Auto timesheet approval saves timesheet managers time
Auto timesheet approval is a new feature in Timewatch’s latest version x6.3, which also makes the timesheet simpler and easier with automation.
Managers are busy enough, so anything that can save them time is both welcome and valuable. We’ve just made managing your employees’ time and projects significantly easier with a suite of powerful new features in Timewatch x6.3, designed to streamline timesheet entry and approval processes, as well as boost productivity.
Auto Approval automatically approves timesheets that meet your company’s rules, but managers can still review timesheets one by one if they wish.
Making timesheet approval easier
The challenges of managing team time and project allocation are multifaceted. Managers need to be able to understand where employee time has been spent quickly, compare this to their expected workload, and any minimum or required hours. This takes time, particularly as these ‘rules’ often differ person to person.
The latest Timewatch X6.3 addresses this with a suite of enhanced timesheet analytics and automated timesheet approval features that do all the hard work for the manager, showing a big green tick against users who meet the minimum requirements. Managers can then approve employees, or click the “Auto Approve” button to automatically approve timesheets for people who meet these minimum requirements.
The latest Timewatch x6.3 addresses this with a suite of enhanced timesheet analytics and automated timesheet approval features that do all the hard work for the manager and shows a big green tick against users that meet the minimum requirements. Managers can then approve employees, or click the “Auto Approve” button to automatically approve timesheets for people that meet these minimum requirements.
Employee timesheets that meet timesheet rules get a big green tick.
”Auto approval takes into account unique rules for each employee
What happens when a Timesheet Manager forgets to approve time?
This is a quite common issue in busy working practices, and is easily dealt with.
Just as timesheet managers are notified when there are timesheets to approve, managers can be notified to remind them to approve time. Sometimes managers are unavailable, so many companies setup notifications to alert admins that a manager is late in reviewing timesheets to either approve themselves or reassign. Another route is to have a secondary timesheet approver for each person.
Custom Timesheet Approval Rules
Timewatch X6.3 includes standard timesheet rules, such as ‘meets minimum hours’, as well as custom timesheet approval rules. This flexibility allows customers to implement specific rules where more complex criteria, which vary by team or person, are necessary. Once defined, these custom rules can be integrated into the system to reflect an organization’s unique timesheet approval process and approval rules. Auto approval takes into account unique rules for each employee, increasing timesheet accuracy and saving managers time.
Faster Individual Timesheet Approval
Where managers need to review individuals, our new timesheet dashboard shows managers a comprehensive overview of their team’s timesheet submissions.
The completion of individual employees’ timesheets can be quickly and easily assessed the completion. The potential time available from unallocated Outlook or Google calendar appointments that could be included as timesheet entries is also instantly visible. In the example to the right, 8.5 hours is available from unallocated calendar appointments.
The benefits of automated timesheet approval
The introduction of automated timesheet approvals promises to reduce administrative overhead for managers significantly. By defining specific rules, the timesheet approval system can automatically identify timesheets that meet pre-determined criteria. With a simple click of the “Auto Approve” button, managers can instantly process compliant timesheets in bulk, freeing up valuable time for more strategic tasks.
This real-time insight extends to future time commitments, enabling managers to identify potential over- or underutilization of resources proactively. The ability to see allocated and unallocated time as it is being recorded provides a powerful tool for project planning and resource management.
For organizations with unique requirements, custom approval rules and even AI-powered analysis can be implemented to streamline the entire timesheet approval process further and ensure payroll accuracy. This enhanced visibility and automation empower managers to make more informed decisions and optimize team productivity.
Key Timesheet updates for Timewatch x6.3
Automated time tracking from Outlook: The new, simple automatic timesheet mode builds employee time data from their calendar, making it available for reporting and analytics without requiring user login or timesheet posting..
- Seamless Outlook Calendar Integration:
- Outlook appointments are now automatically included as draft entries in timesheets.
- Real-time synchronization with Outlook ensures that changes to appointments are reflected in timesheets.
- Support for Microsoft’s New Outlook, with backward compatibility for older desktop versions.
- The new “New Outlook” plugin is explicitly designed for the latest Outlook version.
- Automatic addition of Outlook category appointments to timesheets.
- Automatic time entry from Outlook – users can add a customer/project via the plugin, category, or AI timesheet system, and the time is immediately reflected in their timesheet.
- Outlook App adds complete timesheet management and timesheet manager functions to Outlook – turns Outlook into a timesheet system.
- Enhanced Timesheet Dashboard: The new employee timesheet dashboard provides a clear overview of time allocation and project progress, facilitating better decision-making.
