Calendar Activity to Billable Hours Recap
Okou reconstructs likely client time from Google Calendar, Granola notes, Airtable project records, and Xero, then prepares a reviewable recap without submitting a timesheet or invoice.
What is an automated billable hours recap?
An automated billable hours recap reconstructs client-facing work from the systems where the work already happened. Okou matches Google Calendar events and Granola notes with Airtable projects and existing Xero records, estimates missing time, and shows the evidence and confidence behind each proposed entry. It never submits a timesheet or creates an invoice automatically.
Why billable time disappears before Friday
Consulting and service teams often complete the work before they record the time. By Friday, meetings have generic names, short follow-ups are forgotten, and internal sessions can look billable. Okou reconstructs the week from activity evidence and engagement records, then gives each proposed entry a confidence level and source trail.
How Okou reconstructs time without overbilling
Step 1: Connect your tools
Step 2: Ask Okou
Step 3: Take it further
How Calendar, Granola, Airtable, and Xero establish evidence
Okou needs both activity evidence and a valid client-project mapping before it proposes billable time.
Google Calendar: duration and participants
RequiredEvents establish when work happened, how long it lasted, and whether external client participants attended. Private descriptions can remain unread.
Granola: meeting purpose and work performed
RequiredGranola notes distinguish a contracted workshop from a generic catch-up and provide the project language needed for an accurate narrative.
Airtable: clients, projects, and existing entries
OptionalOkou maps evidence to active engagements and checks what has already been logged. Proposed rows remain drafts until someone approves them.
Xero: contract and invoice context
OptionalExisting customer and invoice records help validate the billable entity and prevent duplicate billing. Okou does not issue or modify invoices.
Okou vs. timers vs. end-of-week recall
The workflow is designed for teams whose client work is visible in meetings and deliverables but not captured by a running timer.
A timer
Accurate when people remember to start it, but it does not reconstruct work after the fact or explain which engagement it belongs to.
Manual recall
Fast but error-prone: people round from memory, miss short sessions, and may accidentally count internal work.
Okou
Okou proposes time only when calendar, notes, and project records support it, and exposes uncertainty before anything is submitted.
Tips for better results
Frequently asked questions
Will Okou submit timesheets automatically?
No. It delivers a report with evidence, duration, client, project, and confidence. A human approves the final entry.
How does Okou avoid counting internal meetings?
It checks attendee domains, meeting notes, active engagement records, and your explicit exclusion rules. Ambiguous sessions are excluded or flagged.
Can Okou reconstruct non-meeting work?
Yes when a project record or linked deliverable provides reliable evidence. The workflow should not infer undocumented focus time from an empty calendar.
Does this create invoices in Xero?
No. Xero is read-only here and supplies client and invoice context. Invoice creation remains a separate approved workflow.
Can different clients use different billing rules?
Yes. Store minimum increments, non-billable activity, caps, and project codes in Airtable so Okou applies each engagement's rules.
Recover billable time without trusting memory
Connect Calendar, Granola, Airtable, and Xero to produce the first billable hours report.