What it is
Approving a timesheet is the moment captured time becomes a payroll input. The approval queue lists every submitted timesheet with planned-versus-actual hours and a count of any exceptions, so you can scan the period, see what needs attention, and sign off the clean ones in a batch.
It’s the work that has to be done before a period can close. A timesheet with an unresolved critical exception — a missed clock-out, an impossible overlap — can’t be approved until that’s cleared, so the queue is also your checklist of what’s blocking the close. Work the loud rows, then bulk-approve the rest.
When to use it
- A pay period is ending and timesheets need signing off
- You want to clear a clean batch in one action
- You’re working through exceptions before close
- You need to know what’s still blocking the period
How it works
Step by step.
- 1
Open the approval queue
See every submitted timesheet for the period, one row each, with the worker, the shift and the hours.
- 2
Eyeball the deltas
Compare planned and actual hours per row. A big difference is the first thing to look at before you approve.
- 3
Work the exception rows
Rows with an exception chip stand out. Open the loud ones and clear what’s flagged before they can be approved.
- 4
Approve a clean row
For a row that checks out, approve it in one tap. It moves from submitted to approved.
- 5
Bulk-approve the batch
Select the clean rows and approve them together — the fast way to clear a period once the exceptions are dealt with.
- 6
Hand on to close
With the queue cleared, the period has no approval blockers left and is ready to close into pay.
Worked example
Follow it through.
The scenario
You’re closing the fortnight; the approval queue has 38 submitted timesheets, three of them flagged.
- 1 Open the queue for the fortnight — 38 rows, 35 clean and 3 with exception chips.
- 2 Liam Brennan’s row shows planned 8h but actual 6h — you open it and confirm an early finish, then approve.
- 3 Two rows have a missing clock-out exception; you open the timesheets, correct the finish times, and clear them.
- 4 Select all 35 clean rows and bulk-approve.
- 5 Approve the three you just resolved.
The result
All 38 timesheets are approved, the queue is empty, and the fortnight has no approval blockers left in the way of closing into pay.
Tips & notes
Good to know.
- A critical exception blocks approval — clear it first; the timesheet can’t go to pay until you do.
- Bulk-approve is for the rows you’ve already eyeballed; don’t use it to wave through ones you haven’t read.
- A consistent planned-versus-actual gap on one worker is worth a quick word — it may be a roster timing issue, not a one-off.
- Clear the queue before you try to close the period; an unapproved timesheet will hold the close.
When you’re done
Every timesheet for the period is reviewed and approved, with exceptions cleared, so the period can close into pay.