- Automated Timesheet Approvals: The new auto-approve feature with customer rules saves managers valuable time by automatically approving timesheets based on predefined criteria, streamlining the approval process.
- New OutlookTime Dashboard: The new timesheet dashboard includes new charts, gauges, and configuration options. Users can drag and drop sections, minimize sections, and their preferences are saved.
- Entry of Non-Appointment Time added to Outlook: Users can now add non-appointment time to their Outlook timesheet by double-clicking in the All Day appointment area, enhancing flexibility.
- Supports Outlook on all major devices: PC, Mac, OWA, and Mobile.
- New Outlook Plugin: The New Outlook calendar plugin can now add {customer} / {job} details to the Outlook location field (requires granting Outlook write permissions to the Timewatch Apps).
- Seamless Google Calendar Integration:
- Google appointments are now automatically included as draft entries in timesheets.
- Real-time synchronization with Google ensures that changes to appointments are reflected in timesheets.
More about Timesheet Approval – Questions and Answers
What is timesheet approval?
Timesheet approval is a crucial part of any timesheet system, as it provides a review process to ensure the information people enter is accurate and makes sense.
If you are thinking that this seems like an overly manual and time-wasting process, you are not alone. Timesheets drive customer billing and payroll, so it is imperative that the timesheet data employees enter can be trusted. The most common way to achieve this is to implement a timesheet approval process.
Why is timesheet approval needed?
Timesheets are used in customer billing and payroll as well as keeping track of time off, vacation, PTO time etc. These processes require accurate timesheet data to ensure accurate customer billing, accurate employee payroll and time off,
Errors in timesheets can cause customers to be under- or over-charged, neither of which is desirable. Where timesheets are used to pay people, over- and underpayment is possible, and neither is desirable.
Companies report timesheet payroll fraud, which not only highlights the issue but also serves as a deterrent for managers to approve timesheets.
How does timesheet approval work?
Timesheet approval involves someone verifying the hours employees document in their timesheet.
When all timesheet entries are correct, a manager can approve the timesheet, but where there are errors, a manager may need to return the timesheet to the employee to correct and then re-submit their timesheet.
How can timesheet approval be simplified?
Developing standard processing rules such as minimum hours per day or week, time off in lieu, expected utilization and productivity ranges, and other metrics that can be used to highlight timesheets that need attention are all strategies that companies use.
Timewatch customers incorporate these rules into ‘automated timesheet chaser’ alerts. Chasers can be sent to just the employees whose timesheets are late. More targeted alerts can be sent to users to prompt them with the task required: to complete their time, detail any shortcomings, alert them that their timesheet is overdue, advise them how many hours on which days are required, etc.
The Benefits of better timesheet approval
There are numerous benefits to streamlining or automating timesheet approval processes.
Saving managers’ time is the most commonly raised benefit of better timesheet approval.
Another is the reduction of delays in payroll payments. Half of workers say late payroll makes it very difficult for them, and avoiding late payroll makes for a happier workforce.
What are the issues with NOT having timesheet approval?
In a perfect world employees would enter their timesheets 100% accuractely, with no errors, no mistakes and submit them on time. In the real world this does not happen and without approval processes there is no way of knowing how accurate the timesheet data collected is.
Strategies to improve and streamline timesheet approval
Simplifying, streamlining and automating timesheet approval requires an holistic approach that takes into account the various Teams in an organization, how they work, how different managers operate and each company’s rules and objectives. These are some of the techniques Timewatch customers have utilized for their approval processes:
1) Use automated Timesheet reminders
2) Set minimum hours rules
3) Utilize AI to harvest data from Outlook/Google calendars to prefill timesheets
4) Educate users as to the importance of promptly posted accurate timesheets and how these help payroll and billing
5) Set a due date for timesheets to be posted and ensure everyone is aware
6) Use escalating timesheet reminders
7) Automate the timesheet approval process
Timewatch systems allow you to deploy any or all of these techniques to streamline time tracking and timesheet approval to improve timesheet accuracy and decrease delays in when timesheet data is available for billing and payroll.
Want to Learn More?
Want to know more about Timewatch X6.3 and how our seamless timesheet approval process can make your business more efficient, productive, and save you money? Contact us to speak with a timesheet specialist.
Speak with a specialist
Learn more about Auto Timesheet Approval
 | Automating timesheet entryOrganizations that use Outlook can automate timesheet entry with OutlookTime® which automatically completes timesheets as users manage their calendars. |
 | Automating timesheet entry from Google CalendarTimesheet entry just got a whole lot easier for Google Calendar users. The latest Timewatch X6.3 not only works with Google Calendar, it automatically includes calendar items as drafter timesheet entries and now includes automated timesheet approval. |
