A timesheet approval workflow for recruitment agencies

A useful timesheet workflow makes the status of every assignment visible. It should show whether hours are missing, awaiting review, disputed, approved or corrected. A shared inbox full of attachments cannot reliably tell payroll which version is current.

Start with the assignment reference and period worked. Carry those identifiers through approval, payroll and the client invoice. Where systems use different references, keep a mapping rather than relying on somebody recognising a worker's name.

Agree the route before the first week#

Record who submits hours, who approves them for the client and who provides cover when that approver is unavailable. Agree how overtime, expenses and rate changes are evidenced. Tell the worker how to query an error and tell the client what the approval request will look like.

Use an internal calendar covering submission, review, exception escalation and payroll preparation. Make the time zone explicit if teams work in different locations. A cut-off is a coordination point; it does not decide whether wages are owed.

For employment businesses, GOV.UK explains that temporary work-seekers must be paid for hours worked even when a hirer has not authorised a timesheet or paid the business. Build an escalation route for missing approvals rather than treating an unsigned sheet as permission to withhold pay.

Use a small set of statuses#

Avoid creating a status for every possible reason. Keep the status list short and put the cause in a separate field. That makes a weekly list sortable while retaining the detail needed to resolve each case.

Work an exception through to closure#

Suppose, illustratively, a timesheet records 40 hours and the client queries four overtime hours. Log the disputed item precisely. Ask the authorised contact for the evidence needed to resolve it, keep the worker informed and have the payroll owner assess the payment position under the relevant arrangement.

Do not overwrite the original 40-hour submission with a new total and lose the history. Record the authorised change, its date and which downstream files need updating. Payroll and billing may require different actions; both need their own completion check.

Review the queue before export#

Before sending the batch, check that approved records have valid assignment references, applicable rates and an approval trail. Compare the number of expected timesheets with the number received. Separate unresolved cases for named follow-up so they do not vanish when the clean batch is exported.

After payroll and invoicing, confirm that the exported version was used. A corrected timesheet should link to any adjustment or credit, giving the next reviewer a route from the original record to the final outcome.

Track recurring causes over several cycles: absent approvers, unclear overtime rules, missing references or duplicate submissions. Fix the underlying instruction with the relevant client instead of adding another reminder to every worker.

The payroll route assessment guide helps establish who does what across the wider supply chain. For support improving the operational handoffs, bring a redacted sample workflow and exception list to our back-office service.