Documentation Time Entries Pending Approval
Detailed guide

Pending Approval

The manager review queue for submitted time entries that are waiting to be approved before they can be billed.

Pending Approval is the gate between logged time and billable time. Approving here is what makes entries eligible for invoicing, so accuracy at this step protects both margin and client trust.

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Quick summary Step by step Guardrails Troubleshooting Related workflows

Quick summary

  • Approve a whole clean queue in one click with Approve all.
  • Tick only the rows you have verified and use Approve selected for a partial approval.
  • Filter to one resource to reconcile their logged hours against the quoted allocation before approving.
  • Fix or delete an incorrect entry before it becomes billable.

Put it into practice

  1. Narrow the queue before approving. Filter by resource and, if needed, to billable-only entries so you are reviewing a coherent set rather than the whole backlog at once.

    InteractionsPending Approval page: set the Resource and Billable dropdowns, or type in the search box.

  2. Scan the entries against project, task, hours, and notes. Cost and Chargeout tell you the margin impact of approving each row.

    InteractionsEntries table: read across each row, using the Team breakdown panel for per-resource load.

  3. Fix anything wrong before approving. Use the row edit link to correct hours or attribution, or the delete link to remove a duplicate.

    InteractionsRow Actions: use the pencil (edit) or trash (delete) control on the affected row.
    Open workflow: Time Entry Form

  4. Approve. Use the per-row Approve button for one entry, or tick checkboxes and use Approve selected; use Approve all only when the entire visible queue is verified.

    InteractionsRow Approve button, or the toolbar Approve all (N) / Approve selected (N) button.

  5. Confirm the queue count dropped and the approved entries moved on. Approved time now appears in the Unsubmitted tab, ready to be linked to an invoice.

    InteractionsTabs: check the Pending approval badge, then open the Unsubmitted tab.
    Open workflow: Unsubmitted

What to review

Tabs

Timesheet, Pending approval (with a badge count), Unsubmitted (with a badge count), and All Entries (managers only). This page is the Pending approval tab.

See guide: Timesheet View

Approve all / Approve selected button

The bulk action in the toolbar. It reads 'Approve all (N)' by default and switches to 'Approve selected (N)' once you tick individual row checkboxes.

Summary cards

Pending (hours + entry count), Billable (hours + % of total), Non-Bill. (non-billable hours), and Quoted hours (remaining vs used allocation, shown only when filtered to a single resource).

Team breakdown

A collapsible 'Team breakdown (N resources)' panel with Resource, Logged, Billable, and Allocated columns so a manager can see load per person.

Filters

A Resource dropdown (managers only, 'All resources' plus each name), a Billable dropdown (All / Billable only / Non-billable only), and a Clear button. An 'active' badge shows when filters are applied.

Search box

Filters the queue with the placeholder 'Search by resource, project, task, or notes…'.

Entries table

Columns: checkbox (managers), Date, Resource, Project, Task, Hours, Billable (Billable / Non-bill.), Cost, Chargeout, Notes, Status, and an Actions column for managers.

Row actions

Per row (managers only): an Approve button, an edit (pencil) link, and a delete (trash) link with confirmation.

Guardrails

  • Approving is what makes time billable, so do not approve rows you have not actually verified against hours and attribution.
  • Approve all approves every entry currently in the queue (subject to filters), so filter deliberately before using it.
  • Deleting an entry here is a correction, not an approval; confirm you meant to remove it rather than fix it.
  • Only managers see the Resource filter, the row checkboxes, the Actions column, and the All Entries tab; contributors see their own pending entries read-only.
  • Approval is a manager-level action gated by permission, not available to every user who can log time.

If it starts drifting

  • If the queue looks empty unexpectedly, clear the Resource, Billable, and search filters (watch for the 'active' badge).
  • If Approve selected is greyed out, tick at least one row checkbox first.
  • If the Quoted hours card is missing, filter to a single resource — it only appears for one person at a time.
  • If an approved entry still is not billable, check the Unsubmitted tab: approved time must still be linked to an invoice.