How to review and approve timesheets

Timesheets are what turn a worked shift into an invoice, so the hours recorded here need to be right. A timesheet that is wrong costs you money or costs your client trust, and one that is never approved is never billed at all.

Agency Accelerator gives you two places to work with timesheets. Timesheet Approvals brings every timesheet awaiting your attention into one list, which is the best place to work through a week's worth at once. Each job also has its own Timesheets view, which is the quickest route when you are dealing with one shift.

This guide covers both, from submitting the hours through to approval, disputes and what the billed figures mean.

Before you begin

Timesheets for your own direct clients sit under Direct Client Timesheets. Working with direct clients needs an active Agency Accelerator Pro licence.
The rates used to bill a timesheet come from the rate card on the job, for example CL-RC-2025-AA-00048. If a rate looks wrong, the rate card is where to look first.
Timesheet deadlines come from your agreement with each client or provider. Miss the cut-off and the shift rolls into the following week's invoice, which delays your payment by a week.

Finding your timesheets

Select Tasks in the left-hand menu.
Choose Timesheet Approvals.

Cost Approval sits in the same menu. It is for approving changes to what you pay your workers, and is covered in How to approve worker cost changes.

Two views sit at the top right of the screen:

Care Hires Timesheets — shifts booked through Care Hires providers.
Direct Client Timesheets — shifts for your own direct clients.

Select whichever you need. The filters change to match: the Care Hires view filters by Select Provider, and the direct client view filters by Select Client. Both can be narrowed further with Select Site.

Choosing which timesheets to work on

The status dropdown is the most useful control on this screen. It splits your timesheets into three views, each needing something different from you:

Pending submission — the hours have not been submitted yet. Your job here is to chase them, or submit them yourself.
Pending approval — the hours are in and waiting on a decision. Your job is to check them, then approve or dispute.
Disputed — someone has queried the hours. Your job is to correct them and resubmit.

Work through them in that order. Chase what is missing first, because those shifts have the furthest to travel before your cut-off; then approve what has arrived; then deal with anything disputed.

Switch view by selecting the dropdown and choosing the status you want. The list refreshes to show only timesheets at that stage, and the count at the bottom right tells you how many there are, for example Showing 40 of results.

To narrow a view down further, use Search by Job ID / Worker Name, the provider or client dropdown, Select Site, or the filter icon beside the status dropdown. Select Reset to clear everything you have applied and start again.

Tip: Work one status at a time rather than scrolling a mixed list of sixty or seventy shifts. Each view needs a different frame of mind, and switching between them constantly is how things get missed.

How a timesheet moves through its statuses

The same journey shows on the job itself, in the badges at the top of the job panel and on the timesheet card. It is worth knowing both, because clients and colleagues will describe a shift by whichever one they are looking at.

Stage	Top of the job panel	Timesheet card	What happens next
Worker allocated, hours not yet submitted	ALLOCATED and NOT STARTED	SUBMIT TIMESHEET button	Submit the hours actually worked
Hours submitted	ALLOCATED and APPROVAL PENDING	APPROVE TIMESHEET and DISPUTE TIMESHEET buttons	Check the hours, then approve or dispute
Timesheet approved	COMPLETED	Approved and Pending Invoice	The shift is included in the next invoice
Shift invoiced	COMPLETED and INVOICED	Completed and Invoiced	Nothing further; the shift has been billed

When a proof document has been attached, the card also shows Proof Document Uploaded.

Reading a timesheet row

Each row in Timesheet Approvals covers one shift and is split into parts, which makes it easy to spot where the hours differ:

Employee | Job ID | PO Number — the worker, the job reference and, where the client uses them, the purchase order reference.
Provider | Site — the client or provider, and the site where the shift took place.
Shift Time — the start, end and Duration the shift was booked for.
Attendance Time — when the worker actually clocked in and out using the worker mobile app.
Timesheet — the times that will be billed, along with the Billing Duration.
Actions — where the timesheet has reached, and the buttons for what you can do next.

The Attendance Time column also tells you when something is missing. If it reads Worker has not clocked in using worker mobile, you will see Request for timesheet proof and submit underneath. That is your prompt to get the hours from the worker and submit them.

