The new release of Google Office Timesheets is now available for download.
Improvements in version 1.0.3:
For developers there's new APIs for Google Apps, including provisioning, single sign-no and email gateway interfaces. Applications that make use of these new APIs can only be used with the Premier edition.
This push makes Google Apps a serious threat to Microsoft's Office empire. Keeping in mind that for large Enterprises the thought of hosting their applications off-site is an anathema. Likewise power users of Office applications (Excel in particular) are unlikely to consider switching. Spreadsheets' lack of support for pivot tables, a scripting language, advanced formulas, and form components makes it a non-starter for a lot of organisations that use Excel for data manipulation.
But For smaller companies (or educational institutions), the power-tools available in Excel and the rest of the Office suite are less important than the ability to write a fax, tabulate numbers, and easily and securely collaborate on spreadsheets and documents.
For these users remotely hosted applications that actively support collaboration are very attractive. Particularly with the 24/7 phone & email support Google are offering. Indeed for some operations the cost savings in application support far outweigh the $50 a year Google are charging for their office suite and will count as a net positive.
As an aside, this means that my Google Timesheeting tool is much more closely tied. I've updated my recent blog post on timesheeting with Google and posted some suggestions for how to make the most of the integration at the Office Tools Group.
With payroll and staff both having access to timesheets everyone involved can 'sign off' electronically thanks to the built in revision control. Go one step further and share read access with any external agencies that might need timesheets (like agencies or umbrella companies for contractors). This prevents the seemingly endless duplication -- I've had to fill out 4 separate timesheets for a single contract.
Annoyingly spreadsheets isn't part of GAfyD yet, so you'll need payroll to create a Google account for the job. UPDATE: Spreadsheets now is available as part of Google Apps. So just share your timesheet with the same timesheet user you share your calendar with.
Spreadsheets supports exporting to Excel/ODF and PDF so you can print or save backups. I personally save PDFs of all timesheets after I complete payroll to make sure there's always a backup once money's changed hands.
If you'd like to make things even easier, you can automate the 'filling in' part of the timesheet process by using my Google Office Timesheet Tool.
Recording Time with Google Calendar
I recommend using calendar to track your daily activities on the fly. To make my life even easier I've written a Windows tool for timesheet data entry that uses the calendar API to make this really quick and easy.
Start by using Google Applications for Your Domain to provide timesheet calendars for you and your staff. Create a 'Timesheet' account and invite it with read access to all your employee timesheet calendars. Then have your staff record their daily activities on their timesheet calendars, adding a new entry whenever they switch clients / projects.
That timesheet account can now get times for invoicing and timesheets without having to chase up every team member asking how long they spent doing what.
When you enter your activities make it easy on yourself by including the project or client in the title text - even if that's *all* you put in the title. If you get the level of detail right and make it a regular intraday activity this should take most of the pain out of timesheeting.
Some Timesheeting Tips
I'm releasing a freeware single-entry timesheeting tool that uses Google's Calendar and Spreadsheets services to automate your timesheeting, making it as simple as possible.
Check out Timesheets at Google Powered Office Tools.
Just add a new entry whenever you switch projects, and the tool will add it to your Google timesheet calendar. It tries to be smart by ending the last task when you start a new one, finishing your last task at the end of the day, and keeping track of your previous projects.
Easy Timesheet Creation
Sums the time spent on each project for each employee from their Google Calendars and fills in Google spreadsheet timesheets for each of them. Have your staff share their timesheet calendar with a 'Timesheet' user to create their timesheets for them with a single click!
I've created and shared templates for weekly, monthly, and yearly timesheet formats. Just login to Spreadsheets and choose import, then point them to the right location. Once imported, just rename the new spreadsheet for each employee (Eg. 'Reto Meier Timesheets').
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