• Home
• Products
• Free Trial
• Videos
• Customers
• Support
• Pricing
• About Us
• Blog
• Customer Login

Home > Customer Support > Approvals Help

Quick Start Guide: Performing Approvals

This guide is aimed at timesheet, expense sheet, or time off approvers, and provides information on how to approve or reject users’ items, edit items submitted for approval, and view items you approved or rejected in the past. You can use the Word version to customize this guide for your organization.

Download in Word format

Download in PDF format

Back to Top

How do I set up approvers in Web TimeSheet?

When setting up Web TimeSheet, you assign users to approve timesheets, expense sheets, and time off bookings. If you don't assign approvers, items will be automatically approved by the system.

There are three main steps to setting up approvals in Web TimeSheet:

1. Define approver types
   Approver types specify what individuals or roles can act as approvers. For example, you could create an approver type called Time Off Approver, and designate the user's supervisor or a specific user to act as the approver for that type.
2. Set up approval paths
   Approval paths determine which approver types will approve a user's items, and in what order those approvers will act. For example, you could set up a Supervisor --> Project Manager timesheet approval path. When this approval path is assigned to a user, timesheets will be sent for approval first to the user's supervisor, and then to their project leader(s).
3. Assign approval paths to users in their user profiles
   Users can be assigned a different approval path for each type of item they submit (timesheets, expense sheets, or time off bookings).

For more information, refer to Setting Up Approvals in Web TimeSheet's online help.

Back to Top

Can I edit a submitted or approved timesheet, expense sheet, or time off booking?

You may occasionally find you need to correct or alter an item that you've submitted. The table below outlines whether you can access your timesheets and expense sheets once you've submitted them.

For time off bookings, you can always edit your own bookings that have not yet been approved, without first having to unsubmit or reopen the booking.

If a time off booking has been approved, you may still be able to edit it, depending on your permissions. You may be allowed to edit future bookings only, past bookings only (in version 8.24.2 and higher only), both, or neither. If a booking is associated with an approved timesheet, you'll need to reopen the timesheet (if you have permission to do that) before you can edit it. Edited bookings and reopened timesheets will re-enter the approval process from the beginning.

Web TimeSheet administrators can typically unsubmit or reopen any item – talk to them if you want to edit an item and aren't able to access it.

If you are a Web TimeSheet administrator, and need help:

• Enabling unsubmit and reopen permissions, refer to Setting Up Permission Profiles in Web TimeSheet's online help
• Unsubmitting or reopening items for users, refer to Managing Historical Timesheets, Managing Historical Expenses, Managing Historical Time Off Bookings in the online help.

Back to Top

Why are items I am supposed to approve automatically approved by the system?

To prevent delays in the approval process, the system may automatically approve timesheets, time off bookings, or expense sheets. When this occurs, <System> is added in the approval details.

The system will automatically approve the item if:

• One or more of the approver types listed in the item's approval path is not defined for the employee

  For example, a user submits a timesheet that uses a Supervisor --> Project Leader approval path, and one of the projects on the timesheet has not been set up with a project leader. After the supervisor has approved the user's timesheet, Web TimeSheet will automatically approve the timesheet and thereby complete the approval process.

• A user unsubmits and then resubmits and item without making any changes
• A user's start date falls before their approver's start date

  In this situation, the system will approve all items destined for that approver that were submitted prior to their start date.

• A user is assigned System as their approver

Back to Top