Automating Awork project & retainer reporting with n8n

Overview

Awork is excellent for project and resource planning, but teams quickly hit limits in reporting.
This project automates the processing of project, budget and retainer data from Awork and structures it for Looker Studio.

The goal was consistent, period-accurate reporting without manual exports or error-prone rework.

Scope

• Automated retrieval of projects, budgets and retainer details via the Awork API
• Centralised data processing in n8n (normalisation, validation, mapping)
• Mapping of retainer periods using period_start and period_end
• Store the processed data in Google Sheets as a historical source of truth
• Prepare the data for stable filters, time comparisons and aggregations in Looker Studio

Challenges

• Different retainer models (monthly, annual, ongoing)
• Looker Studio limitations around date and text functions
• Preventing duplicates during repeated workflow runs
• Consistent KPI logic across projects and time periods
• Limited budget visibility without additional analysis

Tech stack & integrations

• Awork API for project, budget and retainer data
• n8n for scheduling, data logic and error handling
• Google Sheets as a central BI-ready data source
• Looker Studio for dashboards, time comparisons and budget analysis

Result

Project and budget data is always up to date.
Retainer periods can be analysed, filtered and compared cleanly regardless of the billing model.

The reporting is reproducible, extensible and free of manual steps.

Business impact

• Significantly reduced reporting effort
• Clear transparency on budget usage and project status
• Reliable data foundation for monthly and period-based analysis
• Faster decisions thanks to current, consistent numbers