Time Approver Setup Follow

This article will walk you through:

• Setup overview
• Approval Chain
  • Adding Manager Approvers
  • Adding Project Manager / Client Approvers
  • Adding Enterprise / Company-wide approvers
• Approver Audit Report
• Advanced Setup Options

Setup Overview

Your approvers will fall into one or more of the following categories:

• Manager
• Project Manager / Client Approver
• Enterprise / Master Approver (people who approve everyone’s time)

Approvers can be set in any or all of these areas. For example, if you only want each employee’s manager to approve, simply set up Managers. If you want Managers and Clients to approve, set up both.

Setting the Default Time Approver

The first thing to do is set the Default Time Approver. Whenever a timesheet is submitted and no approver(s) are specified, it will be routed to the Default Time Approver so that they can set up the proper approval flow.

• Click on Settings
• Click on My Company on the left-side menu
• Scroll down to the Enterprise Time Approvers section
• Select the Default Time Approver
• Click Save

Adding Manager Approvers

Example: Michael Manager always approves Alex Trebek’s timesheet

• Click on Settings
• Click on People
• Select the Person (“Alex Trebek”)
• Click on the Approvers tab. Select the Manager and toggle Yes for Approves Time
• Click Save and Exit

Adding Project Manager/Client Approvers

Example: Pat Sajak always approves timesheets for ACME

• Click on Settings
• Click on Projects
• Select the Project and click on the Approvers tab
• Select the Manager and toggle Yes for Manager Approves Time
• Click Save and Exit

Adding Enterprise/Company-Wide Approvers

Example: Joe CEO approves timesheets for all users and projects

• Click on Settings
• Click on My Company and scroll down to Enterprise Time Approvers
• Click on Use Additional Time Approvers 
• Click on View List
• Use the drop-down menu to select the time approver for the enterprise and ensure it is Active 

• Click Save and Close

Approval Chain

When approvers are set at two or more of the above levels and Use Additional Time Approvers is checked, SpringAhead will request the approvals in the following order:

1. Manager approver; then
2. Project approver; then
3. Enterprise approver

To skip any of the approvers in the steps above, check Only use time approvers on this page or toggle No for Manager Approves Time box, as appropriate. 

If Use Additional Time Approvers is not checked, then SpringAhead will use the Project Approver, Manager Approver, or Enterprise User in that order. If more advanced approval flows are required, refer to the Advanced Setup Options below.

Approval Audit Report

Use the Time Approval Audit Report to check the approvers and their order:

• Click on Reports
• Click on Time Approval Audit (requires Administrator access to view)
• Run the report based on your parameters 

The approval chain will be displayed: 

Advanced Setup Options

The following advanced setup options are available:

Adding Multiple Time Approvers to an area

Exclude User, Project or Enterprise approvers

Notify multiple approvers at one time but require only one approval from the group

Notify multiple approvers at one time and require all approvals

 

Adding Multiple Time Approvers to an Area

If your company requires multiple time approvers at any of the User, Project or Enterprise levels, enable the Additional Time Approvers setting:

• Log in as an Administrator
• Click on Settings
• Click on My Company on the left-side menu
• Scroll down to the Enterprise Time Approvers heading
• Check the box for Use Additional Time Approvers 

• Click Save

Next, add the multiple approvers to the appropriate area(s). For example, to add multiple approvers to a Person:

• Click on People
• Open up the user’s settings by click on his/her name
• Click on the Approvers tab
• Click Add Time Approvers and use the drop-down menu to select the additional time approvers 

• Click the green Add Time Approver button to add each selection
• Click Save and Exit

NOTE: If a Manager is also set as an approver in the Approval Settings for the Person or Project (see screen shot), that approval will be appear in the approval chain before the Additional Time Approvers. 

Custom Approval Flows for Individual Users or Projects

As discussed in the Approval Chain section, approvers from each of the People, Project and Enterprise approval lists will be automatically chained together. Check Only use time approvers on this page at the People or Project levels to exclude approvers from other levels: 

Use the Time Approval Audit report to ensure the settings are generating the desired approval flow.

Notifying multiple approvers but requiring only one approval from the group

To notify multiple approvers at once:

• Go to Settings, and click on People or Projects
• Select the desired Person or Project
• Place all of the desired approvers in the Person or Project Time Approvers list 

• Set the approval requirement by selecting Any approver can approve time 

• Click Save and Exit

Notifying multiple approvers at one time and requiring all approvals

Follow the instructions above but set the Approval Requirement to All User/Project Additional Time Approvers.