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Overview
Timesheet approval is a critical process within an organization that ensures accurate recording and validation of employee working hours. It involves the review and authorization of timesheets submitted by employees to ensure compliance with company policies, labor laws, and project requirements. The timesheet approval process serves as a control mechanism to verify the accuracy of recorded hours, track project progress, and facilitate payroll processing.
Security
Role Maintenance
E-Time Role Maintenance; standard Treeview path: E-Time > Security > Role Maintenance
Access to the Timesheet Approval screen can be granted to a user's role in the Security Roles screen located in the E-Time module. This ensures that only authorized personnel can manage timesheet approvals.
NOTE: The Security Roles screen launched from the E-Time module contains security options and settings that are not widely available in the security screens launched from other modules (e.g., CMiC Field, ESS, etc.). The screen being discussed here is only available for assignment in the Security Roles screen located in E-Time.
Approvers
The Timesheet Approval tile will display timesheet data if the user is designated as an approver in the E-time Role Maintenance screen and is explicitly linked to an access code in the Access Code Administration screen.
If security settings have not been assigned, then no data will be displayed.
Timesheet Approval Log
The Timesheet Approval log groups information according to company, pay run, and period. The data shown is for open periods only and includes submitted, approved, and rejected timesheets. A scrollbar is available to scroll through and review multiple pay runs and periods.
Approval Statuses
The following statuses are displayed in the Timesheet Approvals screen:
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SUB: Represents all submitted records within the specified period for the corresponding company and pay run.
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APR: Represents all approved records within the specified period for the corresponding company and pay run.
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REJ: Represents all rejected records within the specified period for the corresponding company and pay run.
If no records are approved or rejected, the display will show "0 Approved" and "0 Rejected" respectively.
Periods
Pgm: PYPAYPRD – Pay Periods; standard Treeview path: US Payroll > Setup > Company > Pay Periods
The Pay Periods screen in the US Payroll module is used to define the periods which make up the pay runs in a company for a specific year.
Data will only be displayed for open periods where the 'Posted Flag' box is unchecked and timesheets exist with any status. Data for periods marked as final and posted will not be shown. This ensures that only relevant and actionable data is presented.
In the case of temporarily closed periods, the following applies:
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None: The period is available for all operations.
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E-Timesheet: If the value is set to “E-Timesheet”, the Timesheet Approval screen will not allow the approver to edit any record even though the user has the privilege to edit the submitted timesheets.
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Approver and E-Timesheet: Data will be displayed, but approval functions will be disabled. Users won't be able to approve timesheets from the desktop or mobile version. All approver functions will be disabled, and a message will be issued in the E-Time Message box to indicate that the timesheet is currently closed for all activities.
Employee Timesheets
Individual employee records can be accessed to review specific timesheet details. The tabs along the top of the screen organize the timesheet records according to status: Submitted, Approved, Rejected, and Other. Each status displays the total hours associated with that status within a badge placed beside the tab's title:
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Submitted: Indicates the sum of hours submitted by the employee.
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Approved: Indicates the quantity of hours approved by the approver.
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Rejected: Indicates the hours rejected by the approver.
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Other: Indicates the number of non-self hours. Refer to Other Hours (Non-Self Hours) for more information on this type of hour.
If an employee has both submitted and approved records, the screen defaults to the Submitted tab and highlights the total submitted hours in its badge. If the employee has only approved records, the screen opens directly on the Approved tab, revealing the total approved hours. Each status comes with its corresponding total hours, displayed alongside the relevant days and dates of submission and approval.
In a situation where an employee has submitted and approved hours both for the same period, the individual employee's detail screen will default to the Submitted tab due to the existence of submitted hours. However, if submitted hours are absent, the screen will prioritize the available data in sequential order, ensuring that the landing screen aligns with the available information.
Users can drill down into a specific date to review the details for a particular day.
The Note icon (
) is used to add notes to an employee's timesheet at the period level.
Other Hours (Non-Self Hours)
Hours in the Other tab are for non-self hours. This refers to the recorded time entries that have been contributed by sources other than the individual employee themselves. These entries typically include hours worked as part of a team or group effort, hours managed and entered by the payroll team, or any other time-related inputs that were not directly logged by the individual employee. The purpose of tracking non-self hours is to ensure accurate record-keeping of all work-related time contributions, regardless of the source, providing a comprehensive overview of the collective effort put into various tasks or projects.
Approving/Rejecting Timesheets
From the Timesheet Approval log screen, users can navigate to specific companies, pay runs, and periods.
Selecting a pay run will display a comprehensive list of employee timesheets for the designated pay run. This list includes their regular hours, overtime, double overtime, and other tracked hours. These hours are presented alongside their current status of being submitted or previously approved . By default, records are displayed in alphabetical order according to employee first and last name, but can also be sorted according to approval status. See Sorting Timesheets for more information.
The Calendar icon (
) is used to move to the previous or next period and the Search icon (
) is used to look up employees by name or employee ID.
If an employee's timesheet has been submitted, it can be selected for approval or rejection. If there are no submitted hours, the employee will not be available for selection. To approve or reject a timesheet, press and hold an individual employee record to put the screen in selection mode, then continue to select any additional employee records if selecting multiple records. As employee records are selected, submitted hours are prominently displayed in bold to clearly indicate the hours that are pending approval or rejection.
Once the employee timesheet records have been selected, batch options are available to approve or reject multiple records at once. Press the Approve icon (
) to approve records, or the Reject icon (
) to reject records.
Approved Timesheets
The screenshot above shows an example of an approved record.
Approved records can be subsequently rejected by accessing the individual record and clicking the Reject icon.
NOTE: Approved hours cannot be rejected in a batch selection; they can only be rejected on an individual employee basis.
Rejected Timesheets
If a submitted timesheet is rejected, a confirmation message will be issued to confirm the rejection before the action is completed. Submitted timesheets can only be rejected from the main screen. If approved records need to be subsequently rejected, rejection must be completed in the employee's individual record.
Rejected records are displayed with an exclamation mark badge next to the employee’s name, signifying the rejection status.
Sorting Timesheets
Sort By Filter
Timesheet records can be sorted either by employee name or by their submission, rejection, or approval status.
Mine Filter
The Mine filter chip is set to "Yes" by default. When set to "Yes," the system will show all records where the user holds a priority 1 approval level. When set to "No," all records, irrespective of priority level, will be displayed.