Approval chains
Timesheets, billing runs, expenses, budgets, stage overrides and subcontract work go to the right people in the right order, set up by you without code. Every decision is kept with who made it, when and why.
PLANSEvery plan
The problem it solves
- Approvals happen on WhatsApp and nobody can find who agreed to the extra spend.
- A project manager approves their own expenses or their own hours.
- Large budgets need the director's sign-off, small ones should not, and the tool cannot tell the difference.
- Each kind of approval works differently, so people do not know where to look for what waits for them.
How it works
- Each kind of request has a chain per entity, ready to use. To start with, a Projects manager approves. For timesheets you can choose the manager of the project.
- Add levels in order (a project manager, then finance, then a director); at each level any one of its approvers decides.
- Add a second chain for some requests only, such as budgets above an amount. Chains are tried in order and the first that fits is used.
- When someone submits a week, a billing run or an expense, the first level is told. They find it in To Approve and on the product's own screen.
- Each level approves or rejects with a reason. When the last level approves, the product does its part. The week is locked, the budget becomes the project's budget, the billing run makes a draft invoice.
Everything it does
What goes through approval in SmartMy Projects
- Weekly timesheets (every plan)
- Billing runs, before the draft invoice (Growth)
- Stage overrides, to pass a stage whose checks are not met (Growth)
- Expenses, advances and settlements, and expense payments (Growth)
- Budgets and budget changes (Scale)
- Subcontract work orders and subcontractor bills (Scale)
Who approves a level
- Named users, a group, or the usual approvers of the request
- A field of the document: the project manager of the timesheet's projects or of the billing run's project
- Any one approver of a level decides; for two signatures, add two levels
- If a level has nobody: the request cannot be submitted (to start with), the level is skipped, or the usual approvers decide
Rules
- The person a request is about never decides it; nobody approves their own timesheet
- Requester May Approve: on to start with, so whoever raised a request may decide it at a level they approve. Turn it off for a chain so someone else always decides
- Only For: a chain for some requests only, such as an amount above a value
- Approved at Once: a chain with no approval, when you do not need one
- A reason is needed to reject. Send Back on a timesheet or billing run counts as a rejection, and sending again starts at the first level
Record
- An Approvals tab on each document: level, approver, status, decided by, date and reason
- The document's history shows sent for approval, approved by and rejected by
- Changes to the chains themselves are recorded
- A new entity copies the chains of its parent
Who uses it
Project managerApproves the weeks, billing runs and expenses of their projects.
FinanceApproves expense payments, budgets and billing runs at their level of the chain.
DirectorApproves large budgets and budget changes through a chain for amounts above a value.
Approvals AdministratorSets up the levels, who approves them and the conditions, without developer mode.
Where you use it
- Web: Approvals > To Approve and My Requests, and each product screen (Timesheets to Approve, Billing Runs, Expenses, Budgets, Work Orders)
- The Delivery and Money dashboards count what waits for approval
- The SmartMy Projects app: managers approve weeks on the phone (built and in testing, not in the app stores yet)
- With SmartMy HRMS: weeks are approved in the employee app's My approvals
What you control
Settings
- Levels and their approvers, per kind of request and entity
- If a level has nobody: cannot submit, skip, or usual approvers
- Requester May Approve (on to start with), Only For conditions, Approved at Once
- Email and to-do notices per approval type
Notifications
- Request Waits for Your Approval: to the approvers of the level that is next, in the app, by email and as a phone notification
- A to-do for each request waiting, for the approvers
- Project Expense Decided: to the person who asked
- Timesheet Sent Back: to the person, with the reason
Works with
SmartMy HRMSThe same approval engine runs leave, expenses and payroll approvals, so one To Approve list holds everything that waits for a manager.
Questions
Can we have different approvers for large amounts?
Yes. Add a chain with Only For, such as budgets above an amount, with more levels; smaller requests use the general chain.Can someone approve their own request?
Not their own timesheet, ever. For other requests, whoever raised it may decide it at a level they approve, because Requester May Approve is on to start with. Turn it off for a chain so someone else always decides.Do approvals remind people or go to someone else after a few days?
Not in SmartMy Projects today. Approvers are told when a request reaches them, and the dashboards show what waits. Reminders and stand-ins exist in SmartMy HRMS.Do we need a developer to change a chain?
No. An Approvals Administrator changes levels, approvers and conditions from the Approvals menu.Can we turn approval off for something?
Yes. Set the chain to Approved at Once and requests of that kind are approved when they are sent.Related features
TIMEWeekly timesheets with approvalEach person's time for the week sits on one sheet, sent on Friday. The project manager or your approval chain approves it as a whole. Approved hours become the project's cost and what you bill.MONEYBilling runs from approved hoursEach period, a billing run gathers what a project bills. That is approved hours at their rates, fixed-price instalments that are due, the retainer fee and overage, and expenses to pass on. Once approved, it becomes a draft invoice in accounting with the entity's GST or VAT.MONEYProject expenses, advances and settlementsYour team claims what they spent on a project, asks for an advance before a trip and settles it after. The project manager approves each one. Payments are recorded by method with proof, and a supplier's expense becomes a draft vendor bill.MONEYProject budgets by OPEX and CAPEXEach project gets a budget by cost category, marked OPEX or CAPEX, approved before it counts. Time, expenses, orders, bills and store issues fill it by themselves, with alerts at 80 % and over 100 %.PROJECTSStages you leave only when the checks passEvery project moves through your stages, such as Planning, Execution and Closure. It leaves a stage only when its checks pass: tasks done, time approved, the payment received. Passing a check anyway takes an approval, with the reason on record.MONEYSubcontract work orders with certified measured workGive work to freelancers and subcontractors on a work order with item lines and rates. Work done is measured and certified by a Projects Manager. Running bills work out retention, advance recovery, back-charges and withholding tax.
See your next project on it.
Tell us how many people keep time, how you bill your clients today (hours, fixed price, retainers) and what you use now. We will set up one of your real projects with you.