Please note: The shift time shows the estimated duration and the timesheet shows the actual duration, so a difference between the two is normal. What matters is that the timesheet reflects the hours genuinely worked.

Submitting or amending a timesheet

Where a worker has not submitted their own hours, or the hours they submitted need correcting, you can do it for them. There are two ways in:

From Timesheet Approvals — select the pencil icon in the Timesheet column of the row.
From the job — open the job from Jobs, select Timesheets at the top of the job panel, then select SUBMIT TIMESHEET. Select Job Summary at any point to go back to the shift details.

Either way, the Edit Timesheet panel opens for that worker.

Step 1: Check the dates and times

The panel shows two sets of figures side by side:

Job Times Breakdown — the Start, End and Duration the shift was booked for. These are for reference and cannot be changed here.
Timesheet Breakdown — the actual Start and End times worked, which you can edit, with the Duration and the Deviation from original job worked out for you.

Each block of the shift appears as its own row. Underneath, Total Duration sets the booked total beside the timesheet total, with the hours split by type beside the icons on the right.

Check the Timesheet Start Date is correct.
Amend the Start and End times for each block where the hours worked differ from the booking. The duration and deviation update as you type.

Step 2: Add any expenses

Expenses let you record costs on top of the hours, such as travel to a site.

Select + Add Expense.
Enter what the expense is, for example Travel Expense, and the amount.
Tick VAT Applicable if VAT should be charged on it. VAT is worked out at 20% for you and shown beside the expense.

The Amount column shows the total for each expense, and Total Expenses underneath adds them all up. Select + Add Expense again for each further expense.

Step 3: Record the reason and the breaks

Enter your Reason to amend timesheet. Be specific: this is the record of why the billed hours differ from the booking, and it is what you will point to if the client queries the invoice.
Under Paid/Unpaid break records, enter the Paid Breaks Duration and Unpaid Breaks Duration taken. These are lengths of time, for example 00:30 for half an hour, not clock times.
Add a Paid Breaks Note or Unpaid Breaks Note wherever it would help someone understand the breaks later.

Please note: Unpaid breaks are taken off the billable hours, so an unpaid break recorded here reduces what the client is charged and what the worker is paid. Paid and unpaid breaks together cannot add up to more than the length of the shift.

Step 4: Attach proof and save

Under Proof Document, select Add Attachment and upload a signed paper timesheet or other evidence of the hours. JPG, JPEG, PNG and PDF files are supported.
Select UPDATE.

The timesheet moves to APPROVAL PENDING, and the card confirms Proof Document Uploaded where you attached one.

Approving a timesheet

Before you approve, compare the Timesheet times against the Shift Time and Attendance Time. A large difference usually means either a late finish that needs billing or a clocking error that needs correcting, and it is far easier to sort out now than after the invoice has gone.

Approving one timesheet

From Timesheet Approvals:

Choose Pending approval in the status dropdown.
Find the timesheet and select APPROVE in the Actions column.

From the job:

Open the job and select Timesheets.
Check the Summary on the timesheet card, then select APPROVE TIMESHEET.
A message asks Are you sure you want to approve this timesheet? Select Approve to confirm, or Cancel to go back.

A confirmation appears at the top right, the job moves to COMPLETED, and the timesheet card shows Approved and Pending Invoice.

Approving several timesheets at once

Where you have checked a batch of timesheets and are happy with them all, you do not need to approve them one by one.

Choose Pending approval in the status dropdown.
Tick the box beside each timesheet you want, or tick Select All. The number beside Select All shows how many you have chosen.
Select Bulk Approve / Dispute Timesheet(s) and choose what you want to do with them.

Please note: Bulk approval approves every timesheet you have ticked. Only tick the ones you have actually checked, as an approved timesheet goes straight towards the invoice.

Understanding the billed figures

The timesheet card sets the job and the timesheet side by side in a Summary:

Duration — the full length of the shift.
Paid Break Duration — breaks the worker is paid for.
(-)Unpaid Break Duration — breaks taken off the billable time.
Total Billable Hours — the duration less unpaid breaks. This is what is charged.

The Job column shows the estimate from the booking and the Timesheet column shows what was actually worked.

