Tracking Efforts in a T&M Project Using Google Sheets

When working with a time & materials (T&M) payment model (i.e., payment based on actual work performed and resources used) in small development teams, several questions arise: how to track labor costs and other resources, calculate the payment amount for the client, determine the payments for team members, manage all these calculations, and where to store agreements that evolve over time. There are several ways to address these challenges. In this article, I will describe a fairly simple and practical method using Google Spreadsheets (https://www.google.com/sheets/about/). The described tool offers flexibility in calculations, separates access between participants, allows you to revisit past payments, investigate discrepancies in reports, and expand functionality to meet specific needs. Let’s start with an example: ‪ProjectName Time Tracking (example)‬‏ - Google Drive This example demonstrates calculations for a project named "ProjectName," involving a team of two specialists: