Keep time reporting accurate and compliant by submitting, reviewing, and approving timesheets in ClickUp!

Whether you're preparing invoices for client work, running weekly or monthly reports, or analyzing your team's time data, approvals ensure you have the most recent and accurate time tracking information!

What you'll need

• 100 uses of timesheet approvals are available on the Free Forever and Unlimited Plans.
• Unlimited uses of timesheet approvals are available on the Business Plan and above.
  

  Pricing is subject to change.

• Everyone, including guests, can submit timesheets.
• An owner or admin must enable the Time Approval ClickApp.
• Only owners and admins can select submitters and their approvers.
• Owners, admins, and members can be selected as timesheet approvers.
• Admins cannot approve their own timesheets.

Set up timesheet approvals

An owner or admin can set up timesheet approvals:

1. In the upper-left corner, click your Workspace avatar.
2. Select Apps, then ClickApps.
3. Browse or search for the Time Approval ClickApp.
4. Enable Time Approval.
5. Under the Time Approval toggle, click Settings.
6. Select a timesheet deadline using the Date due and Time dropdown menus.
   
7. You can choose to send reminders before and/or after the timesheet deadline each week.
8. Click Continue.
9. Click the search bar and select timesheet submitters.
   • Optional: Complete this step later by clicking Do this later.
10. Click Add.
11. In the Approvers column, click the person icon to add approvers. Only owners and admins can be approvers.
    

    Use the filters under the search bar to narrow your results.

    
12. After all approvers have been added, click Save.

Edit submitters and approvers

After setting up timesheet approvals, owners and admins can edit submitters and approvers:

1. In the left Sidebar, click Timesheets.
   • If Timesheets is not pinned, click More and select Timesheets.
2. At the top, click the Approval tab.
3. In the Timesheet Approval Settings on the right, click Edit under Edit Approvers and Submitters.
4. Add, edit, or remove submitters and their approvers. Only owners and admins can be approvers.
   

   Press Shift + Click to select or deselect a range of people between two selected individuals or press Ctrl/Cmd + Click to select or deselect individual people.

Open timesheet approvals

After the Time Approval ClickApp has been enabled in your Workspace, you can access the Approvals tab inside timesheets.

The are four tabs within Approvals:

• To Review: Approvers can see all timesheets they haven't yet approved.
• Changes requested: Approvers can see all timesheets with requested changes.
• Approved: Approvers can see all timesheets they approved.
• All: Approvers can see all timesheets, including timesheets they need to review, timesheets with requested changes, and timesheets they approved.

Filter timesheets

Locate specific timesheets using the three filters at the top of each tab:

• Users: Filter by people.
• Teams: Filter by Teams.
• Time period: Filter timesheets by one of the following periods:
  • All
  • This week
  • Last week
  • Last 2 weeks
  • This month
  • Last month

Submit a timesheet

When you're done tracking time for the week, you can submit your timesheet.

Time entries are locked upon submission.

To submit your timesheet:

1. In the Sidebar, open timesheets. By default, you will be viewing the current week.
   • To change the week, click the dates in the upper-left corner and select a week.
2. In the upper-right corner, click Submit for approval.
3. Review the amount of time worked and click Submit.

Comment on a submitted timesheet

To comment on a submitted timesheet:

1. In the Sidebar, click Timesheets.
2. In the upper-right corner, click the approvals icon to open the Approvals sidebar.
3. From the Approvals sidebar, select a timesheet to open it.
4. In the upper-right corner, click the comment icon to open the Comments sidebar.
5. Reply to an existing comment or leave a new one!

Re-submit a timesheet

If an admin reviews the timesheet and requests changes, you can make changes and re-submit the timesheet.

To re-submit a timesheet:

1. In the Sidebar, open timesheets.
2. Make the necessary changes to your timesheet.
3. In the upper-right corner, click Submit for approval.
4. Under Resubmit previous, select the timesheet to resubmit it.
   
5. Review the updated time worked and click Submit.

Withdraw a timesheet submission

If you made a mistake on your timesheet, you can withdraw it before it is reviewed.

