Data Syncing Explained
If you have ever wondered why the app sometimes shows data that is a few minutes behind the spreadsheet — or why an approved correction does not appear in the sheet immediately — this page explains what is happening.
The big picture
Think of the Google Sheet as the company's filing cabinet. Every clock-in, every worker record, and every job lives in that filing cabinet first. This platform is like a desk in the accounting office — it gets a working copy of everything in the cabinet, and you do your daily work on it. When you make an approved change at the desk, the platform files it back into the cabinet automatically.
The cabinet and the desk stay in sync, but not instantly. There is a short delay in both directions.
What "sync" means
"Sync" means the app reaches out to the Google Sheet and pulls in the latest data. This includes:
- New clock-in and clock-out records from the field
- Updates to field worker records (names, rates, team assignments)
- New or updated job records
- Cost code assignments
The app does this automatically on a schedule. The target is to refresh data roughly every five minutes, though the actual timing can vary slightly depending on server load.
You do not need to do anything to trigger a sync — it happens in the background. If you need fresh data right now and cannot wait, ask an admin to trigger a manual sync.
What "sync to the spreadsheet" means
"Sync to the spreadsheet" (sometimes called a Write-Back) works in the opposite direction. Instead of pulling data from the sheet, the app pushes a change back to it.
This only happens after a time correction is approved. Once an accounting or admin user approves a correction, the platform automatically writes the fixed values back to the source row in the Google Sheet. You do not need to open the spreadsheet yourself — the app handles it.
You can tell it worked when the correction's status changes to green ("Succeeded").
When does syncing happen?
| Direction | When | Triggered by |
|---|---|---|
| Sheet → App (incoming) | Every ~5 minutes | Automatic schedule |
| App → Sheet (write-back) | Within a minute of approval | Approving a time correction |
These are approximate. The system aims for five-minute freshness on incoming data, but a brief spike in server activity can push it to ten or fifteen minutes in rare cases. Write-backs to the sheet are near-immediate once a correction is approved.
What gets synced back
When you approve a time correction, only these four fields are sent back to the spreadsheet:
- Clock-in time
- Clock-out time
- Job
- Crew (shift team)
That is it. If a correction changes something outside these four fields — for example, a worker's name or pay rate — the write-back cannot happen automatically. The correction will show "Manual Review" status instead of "Succeeded," and someone will need to update the spreadsheet by hand.
What does NOT get synced automatically
These changes do not sync back to the spreadsheet on their own:
- Hourly rate changes (managed in the worker's detail page; write-back is a separate step)
- Worker name or classification changes
- Job name or job code changes
- Cost code changes made after the fact
- Any field not listed above in the "What gets synced back" section
If you need one of these changed, update it in the source Google Sheet directly, or ask an admin to trigger the appropriate write-back from the worker or job detail page.
If the data looks wrong
- Wait a few minutes. If data was just added to the spreadsheet, it may not have arrived in the app yet. Refresh the page after two or three minutes.
- Hard-refresh your browser. Press Ctrl + Shift + R (Windows) or Cmd + Shift + R (Mac) to bypass the browser cache.
- Check the correction status. If you approved a correction and it is not showing in the sheet, check the status badge on the correction row. "Succeeded" means it worked. "Failed" means there was an error and an admin needs to investigate.
- Ask an admin to check. Admins can see the last sync time and trigger a manual pull from the Settings area. If the sync is more than 15–20 minutes behind, there may be a connection issue with the Google integration.
See also: Troubleshooting