Approving Employee Timesheets and Expenses

When managers log on to EWS, they can see active employee time and expense entries and the approved and unapproved hours and expenses for employees for pay period. They can also approve active employee time and expense entries over the web.

An active employee time entry is an employee time entry that has not yet been processed by the HR Management module. An active expense entry is an expense entry that has not yet been processed by the HR Management module. Once the HR Management module processes time and expense entries, the time and expense entries are no longer active and no longer display in the Approve Timesheets form.

The first table on the form displays summary time entry information for employees. For example, managers can see a list of the employees they manage and a summary of approved and unapproved work hours and approved and unapproved leave hours for each employee.

The second table on the form displays detailed time and expense information for a selected employee. When you click on a field in an employee row on the first table, EWS refreshes the form, displays the selected row in the first table in yellow, and displays a second table below the first table that shows the current time and expense entries for the employee for the pay period.

The third table on the form displays leave information for the selected employee. Managers can use the leave information displayed in this table to view leave balances, such as sick and vacation time balances, before approving leave time for an employee. Managers can see the leave codes currently specified for the employee ID, the employee's current leave balance, any leave that has already been approved for the employee for the pay period, and what the employee's ending leave balance will be for the pay period.

Managers see only the time and expense entries for the employees they manage on this list. Employee/manager relationships are specified in the HR Management module. For more information about specifying managers for employee IDs, see the HR Management module online help.

Managers can filter the data displayed on the Approve Timesheets form by clicking on the filter icon displayed in each column heading and then clicking on the filter they want to use. When you click on a filter, the filter criteria associated with the filter displays the data that meets the filter you selected and hides data that does not meet the filter criteria.

Managers can sort the data displayed on the Approve Timesheets form by last name in alphabetical ascending or descending order by clicking on the up arrow icon or down arrow icon displayed in the Name column. For example, if an up arrow icon displays, employee timesheets display sorted by last name in descending order from A to Z. If you click on the up arrow icon and a down arrow icon then displays, employee timesheets display sorted by last name in ascending order from Z to A.

If the EWS system configuration specifies Approver Edit permissions for managers, managers can change employee time and expense entries before approving an employee time or expense entry. For example, managers with Approver Edit timesheet permissions can change the work date, cost center, earnings code, leave code, work hours, leave hours, and clock times for employee time entries before approving time entries.

If the EWS system configuration does not specify Approve Edit permissions for managers, managers can only approve time and expense entries. They cannot edit employee time and expense information. If a manager wants to change any employee time or expense information before approving the entry, the manager must send a message to the employee requesting that the employee make the required changes to the entry before the manager approves it.

For more information about specifying Approver Edit timesheet permissions for managers, see System Configuration.

Note: If a Manager changes the main record (cost center, earning code) but not the time punch for a submitted timesheet, the employee will get a message letting them know that it has changed and needs to be re-submitted. At this time, if the Manager changes the time punch, the employee will still need to re-submit their timesheet, but they will not receive a message.

To approve employee time or expense entries, complete the following steps:

Access the Approve Timesheets form using Manager>Approve Timesheets.

Note: If you do not see the Manager>Approve Timesheets option in EWS, you do not have Manager timesheet permissions specified for your employee ID in the HR Management module. For more information about Manager timesheet permissions, see Understanding Permissions.

Select an employee with a time or expense entry you want to approve by clicking on the employee ID or employee name in the first table on the form. When you select an employee, EWS refreshes the form and highlights the selected employee row in yellow.
If you want to approve a time or expense entry for a selected employee, in the second table on the form, select the Approve check box for each time or expense entry you want to approve.
If you want to change the work date specified for a time or expense entry, click in the Work Date field, and then select a new date from the calendar.
If you want to change the cost center specified for a time or expense entry, click in the Cost Center field, and then select a new cost center from the drop-down list.
If you want to change the earnings code specified for a time or expense entry, click in the Earn Code field, and then select a new earnings code from the drop-down list.
If you want to change the leave code specified for a time entry, click in the Leave Code field, and then select a new leave code from the drop-down list.
If you want to change the hours specified for a time entry, click in the Hours field, and then enter a new number in the field.
If the entry is a leave entry, verify the employee leave balances in the third table on the form, ensure the Leave check box is selected, and verify the number of leave hours in the Leave Hrs field.
If you want to change the number of leave hours specified for a leave entry, click in the Leave Hrs field and then enter a new number in the field.
If the entry is an expense entry without mileage, verify the amount in the Amount field. If you want to change the amount, click in the Amount field and then enter a new number in the field.
If the entry is an expense entry with mileage, verify the mileage traveled in the Units field and the mileage reimbursement rate in the Rate field. If you want to change the mileage or the mileage reimbursement rate, click in the appropriate field and then enter a new number in the field.
If the time entry has a plus sign icon in front of it, you can click on the plus sign icon to expand the time entry form and review and edit employee clock times. A plus sign icon in front of a time entry signifies that the employee entered time using an Hourly Time Entry or Punch Clock Time Entry form. You can edit time entries by clicking in the appropriate field and then typing a new time. For more information about Hourly Time Entry and Punch Clock Time Entry forms, see Hourly Time Entry, Punch Clock Time Entry, Entering Time Into Hourly Time Entry, and Entering Time Into Punch Clock Time Entry.
If you want to change the description for the entry, click in the Description field and then enter a new description for the entry.
Click the Save button to save your changes.

Tip: To approve employee timesheets quickly only using keyboard shortcuts, select a row, press the space bar to check or clear the approved button, then press Tab to move to the hours field. Press Tab again to move to the next entry.