To withdraw a submitted timesheet:

1. In the Sidebar, open timesheets.
2. In the upper-right corner, click the approvals icon to open the Approvals sidebar.
3. From the Approvals sidebar, hover over the timesheet and click the ellipsis ... icon.
4. Click Withdraw.

Review timesheets

Approvers can approve or request changes to submitted timesheets.

Approve timesheets

You can approve timesheets from the Review column or an open timesheet.

From the Review column:

1. In the Sidebar, open timesheets.
2. At the top, click the Approvals tab.
3. To approve, click the Approve icon in the Review column.
4. Add a comment if you'd like and click Approve. Once a timesheet is approved, it can no longer be edited.

From an open timesheet:

1. In the Sidebar, open timesheets.
2. At the top, click the Approvals tab.
3. Click the timesheet to open it.
4. Review the timesheet.
5. To approve, click Approve in the upper-right corner.
6. Add a comment if you'd like and click Approve. Once a timesheet is approved, it can no longer be edited.

Request changes to timesheets

You can request changes to timesheets from the Review column or an open timesheet.

From the Review column:

1. In the Sidebar, open timesheets.
2. At the top, click the Approvals tab.
3. To request changes, click the Request changes icon in the Review column.
4. Add a comment if you'd like and click Request changes. Once changes are requested, the timesheet can be edited.

From an open timesheet:

1. In the Sidebar, open timesheets.
2. At the top, click the Approvals tab.
3. Click the timesheet to open it.
4. To request changes, click Request changes in the upper-right corner.
5. Add a comment if you'd like and click Request changes. Once changes are requested, the timesheet can be edited.

Bulk approve timesheets

Approvers can approve multiple timesheets at once.

To bulk approve timesheets:

1. In the Sidebar, open timesheets.
2. At the top, click the Approvals tab.
3. To the left of each submission, click the checkbox.
4. At the bottom, click Approve all.

Reopen a timesheet

Approvers can reopen timesheets that they previously approved.

To reopen a timesheet:

1. In the Sidebar, open timesheets.
2. At the top, click the Approvals tab.
3. Under Timesheet Approvals, click the Approved tab.
4. Click the timesheet to open it.
5. In the upper-right corner, click the ellipsis... icon.
   
6. Select Reopen.
7. Add a comment and click Reopen.
8. The timesheet will unlock and its status will update to Changes needed.

Check your timesheet approval status

When viewing a timesheet, you'll see the status displayed next to the date range.

To check all of your submitted timesheet statuses:

1. In the Sidebar, open timesheets.
2. At the top, click the Approvals tab to see your timesheet submissions.
   • Alternatively, click the approvals icon in the upper-right corner to open the Approvals sidebar.
3. Filter your timesheets by the To review, Changes requested, Approved, and All tabs.
   
4. Columns on the right indicate how much billable and non-billable time was tracked, capacity, how much time was tracked over capacity, and the timesheet's current status. Statuses include:

• Pending: The timesheet has not been reviewed. Changes to the timesheet cannot be made.
• Changes needed: An approver reviewed the timesheet and changes have been requested. Changes to the timesheet can be made.
• Approved: The timesheet was reviewed and approved by an approver. Changes to the timesheet cannot be made.

Timesheet notifications

Timesheet notifications vary for submitters and approvers.

Submitters

Submitters receive notifications for:

• New Comments: Submitters are notified when new comments are added to their submissions.
• Reminders: Notifications are sent before a timesheet is due, after the due time, and when it becomes overdue.

Approvers

Approvers receive notifications when new comments are added to submissions under their review.

Admins

Admins and owners receive notifications for comments posted on timesheets where they are designated as approvers.

FAQ

Frequently asked questions about timesheet approvals.

Who can submit a timesheet?

Anyone with access to timesheets can submit their time for approval.

Who can view and approve submitted timesheets?

Admins and owners have full access to all time entries, timesheets, and approvals within the workspace. They can also edit locked and approved time entries.

Can I have multiple approvals in the same period?

Yes, it's possible to have multiple approval requests for the same timesheet period.

What does it mean when time entries are locked?

Locked time entries are in a disabled state with a grey background and cannot be edited. This usually occurs when a submitted timesheet is awaiting approval.