Helpful Tips
August 2006
Update - How do I return a previously approved timesheet to the user to finish an incomplete time period?
Please Note: This tip addresses Timesheet versions 5.5 and later. For previous versions of Timesheet, please see the prior tip on this subject.
Timesheet includes a number of security measures to ensure the integrity of the time approval process. These features protect timesheets that have been signed by the employee via a workflow approval process. There are two options for modifying records that have already been approved depending upon the type of modifications you are trying to make.
- Correcting Timesheets That Have Already Been Approved
If the timesheet you wish to modify has already been completely approved as part of an approval process, you can make corrections to individual records by using the Prior Period Corrections feature. Prior period corrections are accessible via Timekeeping as an Administrator. You can also give employees the ability to make their own prior period corrections if you have purchased the add-on module Journyx Role Manager. Prior period corrections allow you to make new entries in a period that has already been approved. These entries can be corrective (i.e., negative entry to reduce the hours against an approved record) or entirely new records. Prior period corrections are subject to the same approval process as the original records (unless the employee's approvers have been changed) and are automatically submitted for approval when the corrections are saved.
In the 7.x series, you also have the option to skip the approval process and have prior period corrections entered as approved records. This can be useful when the changes are being made by accounting personnel and do not require sign off from the employee. However, a record of who makes these changes, what is changed and when is maintained in the Sheet History reports. Like records that have been modified as part a rejection process, records that were originally submitted for approval will always be maintained for auditing purposes and approval process integrity. Corrections are stored as correction levels and the approval processes are distinct from the original submission.
- Re-opening Timesheets That Have Already Been Approved
If the timesheet you wish to modify is in any state during the approval process (submitted for approval or completely approved), you can make corrections to the record by using the sheet "Open" feature. You can access this feature as an approver if you are designated as the approver for the record in question. You can also access this feature as an Administrator either through the Approvals area or via Timekeeping. The Open button appears below the submitted/approved sheet. When a sheet is re-opened, the approval process gets completely reset. Once a sheet is re-opened, anyone who has the ability to enter time for the employee (the employee, timekeepers) will be able to modify the records just as if the sheet had never been submitted for approval. This includes the ability to modify the records in Record Modification.
The sheet re-open process does not maintain the original records that were submitted or approved via an approval process, and the modifications must be submitted for approval again. This option is only recommended when the correction requires that the original record be completely removed from the database (i.e., the employee's comments reveal confidential information, employee entered and submitted time for the wrong period or the employee submitted an incomplete timesheet for the period).
How can managers monitor daily employee time entry compliance for auditing purposes?
Managers can set up a Time Report under the Reports->Standard Reports tab that shows all selected/employees in his groups that have not entered time on a given day. Managers can view a list of employees who have not entered any time on the current day by setting up a Time Report with a 1 day timeframe with subtotaling by user that only shows subtotal rows that are equal to 0. The managers can also click on the Past Period button to view the previous day or further into the past. The process can be further automated by scheduling the report to run each night (i.e., 11:59pm), and the previous day's results will be waiting in the manager's scheduled reports list each morning.
