Guide

How to make a timesheet from Google Calendar

If you already put client work in Google Calendar, you have most of a timesheet. What is missing is a way to pull out one client's events for one month and add up the hours.

The problem

Google Calendar shows events on a grid. It does not total hours, filter by client, or produce a document you can send. The usual workaround is to copy events by hand into a spreadsheet, which is slow and easy to get wrong when meetings repeat, move, or get cancelled.

Step 1: Name client events consistently

The timesheet tool finds a client's events by a word in the event title. A few habits make that reliable:

• Start titles with the client name or a short code, for example Acme: homepage review.
• Use the same spelling every time. Matching ignores upper and lower case and accents, so acme also finds ACME.
• If a client goes by two names, enter both separated by a comma, for example acme, northwind.
• Keeping each client in its own calendar also works. Leave the keyword empty and export only that calendar.

Step 2: Export your calendar

1. Open Google Calendar on a computer. The export is not available in the phone app. Go tocalendar.google.com.
2. Open Settings. Click the gear icon at the top right, then Settings.
3. Export. In the left menu choose Import & export, then click Export. Google downloads a .zip file with one .ics file for each calendar you own. To export only one calendar, open it under Settings for my calendarsand choose Export calendar.
4. Upload the file here. Drop the .zip or .ics file into the tool. You do not need to unzip it.

Google's own instructions: Export events from Google Calendar.

Step 3: Build the timesheet

1. Open the timesheet tool and drop in the .zip or .ics file.
2. Check the period. Last calendar month is selected by default.
3. Enter the client name, title keyword, hourly rate and currency.
4. Choose rounding if your contract asks for it: none, 6, 15 or 30 minutes.
5. Review the list. Untick anything that was not billable and correct any hours.
6. Add your name or business name and download the PDF or CSV.

What the timesheet includes

• Your name or business name, the client, the period and the hourly rate.
• One line per event with the date, start and end time, title, hours and amount.
• Total hours and total amount.
• The time zone the times are shown in and the rounding used, so your client can follow the numbers.

Things to check before you send it

• Overlaps. Two events at the same time are flagged. Usually one of them should be excluded.
• All-day events. These are left out by default, because they have no start and end time. Turn them on if you want to bill them, then enter the hours.
• Events at the edge of the period. An event that starts before the period or ends after it only counts the time inside the period, and is marked.
• Declined invitations. Google may export meetings you declined. Untick them in the review list.

Privacy

The file is read inside your browser and is not uploaded. Event titles often contain client names and private details, so nothing from the file is sent to any server. The privacy policy explains what is sent and when.