Use Google Sheets AI to Track Subcontractor Payments

What This Does

Google Sheets AI (Gemini) lets you ask natural language questions about your subcontractor payment tracking spreadsheet: identify overdue lien waivers, calculate retainage balances, and flag pay application discrepancies without complex formulas.

Before You Start

• You have a Google account with Google Sheets access
• You're signed into a Google Workspace plan that includes Gemini (Business Starter and above, or personal Google One AI Premium)
• Your payment tracking spreadsheet is open in Sheets with columns for: subcontractor name, contract value, applications to date, payments made, retainage, lien waiver status
• Time needed: 10-15 minutes to set up; immediate on subsequent uses
• Cost: Google Workspace Business Starter ($6/user/mo) or Google One AI Premium ($19.99/mo)

Steps

1. Find Gemini in Google Sheets

Open your spreadsheet in Google Sheets. Look for the Ask Gemini button (a sparkle/star icon) in the top-right corner of the toolbar or in the Insert menu as "Ask Gemini." Click it to open the Gemini panel on the right side.

What you should see: A chat panel opens with a text input box and suggested question prompts based on your sheet data. Troubleshooting: If you don't see Gemini in Sheets, check that your Google Workspace plan includes it. Alternatively, install the "Gemini for Google Workspace" extension.

2. Set up a simple payment tracking table

If you don't already have one, create a table with these columns: Subcontractor | Contract Value | Total Billed to Date | Paid to Date | Retainage % | Retainage Held | Lien Waiver Received (Y/N) | Notes.

Enter your current data for each subcontractor. Gemini works best with structured table data.

3. Ask payment analysis questions

With your data entered, type questions in the Gemini panel:

• "Which subcontractors have billed more than 90% of their contract value?"
• "Calculate the total retainage held for each sub and show the total"
• "Which subs are missing lien waivers for payments already made?"
• "Show me any subcontract where the amount paid exceeds the contract value"

What you get: Direct answers, highlighted cells, or new calculated columns, depending on the question.

4. Generate a payment status summary

Ask Gemini: "Write a 3-sentence summary of the current payment status across all subcontractors: total contracted value, total paid to date, total retainage held, and any issues."

Use this summary in your monthly owner draw application cover letter.

Real Example

Scenario: You're preparing your monthly pay application to the owner and need to confirm all subcontractor lien waivers are in before you submit.

What you type: "Which subcontractors in this sheet have received payment but do not have 'Y' in the Lien Waiver Received column?"

What you get: A list of the 3 subcontractors whose lien waivers are missing, so you know exactly who to contact before submitting to the owner. This would have taken 15 minutes to audit manually.

Tips

• Keep your payment tracking sheet updated monthly. Gemini AI is only as good as your data.
• Ask Gemini to create a pivot-style summary: "Show me total billed vs. total paid by trade category"
• If you use a different spreadsheet tool (Excel), the same workflow applies with Excel Copilot. The questions are identical, just in the Copilot panel.

Tool interfaces change. If Gemini has moved in Sheets, look for the sparkle icon in the top toolbar or under the Insert menu.