Once the timesheet is approved, the billed figures appear along the bottom of the card. All of them are worked out automatically from the hours and the rate card, so there is nothing to correct by hand:

Billed Total — what the client is charged for the shift.
Hours — the billable hours. The red figure beside them shows how far they fall short of the full shift, usually because of unpaid breaks. A 12 hour shift with a 15 minute unpaid break, for example, shows -0h 15m and 11h 45m.
Worker Fee — what the worker is paid for those hours.
Agency Margin — the difference between the charge and the worker fee, which is what the shift earns your agency.
Agency VAT — any VAT charged on top.

If one of these figures looks wrong, the hours or breaks on the timesheet are almost always the cause. Check those before anything else.

When a timesheet needs manual approval

Some timesheets in Pending approval show Manual approval required under the buttons. These have been held back from automatic approval so that someone checks them first.

Select View Reason to see why. The most common reasons are:

The breaks have been authorised. The worker submitted a digital timesheet on their phone, and the supervisor at the site ticked break authorisation because the breaks taken differed from the booking. Check the updated breaks with the client before approving.
The times differ from the job. The hours worked do not match the shift as booked. Check the reason for the difference before approving.

Where the worker has submitted a digital timesheet, the supervisor signs it on the worker's phone and enters their name. Select the eye icon in the Timesheet column to view what was submitted.

The calendar icon beside the buttons shows that the timesheet has been scheduled for automatic approval. If nobody approves or disputes it, it is approved automatically in the next billing cycle rather than the current one, so it is not held up indefinitely, but it does slip by a week.

Tip: Clear your manual approvals before each billing run. Leaving them to approve automatically is safe, but it delays those shifts by a week for no good reason.

Disputing a timesheet

Dispute a timesheet when the hours or breaks are wrong and need to be corrected before they are billed. There is no option to reject a timesheet outright: a dispute sends it back to be corrected and resubmitted.

Choose Pending approval in the status dropdown and find the timesheet. Alternatively, open the job, select Timesheets and select DISPUTE TIMESHEET.
Select DISPUTE in the Actions column.
In Dispute Timesheet, enter your Reason to Dispute.
Select DISPUTE.

The timesheet moves to the Disputed view, with your reason shown against it. You can also dispute several timesheets at once using Bulk Approve / Dispute Timesheet(s).

Tip: Write a reason the person correcting it can act on without calling you. "Unpaid break was 30 minutes, not 15, per the client" gets fixed first time; "hours wrong" gets a phone call.

Resolving a disputed timesheet

Choose Disputed in the status dropdown.
Read the Disputed Reason in the Actions column.
Select Edit Timesheet.
Correct the times, breaks or expenses, update the Reason to amend timesheet, and attach any new proof.
Select UPDATE to resubmit it.

Please note: A timesheet sitting in Disputed is just as unbilled as one that was never submitted. Resolve disputes before your cut-off, not after it.

Good habits worth adopting

Check attendance against the booking. A large deviation usually means either a late finish that needs billing or a clocking error that needs correcting.
Chase missing submissions early in the week. Waiting until the cut-off leaves no time to resolve a query.
Attach proof whenever you submit on a worker's behalf. It is the quickest way to settle a query from the client later.
Clear all three views before your cut-off. Anything left in Pending submission, Pending approval or Disputed misses that week's invoice.
Write reasons a colleague would understand. "Client asked worker to stay until 22:00" is far more useful than "amended".

If something looks wrong

A shift is missing from the list. Check you are in the right view, Care Hires Timesheets or Direct Client Timesheets, and select Reset to clear any filters. Then check the job has a worker allocated, as a timesheet only exists once someone is on the shift.
A timesheet will not save. Check the paid and unpaid breaks do not add up to more than the shift, and that the start and end times are in the right order.
The billed total looks wrong. Check the hours and breaks on the timesheet first, then the rate card shown on the card. If the rate card is wrong, contact our Support Team quoting its reference.
A timesheet was approved by mistake. Contact our Support Team with the job reference before the invoice is raised, as it is far easier to put right at that point.
A timesheet is stuck at the same status after being submitted. Contact our Support Team with the job reference, for example JB-2026-AA-02533, and we will look into it.

For more on working with the shifts themselves, see How to manage your shifts and allocations.