Time & Expense Approval

The Time & Expense Approval view is the location used to review, approve or reject submitted employee timesheets, expenses or time lockout exception requests. Also available is the ability for administrators and managers to override (bypass) approval workflows for any given sheet. This topic describes how to approve time and expenses. Instructions on approving Time Lockout exceptions are found in another topic. Once approved, time entries can be rejected or corrected by managers using the Employee Calendar view.

 

A manager designated to approve time and expenses only sees the items for which he or she is an approving manager and only sees them when they are next in the approval order. When designated as an alternate approving manager, the user is able to access the primary approver's sheets awaiting approval.

 

 

Note:  A red icon (Alert Center) is placed in the upper right corner whenever there are time or expenses awaiting your approval.

Prerequisite:

• Only the timesheets and expenses assigned to a workflow appear in the Time & Expense Approval view.

To approve/reject timesheet entries:

1. Select Time & Expenses from the navigation bar (Approvals > Time & Expenses).

2. Select for whom you are approving from the drop-down list in the upper left corner. The list includes other manager names only if you are designated as an alternate approving manager and if your status as an alternate has been enabled. “All Managers” is displayed if your security level is Manager or above. When selected, the 'To Be Approved' drop-down list (step 4) includes all items awaiting approval for other managers.

3. Select a timesheet (example: White, Martha from May 3 to ...) from the drop-down list. The list is divided by types of submission; time, expenses or time lockout.

 

The view has 2 tabs:

Summary tab

The Summary tab displays, in the top pane, summary information on the time submitted by project and task. The time to approve is highlighted in blue (the Hours to Approve column). All other data shown is for information purposes only. Details
 

Details tab

The Details tab displays, in the top pane, submitted entries broken down by day. Details for any single entry are shown in the middle pane when any individual entry is selected within the top pane. All other data shown is for information purposes only. Details

 

4. There are 3 options for approving/rejecting time entries.
    

Note: When the timesheet falls within a Time Lockout period, the approve/reject buttons are not available. An Exception Request to open the timesheet can be created.

 

1. • To approve all time entries within a timesheet, click the Approve button at the upper right corner of the screen.

   • To reject all time entries within a timesheet, click the Reject button.

Enter a detailed reason for the rejection in the pop-up window. This reason will be displayed to the employee who submitted the time entry.
 

1. • To approve some entries and reject others within a timesheet:

   • 1. Select the Details tab.

     2. In the top pane, select the entries to reject by clicking in the cell (use the Ctrl key to select multiple entries).

     3. Click the Exclusive Approve button.

 

Enter a detailed reason for the rejection in the pop-up window. This reason will be displayed to the employee who submitted the time entry.

 

Notes: When time is rejected, the employee who submitted the time receives an e-mail notification if this option has been enabled. When time is rejected and the time falls within a time locked out period, the period is temporarily unlocked so that the employee can correct and resubmit the time. A cell with a orange colored background indicates that the time was submitted as overtime. No information is displayed in the middle pane if more than 1 item is selected in the top pane. Overtime Rate details are only available to users with appropriate security rights. The naming convention for timesheets is: "last name", "first name" from "date range".

 

Note about the Details tab: When a task has multiple time entries on the same day, a "rolled-up" total for the task is displayed in the top pane. The individual details of each entry can be viewed using the middle pane. However, it is not possible to approve or reject individual entries within the rolled-up task.

 

Tips: Placing your mouse over a date in the column header will show the month and year for that column. Use the Show/Hide column button to personalize what information is displayed in the view. If a time entry has been approved in error, it can be rejected using the Employee Calendar view. The bottom pane can be disabled using Time & Expense Approval view preferences Approve and reject options are also available using your mouse's right click button in the top pane.

 

 

To approve/reject expense entries:

Note that, unlike approving timesheets, there is no Summary tab when approving expenses.

If enabled, the upper right corner of the screen has a Currency drop-down list which permits calculated costs to be reviewed in any enabled currency. When 'Display by Project Currency' is selected, the currency associated with the project (in the project's properties) is shown. 

 

1. Select the Time & Expense Approval tab near the top of the screen.

2. Select for whom you are approving from the Approving For drop-down list in the upper left corner. The list includes other manager names only if you are designated as an alternate approving manager and if your status as an alternate has been enabled. “All Managers” is displayed if your security level is Manager or above. When selected, the 'To Be Approved' drop-down list (step 3) includes all items awaiting approval for other managers.

3. Select an Expense sheet from the To Be Approved drop-down list.

1. • The top pane of the view displays the expenses rolled-up by expense category. “[None]” is displayed if no category is associated with the expense. If enabled, costs are displayed in the currency selected in the upper right corner of the view.

   • An attachment icon is displayed to the left of the Project/Expense Category name if an expense has an attachment. You can review the attachment using the middle pane - described next.

   • The middle pane displays the individual expense entry details for the Expense Category selected in the top pane. You can open any expense attachments by clicking on the attachment icon. No information is displayed in the middle pane if more than 1 item is selected in the top pane.

 

If currencies are enabled;

1. • 1. • The Amount Entered costs are displayed in the currency selected by the employee who entered the expense item.  

        • The Converted Amount, Fixed Amount, VAT and Client Cost are displayed in the currency selected in the Currency drop-down.

        • The Reimburse Employee value is displayed in the currency in which the employee is paid (pay rate).
           

   • The bottom pane displays, by expense category, the sum of the approved expense entries for this same date range plus all expense entries submitted but not yet approved.
      

4. There are 2 options for approving/rejecting expense entries.

1. • To approve all expense entries within the sheet, click the Approve button.

   • To reject all expense entries within the sheet, click the Reject button.
      

Enter a detailed reason for the rejection in the pop-up window. This reason is displayed to the employee who submitted the expense sheet. When an approving manager rejects an expense entry, the entire sheet is rejected. Individual entries are not identified and it is up to the approving manager to enter the appropriate level of details for the rejection.
 

Notes: When expenses are rejected, the employee who submitted the expense will receive an e-mail notification if this option has been enabled. The default expense sheet naming convention is: "last name","first name" "sheet name" on "project name" from "date range"

 

Tips: Placing your mouse over a date in the column header will show the month and year for that column. Use the Show/Hide columns function to personalize what information is displayed in the view. If an expense sheet has been approved in error, it can be rejected using the Approved Expenses view. The bottom pane can be disabled using Setup > Company  - Time & Expense Approval view preferences. Approve and reject options are also available using your mouse's right click button in the top pane.

 

 

The Approval Override option is available for managers or administrators who may need the ability to force the approval of a time or expense sheet and bypass all approval workflows.

To override a submitted sheet’s approval workflows:

From the Time & Expenses Approval tab:

1. Select the sheet from the To Be Approved drop-down list.

2. Click the ellipsis button and select Approval Override button.

3. In the confirmation window, click OK to override all approval workflows for this sheet.
    

Note: The approval override of a timesheet will not be permitted if time entries within the submitted sheet fall within the lock out period.