By using the approval module, you can have even more control over the hours your employees record. In this article, you will learn how to set up and use this feature.
Table of contents:
Activating the approval module
The first thing you need to do is activate the approval module. To do this, go to Settings (gear icon) > App Center > Modules > Approve. Click on this option and then click on "Activate". You can then proceed to the settings.
Note: You need at least a Business subscription to use the approval module.
Approval module settings
The approval module settings are divided into two parts: one for internal approval and the other for external approval and a client portal. This is also the first option you can select: who approves the hours (first).
Note: Using the external approval flow and a client portal is available from the Professional subscription.
Choose "Internal" if the hours only need to be approved by your company. If you choose "External", the hours will be sent to the client for approval. You can also choose to have the hours approved internally first before sending them to the client or vice versa. In that case, choose "Internal > External" or "External > Internal". Once hours have been approved by the first stop, they will automatically go to the next stop.
General settings
After you have chosen the approval workflow, you can choose who can approve the employees' hours after they have been offered. By default, administrators and project managers can approve hours, but you can also select whether a team manager or a custom role can do this.
There are two more options you can use to gain even more control over the hours that are offered.
The first option is "Meet contract hours", and when you set this to "Yes", employees can only offer their hours when the total number of hours for the week is equal to or greater than their contract hours.
If you use a schedule, you can set "Maximum billable hours" to "Yes". This will ensure that employees do not offer more hours than they are scheduled for.
External approval settings
If you have also chosen "External" for the approval workflow, you will see two additional settings.
The first is a mandatory signature. Your client will have to sign when they approve hours.
In addition, you can also customize the subject and content of the email that is sent to the client. By using the placeholders {client}, {contact person}, {project}, {provider}, and/or {company}, you can automatically enter the correct information into the email.
Do you want to know more about how to set up and configure the client portal? Click here!
Offering hours for approval
From the Register tab, as an employee, you offer hours, rides, and/or expenses. These hours are offered to the project manager/team manager (or self-set role) or external client based on the workflow that has been chosen.
To offer hours, you can do the following:
From the day view, click on the three dots at the end of the registration and click on "Offer hours".
From the day view, click on "Offer hours this day" in the bottom right corner of the registration screen.
From the week view, you can offer hours per line for approval. Click on "Actions" at the end of the line > "Offer hours".
Offers multiple registrations from 'overviews' by selecting registrations and offering them via actions.
Offer your hours through the app by going to 'Approve' and offer all outstanding hours at once by clicking 'Offer hours'.
Do you want to receive a notification as a user when your hours are approved or rejected? Then go to my profile > my settings > notifications: "Approved by project manager/client" and/or "Rejected by project manager/client" on YES.
When offering hours, the project manager/team manager or client will receive a notification via email to approve the hours.
And that's it, that's how you can start using an approval flow for your organization.
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