Timesheets & Approvals
Timesheets are at the heart of AvviBill's billing workflow. Contractors log their hours, managers review and approve them, and those approved hours feed directly into invoices and payouts.
The Timesheet Workflow
Every timesheet follows a simple three-step process:
1. Contractor Submits
- The contractor logs their hours against an active contract on the Timesheets page.
- They enter the date, hours worked, and an optional description of the work performed.
- Once submitted, the timesheet is locked for editing and moves into the review queue.
2. Manager Receives Notification
- When a timesheet is submitted, the assigned manager (or agency owner) receives an email notification.
- The notification includes a summary of the submitted hours and a link to review the timesheet directly.
3. Manager Approves or Rejects
- Navigate to the Timesheets page and find pending submissions.
- Review the hours, dates, and work descriptions.
- Click "Approve" to accept the timesheet — it becomes locked and ready for invoicing and payouts.
- Click "Reject" to send it back to the contractor with an optional note explaining what needs to change.
Tip: You can approve or reject timesheets individually, or use bulk actions to process multiple timesheets at once.
Timesheet Statuses
Each timesheet has a status that tells you exactly where it is in the workflow:
| Status | Meaning |
|---|---|
| Pending | Submitted by the contractor and waiting for manager review. |
| Approved (Locked) | Approved by the manager. Hours are locked and cannot be edited. Ready for invoicing and payouts. |
| Paid | The contractor has been paid for this timesheet. The payout has been processed. |
| Rejected | Sent back to the contractor for corrections. The contractor can edit and resubmit. |
Tip: Approved timesheets are locked — neither the contractor nor the manager can modify them. This ensures your invoices and payouts are always accurate and auditable.
Auto-Approval
Don't want to manually approve every timesheet? AvviBill supports auto-approval to streamline the process for trusted contractors.
How It Works
- When creating or editing a contract, toggle the "Auto-Approve Timesheets" setting to On.
- Any timesheet submitted under that contract will be automatically approved after 24 hours if no action is taken.
- If you review and reject the timesheet within the 24-hour window, the auto-approval is cancelled.
When to Use Auto-Approval
- Long-term, trusted contractors where manual review isn't necessary.
- High-volume teams where approving every timesheet individually would slow things down.
- Fixed-rate contracts where hours are less critical than deliverables.
Tip: Even with auto-approval enabled, you can still manually reject a timesheet within the 24-hour window if something doesn't look right.
Next Steps
- Invoicing — See how approved timesheets become client invoices.
- Payouts — Understand how approved hours turn into contractor payments.
- Roles & Permissions — Learn who can approve timesheets in your agency.