The example: Sarah Lin (Member) tracks the week. Priya Raman (Project Manager) approves it on Monday morning.
Before you start
Plan requirement. Filling in and submitting a timesheet is free. Approving one is Pro. On Free your team can submit every week – the submissions wait, and clear the day you upgrade. See Free vs Pro.
Who does what
The week
1
Monday to Friday – everyone tracks as they work
The best time to record an hour is while you are working it.
- Start a timer when you start a piece of work, and stop it when you stop. See Using the timer.
- If you forget, type it in the same day. See Add time manually.
2
Friday – Sarah reviews her week
Open the timesheet and look at the whole week in one grid before you send it.Sarah’s week:
Three hours are missing. Sarah either finds them and adds them, or leaves the week short because she genuinely worked 37 hours. Both are fine – what is not fine is submitting without looking.→ Expected vs tracked hours · Edit a time entry
3
Friday – Sarah submits
Submitting sends the whole week for review in one go. The week moves from
draft to submitted.She can still see it. She can no longer freely edit it.→ Submit a timesheet · Timesheet statusesSubmitted is not approved. Submitted means Sarah is finished. Approved means Priya accepted it and the time is locked.
4
Friday – Tom covers anyone who is away
Someone on leave or off sick cannot submit their own week. An Admin or a manager with
time.submitOnBehalf can send it for them.→ Submit on behalf of someone5
Monday – Priya works the approval queue
Priya opens Approvals. She sees every submitted week for the people in her scope, with anything unusual flagged.For each week she either:
- Approves it. The time is locked. Only an admin can change it now, and it becomes eligible for invoicing.
- Rejects it with a reason. It returns to draft for the person to fix and resubmit.
6
Monday – Priya fixes small problems in place
If a week is right apart from one entry, an adjustment is faster than a rejection. It edits the entry and keeps the audit trail of what changed.Rejection is for a week that needs real rework.→ Adjustments
7
When a week is approved by mistake, reopen it
Approved time is locked. If a week was approved too early, someone with the right permission can reopen it, which unlocks the entries so they can be edited and re-approved.→ Reopen an approval · Edit a submitted timesheet
Make it automatic
You should not have to nag anyone.Why the habit matters
Common questions
Can I approve my own timesheet?
Can I approve my own timesheet?
Approving your own week is not the intent of the queue. Approval is a review by someone else, and it locks the time so it can be billed. Give the reviewer role to a manager, and check Supervision scope so they can actually see the right people.
What happens to my time after it is approved?
What happens to my time after it is approved?
It is locked. You cannot edit it. An admin can adjust it, and it becomes eligible for invoicing. See Approve a timesheet.
Do non-billable hours go on a timesheet?
Do non-billable hours go on a timesheet?
Yes. Non-billable hours are still tracked and still count toward the week. They just cannot appear on an invoice. See Billable vs non-billable.
Someone forgot a whole week. What now?
Someone forgot a whole week. What now?
They add the entries manually, dated to the right days, then submit. If the period has already been closed, the entries in that range are locked and an admin has to reopen it. See Close a period.
We are on Free. Should the team still submit?
We are on Free. Should the team still submit?
Yes. Submissions are free and they accumulate. The day you move to Pro the whole backlog becomes approvable. Nothing is lost. See When a plan lapses.
Troubleshooting
Related guides
Month-end close
What this routine feeds into every month.
Track work for a client
Where the week fits in the whole chain.
Export hours for payroll
Turning approved weeks into a payroll file.
Setup for a remote team
Running this routine across timezones.