Bulk document generation from Excel: contracts from Google Docs

Bulk document generation from Excel means that one spreadsheet row becomes one finished contract. The text comes from a single approved template, and only the details are filled in: name, address, date, price. The result is a separate document and a PDF, saved where it belongs and ready to sign.

It works for contracts, agreements, amendments and handover protocols. Below you will find what generation does, which routes exist, when it pays off and what to watch for.

What problem does bulk generation solve?

Making contracts by hand looks the same everywhere. Someone opens last year’s contract, retypes the name and date, and saves it under a new name. With ten contracts, that works. With fifty, mistakes start.

• Typos in the details. A wrong personal ID number, swapped dates, a price from the previous contract.
• Leftovers from the previous contract. Article three still has the previous person’s name.
• Template versions. The lawyer updated the text, but half the company still works from an old file on their desktop.
• Time. Retyping details you already have in a spreadsheet or form.

Generation removes this at the root. Details are entered once, and nobody retypes the contract text by hand.

What can bulk generation do?

• A finished document from a spreadsheet row. One row = one contract. Dozens of contracts are created at once.
• One approved template. All contracts come from the same wording. Only the data fields change.
• Data from a spreadsheet or a form. The source can be Excel, Google Sheets, a web form, a CRM or an e-shop.
• PDF and storage in folders. Each contract gets a clear name and is saved in the right folder. A link to it can go back to the record in the spreadsheet.
• Connection to signing. The finished PDF goes to print, to electronic signature or to the signing service you already use.
• Contract variants. The right template is picked based on the data, for example one for companies and another for individuals.

Which route to choose: Word, Google Docs with a spreadsheet, or a connection to an app?

	Word + Excel (mail merge)	Google Docs + spreadsheet	Connection to an app (CRM, e-shop, form)
Who it’s for	Occasional batches of letters and envelopes	Companies that produce the same contracts in batches	Companies whose data already lives in another system
What you need	Word and Excel	A Google account, a template, a spreadsheet and a generation setup	Access to the system you take the data from, and an integration specialist
Output	Printed documents or e-mails [1]	A separate document and PDF per row	The contract is created on its own when a new record appears

Mail merge in Word needs nothing extra. According to Microsoft’s help, though, its output is aimed at printing or e-mails [1]. If you want each contract as a separate file in your archive, the other two routes fit better.

When does generation pay off, and when doesn’t it?

It pays off when you produce the same type of document repeatedly and in batches:

• seasonal hiring of temporary workers,
• framework agreements with customers,
• price change amendments,
• handover protocols.

You don’t need it when:

• you write a few contracts a month and each one is different. Copying the template by hand is faster.
• you send letters or envelopes. Mail merge in Word is enough for that [1].
• contracts are already created in software you have, and it has its own templates. Try those first.

With larger volumes, plan for limits. Google restricts how long a single run can take and how many documents can be created per day. A free account has lower limits than Google Workspace, and Google can change them at any time [2]. With hundreds of documents a day, this has to be factored into the design.

What should you watch for as a customer?

Before you start generating, decide these things. The technology comes second.

• A lawyer approves the template. Generation only changes the data fields. The legal text has to be right in the template.
• Who may change the template. Appoint one person. Everyone else only generates from it. Each contract should carry the version of the template it was created from.
• Required details. A missing detail in the spreadsheet means a blank space in the contract. Ask for a check that stops an incomplete record before the contract is created.
• Human review. The system won’t notice a typo in the price column. Someone reads the first contracts of each batch in full.
• Archiving. Where contracts are stored, how they are named, and where you find the signed version next to the generated one.
• Personal data (GDPR). Contracts contain names, addresses and other personal data. Only people who need it have access to the folder. No sharing as “anyone with the link”.

Is a generated contract valid, and how do you sign it?

Generating a contract does not yet make it a contract. When you conclude it in writing, the Czech Civil Code (občanský zákoník) requires the signature of the acting person (§ 561(1)). The written form is also preserved when acting by electronic means that allow the content to be captured and the acting person to be identified (§ 562(1)). How a document can be signed electronically is left by the Code to another regulation [3].

Signing options:

• Print and sign. The PDF is ready to print.
• Sign electronically directly in Google. Electronic signatures in Docs and Drive are available in the Google Workspace Individual plan for individuals and in selected Google Workspace business plans (including Business Standard, Business Plus and Enterprise), where an administrator has to turn the feature on. A regular free Google account is not among the listed ones. Once all parties have signed, a PDF with an audit log page is created [4].
• Send it to a signing service you already use, and save the signed PDF next to the generated one.

Employment contracts and agreements have extra rules. When you conclude an agreement to complete a job (DPP), an agreement to perform work (DPČ) or an employment contract electronically, the employer must send the copy to the employee’s e-mail address that the employer does not control and that the employee has communicated in writing. The employee can then withdraw in writing no later than 7 days from the day the copy was delivered, and only until they have started work (§ 21 of the Czech Labor Code, zákoník práce) [5]. More on the Electronic DPP page.

This is not legal advice. For a specific case, contact a lawyer.

How do we do it?

We generate contracts for our temporary workers from one approved template, and the result is a PDF. Details are not retyped by hand; they come from an intake form. A different contract variant is used for minors.

Sources

1. Microsoft Support – Mail merge using an Excel spreadsheet: completing the merge by printing or e-mail. https://support.microsoft.com/en-us/office/mail-merge-using-an-excel-spreadsheet-858c7d7f-5cc0-4ba1-9a7b-0a948fa3d7d3
2. Google for Developers – Quotas for Google Services (Apps Script): limits on runtime and documents created, changes without notice. https://developers.google.com/apps-script/guides/services/quotas
3. Act No. 89/2012 Coll., Civil Code (občanský zákoník), § 561 and 562 (as in force from 1 Jan 2026). https://www.zakonyprolidi.cz/cs/2012-89/zneni-20260101
4. Google Docs Editors Help – Send signature requests and sign documents with eSignature. https://support.google.com/docs/answer/12315692?hl=cs
5. Act No. 262/2006 Coll., Labor Code (zákoník práce), § 21 (as in force from 1 Nov 2026). https://www.zakonyprolidi.cz/cs/2006-262

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Generating from templates is one module of document automation. What it covers, from the data source to storing the signed contract, is described on the Contract generation from templates page. Contract records and deadline tracking are covered on the Document and contract management page. Want to know whether generation pays off for your contracts? Book a free 30-minute audit. We will go through where you get your data, how many documents you produce each month and where they are retyped today. We will also tell you when Word and a manual copy are enough.