From timesheet to payroll. A clearer approval process.

There is no universal timetable, and the answer depends on the cutoff your company sets and the tool you use. ClickTime publishes a figure for its own workflow, stating that a timesheet typically takes one to two days to move through approval. Treat your own turnaround as a house rule you set, document, and communicate.

Pending and rejected are different states. First check whether the reviewer has acted. In ClickTime, a rejected timesheet returns for revision; a pending record still needs review. Ask for the specific correction or contact the backup approver. Escalate pay questions to the payroll owner rather than treating missing approval as permission to delay pay.

It means the period has been reviewed and marked ready for payroll. In Connecteam, approving a timesheet automatically locks all the days within the payroll cycle, and from that point only an admin who holds reopen permission can make changes to it.

Submit it through the tool rather than by message. In Tempo you submit your completed timesheet to a reviewer, who receives an email notification that timesheets are waiting, and you can no longer log or edit time in that period once it is submitted. Connecteam can also require users to submit their timesheets, so the reviewer can distinguish submitted records from unfinished ones.

ClickTime describes the usual owner as the employee's manager, supervisor, or team leader, with an optional second layer where project managers approve the time logged against their projects. Assign one named approver per person so no timesheet sits in an unowned queue.

Check recorded work and absences against available evidence, that edited entries carry a note, that job codes match the work, and that overtime is expected. Buddy Punch managers can see job codes, IP address details, the device used, webcam images, and basic GPS details on the time cards of their assigned employees, which gives the review something concrete to look at.

In Buddy Punch, employees can add or edit their own punches when that setting is enabled. Report the actual missing time and break details, add a reason, and follow the configured review process. A schedule can help the reviewer investigate, but should not substitute for the hours actually worked.

The period covered, the exact cutoff, the single action being requested, and a direct link to the timesheet. ClickTime's automated reminders can be scheduled in advance of the due date as well as sent to people who have not submitted on time.

Before the cutoff it belongs to the employee, and after submission it belongs to the approver. Connecteam's approval progress bar shows how many employees still need to submit and how many are already approved, and a chat icon lets you message the people who have not submitted, which keeps the two audiences separate.

Name a backup before the period closes. Connecteam assigns approve and reopen permissions separately and can prevent admins from approving their own timesheets, with account owners as the exception, and its guidance is to ensure at least one other admin holds approval permission so approvals can always be closed out.

Export, then verify inside payroll rather than trusting the confirmation screen. After a Connecteam export to QuickBooks Online, hours can usually be reviewed under Reports, Standard Reports, and the Time Activities by Employee Detail Report. Remember that paid time off is not transferred by the integration and has to be entered separately.

Reminders and notifications can be automated with suitable settings and oversight. Tempo's Scheduler can email reminders before a period closes and close periods automatically, while reviewers still approve or reject, including timesheets submitted before the close. Keep the judgment calls, the edit review and the exception decisions, with people.