## Zoho Billing - Product, solutions, integrations, support, and resources Index

Access the complete documentation index at:
https://www.zoho.com/om/billing/llms.txt

Use this file to discover all available documentation pages before proceeding.

# Internal Approval for Time Entries

The Internal Approval for time entries feature allows you to submit your logged time entries to a **project manager or another user** for their approval. This ensures that the manager is aware of the hours being logged and the tasks done by each of their subordinates. The approved time entries can be invoiced, or sent for the [client’s approval](/om/billing/help/time-tracking/timesheet-approvals/customer-approval.html) later.

* * *

**Scenario:** Patricia works on a project and gets paid on an hourly basis. Each day, she logs the time spent working and then, once in a week, she sends the time entries to her project manager for internal approval. This way, the manager is always in the loop about the work done by each of his employees. The manager then cross-checks the approvals, approves it and later invoices them to the customer. This ensures a smooth internal approval workflow for both, the employee and the manager.

### Enable Approvals

To enable internal approval for your time entries:

*   Go to _Settings_ > _Preferences_ > _Timesheet_.
*   Under the _General_ tab, check the box next to **Enable Approvals for time entries**.

![Enable Approval](/billing/images/help/images/timesheet-approvals/enable-approval.png)

*   Click **Save**.

Internal approvals are available only for the projects that have it enabled. To enable internal approvals for a project:

*   Go to _Time Tracking_ > _Projects_.
*   Click the **\+ New Project** button in the top right corner of the page.
*   Enter the necessary details.
*   Click **Yes** against the **Enable Approvals for time entries** option. Select the **Project Manager** to whom the time entries of that project should be submitted for approval.
*   Click **Save**.

**Insight:** Only users of your organization who can access time entries can be assigned as a \*\*Project Manager\*\*.

![Enable Approval](/billing/images/help/images/timesheet-approvals/enable-approval-projects.png)

### Create Approvals

Once you [enable internal approval](/om/billing/help/time-tracking/timesheet-approvals/internal-approval.html#enable), a tab named **Approvals** will appear in the Time Tracking module. You can create a set of approval workflows for different time entries, submit approvals, accept and reject the approval created in this module. To create an approval:

*   Go to the _Time Tracking_ > _Approvals_.
*   Click the **\+ New Approval** button. You can also click the **Create Approval** button which will be available when you’re creating an approval for the first time.

![Create Approval](/billing/images/help/images/timesheet-approvals/create-internal-approvals.png)

*   In the **Projects** field, select the project for which the time entries you want to submit for an approval.

**Insight:** Only the projects that have internal approval enabled will be listed here. You can edit an existing project to \[enable approvals\](#enable) for it.

*   Enter an _Approval Name_ and provide a short **Description**, if needed.
*   Under **Timesheet**, the time entries that can be submitted for the selected projects will be listed. Select the time entries you want to include in the approval.
*   Click **Save and Submit** to submit the approval to the project manager immediately.
*   Click **Save** to save the approval and submit it later.

**Insight:** An internal approval can be submitted only to one approver. So, ensure to select time entries which has the same approver.

![Create Approval](/billing/images/help/images/timesheet-approvals/create-approval-form.png)

### Approval Process

All the internal approvals created will be listed under the **Approvals** tab in the Time Tracking module. Once an approval is submitted, it can either be approved or rejected by the project manager.

#### Submit an Approval

You can either submit an approval as soon as you create it, or save it and send it later. If you have only saved the approval, here’s how you can send it:

*   Go to _Time Tracking_ > _Approvals_.
*   Select the approval that you want to submit.
*   Verify all the details and add any **Comments**, if necessary.
*   Click the **Submit** button in the top-right corner of the approval.
*   Click **Yes** and the approval will be submitted.

![Submit Approval](/billing/images/help/images/timesheet-approvals/submit-approval.png)

#### Approve an Approval

Here’s how you can approve a pending approval:

*   Go to _Time Tracking_ > _Approvals_.
*   Select the approval that you want to approve.

**Insight:** An internal approval can be approved only by the project manager or approver you had assigned it to.

*   Click the **Approve** button in the top-right corner.
*   Click **Yes** in the following pop-up, to approve.

![Approve Approval](/billing/images/help/images/timesheet-approvals/approve-approval.png)

**Insight:** Once approved, it can be invoiced, or sent to your client for their approval.

#### Reject an Approval

You can both reject a pending approval or reject an approval that has already been approved. Here’s how:

*   Go to _Time Tracking_ > _Approvals_.
*   Select the approval that you want to reject.
*   Click the **Reject** button in the top-right corner.

> Note: An approval can be rejected only by the project manager.

![Reject Approval](/billing/images/help/images/timesheet-approvals/reject-approval.png)

*   In the following pop-up, provide a reason for the rejection and click **Save**.

![Reject Approval](/billing/images/help/images/timesheet-approvals/reason-rejection.png)

*   The submitter can view the reason for rejection under **Comments & History** section. You can also add or delete your comments there.

**Pro Tip:** You can use the comments section to share important details about the time entry with your manager.

### Other Actions

The following are the other actions that can be carried out in an approval.

#### Edit an Approval

To edit an internal approval:

*   Go to _Time Tracking_ > _Approvals_.
*   Select the approval that you want to edit.
*   Click the **Edit** icon in the top-right corner.
*   Click **Save** after making the necessary changes.

**Insight:** You cannot edit an approval that has already been approved.

#### Delete an Approval

To delete an internal approval:

*   Go to _Time Tracking_ > _Approvals_.
*   Select the approval that you want to delete.
*   Click the **Delete** button in the top-right corner.
*   In the following pop-up, click **Yes** to confirm that you want to delete the approval.

#### Approval Filters

There are a set of filters using which you can view the list of approvals based on their status and nature. To filter and view:

*   Go to _Time Tracking_ > _Approvals_.
*   Select the **Status** drop down to choose from the list of statuses below:
    *   All
    *   Approved
    *   Rejected
    *   Pending Submission
    *   Pending Approval
*   To view the nature of the approval, choose an option from the list of filters below:
    *   All Approval
    *   Submitted for Approval
    *   Received for Approval

![Filter Approval](/billing/images/help/images/timesheet-approvals/approval-filters.png)

#### Disable Approvals

To disable the approval feature for time entries, you have to first disable it in the projects in which it is enabled. Here’s how you can disable approvals for a project:

*   Go to _Time Tracking_ > _Projects_.
*   Open the project for which the approval is enabled.
*   Click **Edit** button on top.
*   In the edit project page, click **No** against the **Enable Approvals for time entries** option.
*   Click **Save**.

**Pro Tip:** To disable approvals in one go, you can select the projects from Time Tracking > Projects > click \*\*Bulk update\*\* and choose the \*\*Uncheck this option\*\*.

![bulk disable Approval](/billing/images/help/images/timesheet-approvals/bulk-disable-approvals.png)

Once you have disabled this feature in all the projects,

*   Go to _Settings_ > _Preferences_.
*   Click the **Timesheet** tab where you can find **Timesheet Approvals**.
*   Uncheck the **Enable Approvals for time entries** option.
*   Click **Save**.

Now, the approvals option will be disabled for your entire organization.

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