Approving Employee Timesheets

This article covers various functionality relating to approving employee timesheets via the self service portal. This includes:

• Accessing the timesheet approval page;
• Timesheet filters;
• Timesheet view;
• Missing timesheets;
• Comparing with roster;

• Automatically approving timesheets that match the roster;

• Editing timesheets;
• Approving timesheets;
• Deleting timesheets

Accessing the timesheet approval page

The way to access the timesheet approval screen depends on your level of access:

Full access users:

There are 2 ways for full access users. 

Option 1:  Select Timesheets (from the left navigation menu) > Approve Timesheets:

Option 2: From the payroll dashboard (Employees tab) > click on Manage Employees > Approve Timesheets: 

Restricted access users:

Managers can also access the timesheet approval screen via 2 ways. From the left navigation menu as well as via the Quick access table:  

 The Approve Timesheets screen allows users to review and action timesheets over a specified date range.

Timesheet filters

Timesheets can be filtered in several ways:

1. Selecting the timesheet period for 'Week/Fortnight Ending' OR 'Show timesheets for period' > select one of the pre-set ranges/custom range:
   
    
   
   
2. Selecting the timesheet status: 
   
   
   
   
3. Filtering by a specific employee: 
   
   
   
   
4. Filtering by a specific location. Managers (restricted users) will only have access to this filter if they have timesheet permissions for one or more location: 
   
   
   
   
5. Filtering by a specific employee group. Managers (restricted users) will only have access to this filter if they have timesheet permissions for one or more employee group:
   
   

Timesheet view

You can choose the order you want the timesheets to be displayed using the 'Grouped by' dropdown. The grouping options are:

• by Date, i.e. timesheet date;
• by Default Location, i.e. the employee's primary location;
• by Employee, i.e. employee name (ordered by first name);
• by Location, i.e. timesheet location; 
• by Pay Schedule, i.e. employee's pay schedule;
• by Work Type, i.e. work type selected in the timesheet. Timesheets with no work type will be listed first and then by alphabetical order of each work type:
  
  
  
  

You are also able to identify how timesheets were imported into the system. You can see this by hovering over the last set of icons on the right hand side. The icons will indicate the following:

• - Timesheet was created via Clock in/out within Swag
• - Timesheet was created via an external source (e.g. timesheet import)
• - Timesheet was created via the employee portal 
• - Timesheet was created via Swag (however, not clock in/out);
• - Timesheet was created via integrated rostering;
• - Timesheet was created via Clock Me In (using an iPad)

If there is no icon against a timesheet, it means the timesheet was created by a manager on behalf of an employee within the 'create timesheets' page. 

Missing timesheets

Employees who have not submitted timesheets for the selected date range will be listed on this screen. The list will default to a collapsed view. If the number of employees missing timesheets are listed on more than one line, you will have the option to click on 'more' to expand the list. The employees are listed alphabetically by first name:

The payroll system looks at the following criteria to determine which employees will be listed here:

1. Timesheet status in the employee's Pay Run Defaults screen = Use timesheets to submit all time worked; and
2. Employee has no submitted timesheet for that date range; and
3. If the user has restricted access, only employees that fulfil the criteria of the user's restricted access (ie the employee falls within the parameters of the employee group or the restricted user has permission to the employee's primary location).

Comparing with Roster

For businesses that utilise the Rostering function, it is possible to compare the timesheets entered against the employee's rostered shifts. To do this, click the 'Compare with roster' option:

Any differences between timesheets and rostered shifts will be highlighted in blue:

• An orange 'warning' sign indicates that the timesheet is different to the rostered shift.
• An 'exclamation' mark indicates that there were no rostered shifts that correspond with the timesheet.
• A green 'tick' indicates that the timesheet matches the rostered shift.

Any entry with the label 'missing timesheet' signifies the employee was rostered to work but there is no corresponding timesheet. If a timesheet needs to be created for that shift, click on the 'edit' (pencil) icon to generate the timesheet:

A timesheet popup box will appear with the prepopulated rostered details. You can make any changes from here and/or click 'Save' to generate the timesheet:  

Automatically approving timesheets that match the roster

Editing Timesheets

Timesheets that are in a 'Submitted' status can be edited. To do so, click on the pencil icon on the right of the timesheet line:

An editor will be displayed, allowing the user to modify the timesheet as necessary. Make any required changes such as:

• edit start/finish times;
• add/remove shift conditions; 
• change location;
• change or remove dimension values;
• add/remove breaks;
• change the employee's classifications;
• add notes; and/or
• select or change the work type. 

then click Save:

From the timesheet editor, you are also able to delete the timesheet by clicking on 'Delete'.

Approving Timesheets

The approval process is very flexible. Timesheets may be selected individually, by clicking on an individual timesheet line or as a group, by clicking on the group header. Once you have selected the desired timesheets, you may approve or reject the timesheets by clicking the appropriate button at the top of the page.

If there is no specific selection, clicking the 'Approve' or 'Reject' button will apply the action to all submitted timesheets.

Deleting Timesheets

Deleting timesheets is also very easy. Simply select the applicable timesheets using the same method as approving/rejecting and then click on 'Delete timesheets' option.

Note: once timesheets have been included in a pay run, they will have a status of 'Processed'. These timesheets cannot be edited, approved, rejected or deleted.

If you have any feedback or questions please contact us via support@yourpayroll.io