why, Pros, Cons, and Alternatives of Google Sheets Timesheets

Timesheet is one of the best tools to measure productivity since it keeps a track of employee's working hours. Timesheets not only help keep track of employee's time, but also make it easier to bill them accordingly. Nowadays, there are many apps (paid and unpaid both) available in the market to maintain timesheets, but there are very few which are at the top and Google Sheets is one of them. Looking for an app to maintain timesheets? Then you have come to the right place, as we will discuss everything here from the pros and cons and answer all “what” and “why” of timesheets. And if you are searching for something even better and more outstanding than the Google timesheet? Then just dig into the article.

What is a Timesheet?

"A timesheet is a method for recording the amount of a worker's time spent on each job." - Wikipedia

To keep track of the employee's working hours, both time in and out of the task the employee is working on needs to be recorded and maintained in a systematic, easy to read, and analyze manner.

If you are familiar with this concept, then the first thing that may come to your mind is none other than excel or paper (in the traditional case). Indeed, a timesheet can be made on paper, as well as excel but to use advanced timesheet features than paper, google sheets is a wise choice.

Google sheets not only have advanced features with a strong community, but is also free of cost and easy to learn.

Why Google Timesheet?

With many other options available in the market, the first question that arises is why Google sheet for Timesheet? The following reasons might answer your questions:

1. Flexibility:

Google sheet is flexible and can be easily customized to one's needs. Google sheet can be used for multiple other purposes just like excel other than a just timesheet. In short, it is easy to create, edit and customize.

2. Crash-Proof Templates:

There is a myriad of templates available for timesheets as well as other tasks ranging from minutes of meetings to reports and even payrolls. The best thing that makes google sheet stand out from other apps is its crash-proof templates.

3. Cross-Device Accessibility:

Unlike Excel, Google sheets can be accessed from anywhere at any time, if you have an internet connection and account with access to that file. It is easy to share with your teammates and can be viewed on laptops, monitors, and even mobiles with no installations. This makes it easy for the employees to fill in the clock-in and clock-out timings from anywhere and at any time.

4. Compatibility:

Google has a big and strong community, and it becomes even more evident when we talk about compatibility. Many applications (like Slack, Trello, Clockbook, etc.) support google sheets as a plug-in, which makes it easier to use in conjunction with other applications.
The data can be synchronized and shared from one app to another with simply a click of a button, and this makes google sheets even more attractive.

5. Security:

The Google sheets are secure, and the security is easy to maintain, even when sharing the sheets with other employees. There are options to only give, read, or write access or give admin access according to your preferences. There are also options to prevent other people from downloading your sheets. All this may sound complex but is quite easy to maintain simply by a click of a button.

6. User-Friendly UI:

Google sheet is quite easy to learn and use, it can be taught to anyone having minimal to no knowledge in a matter of minutes. Especially if someone is already familiar with Excel, then learning Google sheets will be easy for them.
Even if the employee is slow to learn, then he/she can use custom templates that already have 50% of the work done. Then while editing the template according to his/her needs he/she will be able to learn the tool even better and faster.

The Cons of Google Sheet Timesheets:

The grass is not always greener on the other side, and the same applies here. Even though Google sheets is a cost-effective solution for most of the timesheet problems, it is not always the best choice, and below are some reasons why:

1. Manually Cumbersome:

Google timesheets can automate the calculations, but you will have to manually type in most of the data, and that can be quite cumbersome in most situations. There is a portion of your time being wasted in only filling in the entries, and then there is also a chance of you forgetting to fill in an entry.

2. Extra Hiring:

In a big company with 1000s of employees, these timesheets can become a real nightmare. As it is impossible to check them all at once and some extra hiring might be required to process all those timesheets and make them valuable in a brief time. Since timesheet requires post-processing which may include:

• Another template to link other tasks with timesheets (like payroll).
• Manual timesheet analysis of the failing and top employees.
• Warning the employees who fail to meet the criteria, periodically.
• Dealing with an error possibility.

Such tasks can only be done by an expert with Google sheet's advanced knowledge.

3. Post-processing and training:

Not anyone can post-process the timesheet data, and an expert might be needed to perform all the post-processing on time. It is not easy to perform payroll calculation, progress warning, attendance tracking, etc. with a timesheet alone and requires expert knowledge. Analysis needs to be done to fish out any insincere entries, and only experienced personnel can carry these out. Similarly, employees need to be trained for complex calculations other than just simply entering clock in and clock out timings. Calculations like percentages, aggregations, medians, etc. need to be taught if required by the company.

4. Simple Features:

You will find only the basic features which are necessary to maintain a timesheet. However, to add additional functionality, you would have to spend extra effort and time yourself. The following are some of the features that you might require but will not find in the Google timesheet:

• Automatic Productivity report.
• Distraction Alerts.
• Automatic clock-in and clock-out.
• Automatic Attendance Reports etc.

Some of these tasks may require additional templates and complex linking to be calculated, while others are simply not possible or will require a third-party plug-in only if available.

5. Prone To Human Errors:

Wherever there is human intervention, there is a possibility of human error. The clock in and clock out timings are all manual and there is a chance of missing an entry or two. Then there is also a possibility of missing or adding an extra zero where it was not required, which can be quite dangerous.
There might be a semantic or runtime error due to errors in formulas, which makes google sheets even more vulnerable.

Not Satisfied with Google Timesheets? Use Clockbook

Google sheets might have their own set of benefits but if their cons are something you cannot afford, especially the manual parts of it, then you need to try out Clockbook.
Clockbook is like a super updated version of Google Sheets Timesheets and can help you where google sheets cannot.

What is Clockbook?

Clock book is an advanced timesheet software for employees. It leans more towards the automatic side as compared to google timesheets.

Clockbook may be a paid software, but it is the cheapest among its competitors with equal or even more features. It generates automatic reports without any human interference. The following are some key reasons to opt for Clockbook:

1. Easy Time Tracking:

It has now become easier to fill in the clock-in and clock-out timing, by simply pressing a button instead of typing in and calculating yourself. Other than that, if you feel clicking a button is cumbersome, then there is also an advanced feature. This feature automatically starts tracking time once the system is turned on.

2. Automatic Reports:

You don't have to spend effort in doing all the research on formulas and templates for generating reports as it does all the work itself automatically. Clockbook generates the following reports:

• Summary report
• Detailed report
• Weekly report
• Exporting reports
• Sharing reports
• Filtering reports
• Creating custom reports
• Viewing your employees’ hours
• Hourly rates The above reports can also be shared and downloaded in multiple formats, from CSV to PDF.

3. Tracking Productivity:**

After some entries, the user Dashboard shows you immediately how much time you have tracked each day and where you spent most of your time.

It is still easier to keep track of individual productivity, but when it comes to team it gets harder. But with Clockbook, you can track where each team and person spend their time, analyze data, and produce improvements. These features are just like icing on the cake as there are many more amazing features available and some are to come, from which some are mentioned below:

• Lock timesheets
• Time rounding
• Time audit
• Alerts
• Hide Time and Pages
• Targets and reminders
• Add time for others.
• Project templates etc.

Conclusion:

It has become clear now, that even creating timesheets is possible in google sheets, but since, google sheets are great generic software but are not designed specifically for timesheets. So, if you want detailed and accurate timesheets analytics, then you should opt for Clockbook.