> ## Documentation Index
> Fetch the complete documentation index at: https://docs.timetracker.in/llms.txt
> Use this file to discover all available pages before exploring further.
# Approvals overview
> The single inbox for everything waiting on you – timesheets, timecards, expenses and time off – with live counts, filters and a review screen per submission.
**Approvals** is one page for everything waiting on your decision. Timesheets, timecards, expenses and time off all queue there, each on its own tab.
## What the Approvals page is
Click **Approvals** in the sidebar. The link carries a badge with the total number of things waiting on you.
The page has one row of **domain tabs** across the top. Each tab is one kind of approval, and each carries its own count.
| Tab | What queues there | Capability needed |
| -------------- | ---------------------------------- | ------------------ |
| **Timesheets** | Submitted timesheet periods | `time.approve` |
| **Expenses** | Submitted expenses | `expense.approve` |
| **Time Off** | Pending leave requests | `leave.approve` |
| **Timecards** | Submitted clock in and out periods | `timecard.approve` |
A tab appears only when you can approve that domain **and** its app is switched on. Someone who only approves expenses sees one tab and lands straight on it. The sidebar badge counts only the domains you can actually see.
If you cannot approve anything, the page reads "You do not have access to approvals."
## The Timesheets tab
This is the fullest tab. It has three sub-tabs, each with a live count.
| Sub-tab | What it lists |
| --------------------- | ---------------------------------------------------------------------- |
| **Awaiting approval** | Every submitted period you may review, newest first |
| **Not submitted** | People with draft time in the current period who have not sent it |
| **History** | Periods that have been acted on – approved, changed back, or withdrawn |
A shared filter bar sits under the sub-tabs.
* **Member picker** – filter to one person, or **All members**.
* **Status select** – on the History sub-tab only. **All statuses**, **Approved**, **Changes requested**, **Withdrawn**.
Your filters and the tab you are on live in the page address, so you can share the exact view, and coming back from a review restores it.
### Awaiting approval columns
| Column | What it shows |
| ------------- | ------------------------------------------------------------------------ |
| **Member** | Avatar, name, and the period underneath |
| **Submitted** | When it was sent. "(by ``)" when someone submitted on their behalf |
| **Total** | Hours in the period |
| **Expenses** | Expense total for the period, or a dash |
| **Status** | The submission status badge |
| `⋮` | **Approve** and **Reject…** without leaving the list |
Click any row to open the full review screen.
Empty state: "Nothing awaiting approval – Submitted timesheets appear here for review."
### Not submitted columns
| Column | What it shows |
| ----------------- | ------------------------------------------ |
| **Member** | Avatar, name, and the current period |
| **Last activity** | When they last tracked anything, or a dash |
| **Recorded** | Hours tracked this period |
| **Expenses** | Expense total, or a dash |
| **Draft entries** | How many entries are still unsubmitted |
| `⋮` | **Send reminder** and **Submit on behalf** |
This sub-tab is always the **current** period. There is no period navigator.
Empty state: "All caught up – Everyone with tracked time in this period has submitted."
### History columns
| Column | What it shows |
| ------------ | ----------------------------------------- |
| **Member** | Avatar, name, and the period |
| **Status** | Approved, Changes requested, or Withdrawn |
| **Reviewer** | Who decided, or a dash |
| **Acted** | When the decision was made |
| **Total** | Hours in the period |
| **Expenses** | Expense total, or a dash |
Click a row to reopen the review screen read-only.
Empty state: "No history yet – Approved, changed-back, and withdrawn timesheets appear here."
## The review screen
Clicking a timesheet row opens a full page for that person and period.
* A **Back to approvals** link that restores your filters.
* A header with the person, the period, the status badge and the total hours, plus who submitted it, who reviewed it, and the billable / non-billable split.
* The **submission note** from the person, and the **reviewer comment** if one exists.
* A financial strip – **Total logged**, **Billable**, **Billable amount**, **Expenses**, and **Cost** and **Margin** if you can see cost.
