At the end of each period (typically weekly), you will submit your timesheet. Think of a submission as an electronic way to hand in your hours. It's an indicator that you are finished entering data for that period, and that the data is now ready for review/approval, invoicing, and/or payroll. The importance of that process is covered in The Timesheet Workflow; this article will walk you through the process itself.
Submitting Timesheets: Step by Step
Once you’re done entering your time, you’re ready to finalize your timesheet by submitting it.
1. Navigate to TIME/EXPENSES...TIMESHEETS. Here you will find the weekly or daily timesheet.
2. At the bottom of the screen you will see the TIMESHEETS TO SUBMIT footer. This footer will only appear if you have unsubmitted time. Click the blue button labeled SUBMIT HOURS to the right of that footer.
3. Check off the hours that you would like to submit. The unsubmitted hours that appear here are grouped by a predetermined date range. This date range grouping is set when an administrator selects a submission period format in timesheet settings.
4. Click the SUBMIT TIMESHEETS button to the bottom right of your window. Clicking this button locks your time and sends it up the chain to be reviewed or processed.
You’re all set! Your managers/admin can review that time and let you know if any changes need to be made.
Troubleshooting
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CAN I SUBMIT TIME FOR OTHER USERS? If you have been granted the rights required to enter time for another user, then you are able to submit time for that user.
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WHERE DO THE SUBMISSION DATE RANGES COME FROM? The submission period can be changed in your timesheet settings page. BigTime supports weekly, bi-weekly, semi-monthly, and monthly submission periods. In addition, you can change the start date of your timesheet weeks, which is reflected on the submission page as well.
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CAN I SUBMIT A PARTIAL WEEK/PERIOD? Yes. You will still be able to enter new time in a given week even if you've already submitted time for the first part of it. Note that any time you've entered in the first part of the week will be locked, and therefore cannot be edited.
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CAN I ADD TIME TO MY TIMESHEET AFTER I SUBMIT IT? If your administrator hasn't locked the period, you can add new entries to your timesheet, however you will not be able to edit existing entries.
- WHAT IF I NEED TO MAKE A CHANGE TO A SUBMITTED ENTRY OR UN-SUBMIT A TIMESHEET? Only admins (or users with certain permissions) can edit submitted entries, which includes deleting them. They can also "reject" a submitted entry, routing it back to users for editing and re-submission.
For more advanced approval/rejection features, check out the management review/approval process, also in this guide.
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CAN AN ADMIN USER SEE WHO HAS SUBMITTED TIME AND WHO HASN'T? Yes. The easiest way to see that data is in the QUICKBOOKS...POST TIMESHEETS page. Admin users can also use the staff timesheet summary report to view total hours entered and total hours submitted by staff members.
- THE "TIMESHEETS TO SUBMIT" FOOTER HAS DISAPPEARED. HOW DO I MAKE IT REAPPEAR?If the footer was x'ed out during a logged-in session, it will only reappear with a new log-in session. To bring the submittal bar back, simply log out and log back in.