Timesheet approval in OneSuite moves time through three steps: you track it, you submit it for review, and a reviewer approves it or sends it back with a reason. It gives someone the chance to check the hours before a client is billed for them, and locking the period afterwards stops them changing.
In this guide you’ll learn how to:
- Submit your own time for approval
- Fix and resubmit entries that were sent back
- Review, approve or send back your team’s time on the Approvals page
- Read each entry status
- Lock a period so its time stops changing
Before you start
- Timesheet approvals must be switched on. An admin does this in Settings, Time Tracking, Approval Policy, with the Timesheet approvals switch. To open Settings, click your name at the bottom of the sidebar, then Settings. With approvals off, nothing can be submitted and time is tracked with no review step.
- To review other people’s time, your profile needs permission to approve timesheets and the Approvals module must be on. Then Approvals appears in the sidebar under Track.
How to submit your own time
You submit a complete week from your timesheet.
- Click Timesheet in the sidebar.
- Stop any running timer. An entry with a running or paused timer can’t be submitted.
- Click Submit week for approval.
- To send a single day or another span, click the arrow beside the button (More ways to submit) and choose Submit day for approval or Submit custom range for approval.
The week’s status changes to Pending approval. For the full tracking steps, see Time Tracking in OneSuite.
Note: you can’t withdraw your own submission. While an entry is Submitted you can still edit it, but you can’t delete it. If you need the whole week back, ask a reviewer to send it back.
How to fix time that was sent back
Sent-back entries show Sent back, and you reopen them before you resubmit.
- Open the week on your Timesheet.
- Click Reopen 1 entry (or Reopen N entries), or choose Reopen entry from one row’s menu.
- Correct the entries.
- Click Resubmit week for approval.
OneSuite won’t resubmit a week that still holds sent-back entries, so reopen them first.
How to review your team’s time
Reviewers work from the Approvals page, which has its own row in the sidebar.
- Click Approvals in the sidebar, under Track.
- Pick the period, for example Week or Month, and move to the dates you are reviewing.
- Set Status to Pending Approval to see submitted time.
- Use Group by (Person, Project or Client) and the filters to narrow the list.
- Click Approve on a row, or Approve visible timesheets and expenses to approve everything the filters show.
To return work instead, click Send back on the row, type a Reason, and click Send back. The reason is required and is sent to the person with the entries.
If self-approval is off, your own submitted row shows Needs another reviewer and someone else approves it. To undo an approval, click Withdraw approval on an approved row. For every control on the page, see How to Approve Timesheets and Expenses.
What does each timesheet status mean?
Each entry on your timesheet carries one status, and the week shows a summary chip.
| Status | Meaning |
|---|---|
| Draft | Tracked, not yet submitted. You can edit and delete it. The Day view leaves this status blank. |
| Submitted | Waiting for a reviewer. You can edit it but not delete it. |
| Approved | Signed off. It can’t be edited unless a reviewer reopens it or withdraws the approval. |
| Sent back | Returned with a reason. Reopen it, fix it and resubmit. |
The week chip reads Pending approval, Approved or Sent back. A locked entry shows This entry is locked. when you try to change it.
How is locking different from approving?
Approving says the hours are right. Locking closes the period so time and expenses in it can’t be edited or deleted.
- Approving is a reviewer signing off an entry. An approved entry can’t be edited, but a reviewer can reopen it or withdraw the approval.
- Locking freezes a date range, whatever the status of the entries in it.
To lock automatically, turn on Automatically lock timesheets in How to Set Up Timesheet Approval Policy. To lock once, click Apply one-time manual lock in the lock banner on the Approvals page.
How does approval affect invoicing?
Approval decides which hours an invoice can pull, depending on where you start the invoice.
- In the invoice wizard, Which hours offers All hours, Approved only and Approved + pending approval. A project with unapproved time is tagged Has unapproved work.
- From a project’s Timesheet tab, only approved time is pulled onto the invoice while approvals are on.
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FAQs
Do timesheets have to be approved before I can invoice them in OneSuite?
No, not from the invoice wizard. Which hours lets you bill All hours, Approved only or Approved + pending approval, and OneSuite flags projects with unapproved work so you see them first.
Can I withdraw a timesheet I already submitted?
No, you can’t withdraw your own submission. You can still edit a submitted entry, and a reviewer can send it back if it needs to return to you.
Where did the approval controls go?
Approvals has its own page. Click Approvals in the sidebar, under Track. Old links to the Team page’s approvals tab redirect there automatically.
Why can’t I approve my own timesheet?
Your business has manager self-approval switched off, so your own row shows Needs another reviewer. An admin controls this with Manager self-approval in Settings, Time Tracking, Approval Policy.
Who can approve my timesheet?
Anyone whose profile includes permission to approve timesheets. An admin sets that up in Settings, Workspace, Profiles & Permissions.
Can I just approve everything at the end of the month instead?
You can. Set the period to Month and click Approve visible timesheets and expenses. Weekly review catches mistakes while people still remember the work, which makes the hours easier to check.
What to do next
Learn every reviewer control: Filters, bulk actions and reminders are covered in How to Approve Timesheets and Expenses.
Set the rules: Turn on approvals, self-approval and automatic locking in How to Set Up Timesheet Approval Policy.
Bill the approved hours: Build an invoice from tracked time with Invoice Generation from Billable Hours.