Timesheet Approval Process
Reports and Timesheets for Jira and Timesheets for Jira applications allow organizations to setup approval workflow for timesheets.
Enabling Timesheet Approval Process
To enable Timesheet approval, go to Administration → Time Tracking Settings → Timesheet Approval
A Jira Administrator can check the “Enable timesheet approval” checkbox and click on “Save” button to save the settings
Duration after which approved timesheets cannot be reopened: specify the number of weeks after which no one can re-open the approved timesheets. If left blank, there will be no locking
Allow users to re-open submitted timesheets, if the timesheet is pending approval: check this box if users in your organization can recall submitted timesheets before they are approved. If this isn’t checked, users cannot re-open their timesheets until it is rejected by the approver
Allow users to ‘auto-approve’ their timesheets, if a timesheet approver is not assigned to them: check this box if you have users that will not have an approver but will still be submitting time (e.g. executives, vice-presidents, etc.)
Data CenterAllow timesheet approvers to update and submit users’ timesheets (Available only on cloud app): Select this option to allow timesheet approvers to update and submit timesheets on behalf of users.
Cloud
Setting up Timesheet Approvers
After enabling timesheet approval, a new tab will appear on the Administration screen - "Timesheet Approvers".
Add users who can approve timesheets by using the “Add Timesheet Approver” button
Assign time entry users for those Timesheet approvers using the “Add users” button for each approver
Add a backup Approver for situations like vacations or sick days using the “Add a backup” link. A backup approver will see the same submitted timesheets as the main approver and thus can approve on behalf of them
Define timesheet administrators who can view timesheet status for all users under My Area → Timesheet Approval Queue → Team Status (useful for project managers, executives with no direct teams but would like an overview regarding how many users have submitted time and how many are still remaining
There is also an organizational view, using which you can perform all the above actions.
Submitting Timesheet for Approval
After timesheet approval is enabled, users will see a button on the “My Timesheet” page to submit the timesheet for approval.
The button is displayed in the weekly view. Timesheets can be submitted for approval, one week at a time.
Once the timesheet is submitted for approval, it gets locked and cannot be edited by the user anymore.
If the setting for “Allow users to re-open submitted timesheets, if the timesheet is pending approval“ is enabled and the timesheet hasn’t been approved yet, then users can recall their timesheets using the “Withdraw submission” button.
A user can view the history of his timesheet submissions/withdrawals by clicking the history button.
Approve/Reject/Forward the Timesheet
The Timesheet approvers can approve or reject the timesheets from My Area → Timesheet Approval Queue. They can also forward the timesheet to some other user for review and approval. If a timesheet is rejected, it gets unlocked for the user to edit the time and re-submit for approval.
Once a timesheet is approved, it gets locked and cannot be edited via Timesheets for Jira interface.
The Past Approvals tab shows timesheets approved by the logged in user in the last 8 weeks
The number of weeks for which a user can see past approvals can be set under Administration → Time Tracking Settings → Timesheet Approval (Duration after which approved timesheets cannot be reopened)
The Team Status tab shows the status of timesheets for the selected period, overall team status, and the direct report status of the logged-in user.
Actions (Applies only to the cloud app)
The Actions column is available only in the cloud version of the Reports and Timesheets for Jira and Timesheets for Jira app.
The Actions column displays the Edit icon, which is enabled only for users who have provided the edit and submit access to timesheet approvers on their behalf.
Direct Timesheet approvers can edit only the users' timesheets with statuses Not submitted and Rejected. To make changes, click Edit.
The Timesheet page opens. While editing, the approver can add, edit, and delete time entries as needed. Once the changes are done, click Submit and approve to complete the timesheet approval.
If the approver wants to edit the timesheets in the Pending Approvals tab:
Navigate to Pending Approvals and click Reject to reject the timesheet that needs to be edited further.
Go to the Team Status tab and click Edit to make the required changes. Once done, click Submit and approve to complete the timesheet approval.
Only Direct approvers can edit the timesheets of users, and skip-level approvers do not have permissions to edit those timesheets.
To edit your timesheet as a user, navigate to the Timesheets tab.
Reporting on Timesheets
Once timesheet approval process is enabled, new fields related to timesheets will appear in the report designer under “Time Tracking (Worklogs)” section. These fields can then be added to the reports for reporting purposes.
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