A Step-by-Step Guide to the Timesheet Approval Process

Timesheet Approval

Manager · Project & Timesheet

Timesheet Approval

Review submitted timesheets, approve hours that look correct, or send entries back with comments. Approved time feeds downstream to payroll and project billing.

Admin Help CenterProject & TimesheetTimesheet Approval
Before You Begin
  • Manager flag enabled on your employee record
  • Direct reports or project-mapped employees have submitted time
  • Approval workflow configured (one or more approver levels)
What You'll Achieve
  • Review Pending timesheets by employee or by week
  • Approve, Reject, or Send Back with comments
  • Monitor team-wide utilization before payroll cutoff

Navigation

My Team → Timesheet Approval

Approval Inbox

The Approval Inbox lists every pending timesheet entry from your direct reports and from employees on projects you own. Filter by week, employee, project, or activity.

On This Screen
Pending Approvals list
Rows are grouped by employee and week. A week-level approve action lets you approve all entries at once when you've already reviewed the daily details.
Fig 1 · Pending Timesheet Approvals

Approval Actions

Three outcomes are available for any submitted entry.

Action What happens When to use
ApproveLocks the entry and moves it to downstream payroll/billing exports. Employee can no longer edit.Hours and categorization look correct.
Send BackReturns the entry to Draft with your comment attached. Employee can edit and resubmit.Minor fixes needed — wrong activity, wrong project, hour mismatch.
RejectMarks the entry as Rejected. Cannot be resubmitted for this week.Employee clearly booked to the wrong entity or the whole week is invalid.

Review Detail View

Click any pending row to open the detail view. See the employee's daily breakdown, notes, and the project-level decomposition side-by-side before acting.

On This Screen
Entry detail
Left column: daily breakdown. Right column: project & activity decomposition for the week. Approve/Send Back/Reject buttons are in the header.
Fig 2 · Timesheet Approval detail view

Bulk Actions

Select multiple entries with the row checkboxes and pick Approve Selected or Send Back Selected. Useful at week-end when you've already done spot-checks and want to clear the queue.

Frequently Asked

Common questions

What's the difference between Send Back and Reject?+
Send Back returns the entry to the employee for editing — it's recoverable. Reject permanently declines the entry for this week and is used when the whole submission is invalid.
Can I un-approve an entry after approving it by mistake?+
No, once approved the entry is locked. Contact your Admin to reopen the week at the source.
Why are some employees showing up in my inbox even though they don't report to me?+
You're the Project Manager on a project they booked time to. Project Managers can approve time on their projects regardless of reporting line.
What happens if I don't approve before the payroll cutoff?+
Unapproved time rolls over to the next payroll run. Your org may also auto-approve at cutoff — check your workflow configuration.

Related Articles & Next Steps

STEP 3
Timesheet
How employees submit the entries you approve.
STEP 1
Project Management
Project Manager flag controls approval scope.
STEP 2
Activity Management
Activities drive the categorization you're validating.
OVERVIEW
Project & Timesheet Management
Back to the subcategory overview.