* A **Time entries** table you can scan and correct.
* An **Activity** log of everything that happened to the period.
* A sticky bar at the bottom with the actions available right now.
Full detail is on [/approvals/approve-a-timesheet](/approvals/approve-a-timesheet).
## What lands in your queue
Your queue is derived from what you may do and who you supervise. It is never chosen by the person submitting.
* Everything submitted by someone your supervision scope reaches.
* **Including your own submissions.** Self-approval is allowed by design.
Naming a reviewer at submit time is a routing note for the notification. It does not hide the submission from anyone else who could act on it.
## Example
Priya Raman opens **Approvals** on Monday morning. The sidebar badge reads `5`.
Three tabs are visible – **Timesheets** (3), **Expenses** (1), **Time Off** (1). Timecards is not there, because Northwind Studio has the Time Clock app switched off.
On **Awaiting approval** she sees Sarah Lin's 32-hour week, Jonas Bergman's 38-hour week, and her own 30-hour week. She clicks Sarah's row, checks the financial strip – 32 hours logged, 24 billable, \$2,400 billable amount – and approves.
For Jonas she uses the `⋮` menu and approves without opening the review screen.
Then she switches to **Not submitted** and sees Ana Ferreira, on leave with 12 draft hours. She uses **Submit on behalf**.
## Permissions
| Tab | Capability | Default roles |
| ---------- | ------------------ | -------------------------------------- |
| Timesheets | `time.approve` | Owner, Admin, Project Manager |
| Expenses | `expense.approve` | Owner, Admin, Project Manager, Finance |
| Time Off | `leave.approve` | Owner, Admin, Project Manager |
| Timecards | `timecard.approve` | Owner, Admin, Project Manager |
Extra actions inside the Timesheets tab need their own capability.
| Action | Capability |
| ------------------------------ | --------------------- |
| Correct an entry during review | `time.editOthers` |
| Reopen an approved period | `time.reopenApproval` |
| Send a reminder | `time.remind` |
| Submit on behalf | `time.submitOnBehalf` |
| See cost and margin | `time.viewCost` |
Supervision scope decides whose submissions you see. See [/concepts/supervision-scope](/concepts/supervision-scope).
## Plan and app gating
**Approvals is a Pro feature.**
On the Free plan, the Approvals page shows a blurred page shape with an upgrade card over it. The link stays in the sidebar – there are no dead ends.
Nothing is lost while a workspace waits. Submissions keep arriving and keep their totals. A Free workspace builds a backlog it cannot clear, and the whole backlog clears the day it upgrades. No data is destroyed, ever.
Each tab also needs its app switched on in **Settings → Apps** – Timesheets, Expenses, Time off, and Time Clock respectively. An app that is off removes its tab entirely.
## What happens next
* Approving settles the time and notifies the person.
* Requesting changes returns the work to them, with your reason.
* Approved timesheet time can be locked by a period close, then invoiced.
## Common questions
Tabs appear per domain you can approve, and only when the app is on. One capability means one tab.
Yes. Your own submitted period sits in the queue with everyone else's.
They are outside your supervision scope. Ask an owner or admin to widen it, or to review it themselves.
No. It counts only the domains you can approve, and only the submissions in your scope.
After 24 hours the routed reviewer is nudged. After 72 hours the workspace owners and admins are nudged too.
Approve them one at a time from the row menu – it is two clicks each and never leaves the list.
## Troubleshooting
* **"You do not have access to approvals."** You hold no approve capability for any switched-on app.
* **The page is blurred behind an upgrade card.** The workspace is on the Free plan.
* **A tab you expect is missing.** Its app is switched off, or you lack that domain's approve capability.
* **A row disappeared while you were looking at it.** Someone else acted on it. The list is live.
## Related guides
The review screen, field by field.
Send a period back with a reason.
Freeze approved time through a date.
Who can approve what, by role.
The submitter's side of the same loop.
What Pro unlocks, and what Free keeps.