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Calculating and recording Zaps and Tasks

  • 21 November 2021
  • 9 replies
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Userlevel 1

Hi,

I am setting up a client with a couple of zaps and I need a way to record in a Google Sheet the number of times the zaps has run and how many tasks it has completed as the client needs this information for onwards billing. This could either be per zap, per week or per month.

Is there a particular way to do this?

Thanks.

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Best answer by Troy Tessalone 22 November 2021, 17:09

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9 replies

Userlevel 1
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Hi @siliceous,

 

The best way to view this data is to vist your Zap History on the sidebar when in Zapier online. 

 

If you need to setup data that reflects your Zaps in Google Sheets I would simply setup a step in each of those Zaps to update a cell within that sheet to increase a numerical value by +1 for each respective Zap. 

 

However, I would like to mention that Zapier does not allow for “managed service” under the terms and service (“TOS”). Here is an excerpt from the TOS:

 

“You agree to use the Service and Software only for your own internal business operations, and not to transfer, distribute, sell, republish, resell, lease, sublease, license, sub-license or assign the Service or use the Service for the operation of a service bureau or time-sharing service.”  

 

The TOS can be found here: https://zapier.com/tos 

 

 

Userlevel 3
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Hi @siliceous. I believe one way to do this would be to add an action to the end of each zap that updates the google doc when it is run. There might be a more efficient way but i believe this would work also!

Userlevel 3
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possible update- I found this information that may be a better solution to your request! https://zapier.com/apps/zapier-manager/integrations#triggers-and-actions 

There is a specific Zap that is in Beta called Create Zap Report (Beta) that automatically generates a CSV and aggregate metrics describing the task history of a single Zap. Perhaps that is more helpful :)

Userlevel 1

Hey @TamRazzleDazzle 

Thanks for the suggestions!

I’ve tried the Zapier Manager and it generated a report for the zap for the entire duration since the zap was first turned on. I suppose there isn’t a way to do this for a specific week/month without having to use a mutlitude of extra zaps/tasks adding exponential cost to an already very expensive service.

Oone would think this should be an inbuilt feature in Zapier where users have a table listing all zaps and no. of tasks used without having to use additional tasks to view this information … lol.

Thanks again for the suggestion.

Best.

Userlevel 7
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Hi @siliceous 

The Task Usage page shows this info: https://zapier.com/app/history/usage

 

Adding another step to a Zap just to log the info into a GSheet will only use more Tasks in a Zap.

Userlevel 1

Hi @Troy Tessalone 

I am aware of the Zap history. However, that data is only for informational purposes and has no abiity to be forwarded on or used in a zap.

Ideally, we should be able to use that information and export it to GSheets or something similar without having to add extra tasks at the end of a zap to get this information.

The number of tasks in my client’s zap needs to be recorded so as to be able to turn the task off when a limit is reached. By adding an extra 2 tasks at the end of every zap to obtain and pass this info to Gsheets means every zap would be artifically inflated by twice the number of tasks for a single step zap. While it’s a great idea, it just wouldn’t be feasible for us to do this.

Zapier should consider implementing something where that information in the Zap history is more usable, e.g. generating a weekly or monthly report per zap or set of zaps and using the information in the report to turn zaps on/off or at least be able to forward that information on to another app.

Userlevel 7
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@siliceous 

Feedback and feature requests can be submitted via Zapier Support: https://zapier.com/app/get-help

Userlevel 7
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@siliceous 

Check out this guide topic:

 

Userlevel 1

Hi @Troy Tessalone 

The guide has been very handy. I have managed to set it up triggered weekly, transferring the report data to GSheet and setting a formula within GSheet that calculates a monthly total. From this, now I’ll be able to trigger the zap to turn off when it reaches a limit and also limit a customer’s account/cancel a subscription.

Thanks for your help. :)

Cheers!