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Payroll closed on Friday. On Monday someone edits last week's work logs in Jira, and now the invoice you sent no longer matches the hours in the system. Nobody did anything wrong. Jira just doesn't have a point where hours become final.
That point is timesheet approval: a manager reviews logged hours, approves them, and from then on they're locked. Jira can't do it on its own, so teams add an app. Below is how approval works in ActivityTimeline, who can approve, which settings matter, and how it compares with Tempo and Clockwork.
Does Jira have timesheet approval?
No. Jira stores work logs on issues, and anyone with permission can add, edit or delete them at any time. There's no approval status, no locked period and no review screen. For approval you need a Marketplace app.
The main difference is the submit step. Tempo and Clockwork ask each person to submit a period before review. ActivityTimeline skips it: managers can approve work logs as soon as they exist, and the period closes on schedule. If your process requires an explicit "I'm done with this week" from each employee, that's a real reason to prefer a submit-based tool.
How does timesheet approval work in ActivityTimeline?
- People log time as usual, in Jira or in ActivityTimeline. Each new work log has the status Pending Approval.
- An approver opens Timesheets, filters by approval status, and reviews the work logs.
- The approver approves them one by one or with Bulk Approve. Approved work logs are locked; the app records who approved each one.
- If something looks wrong, the approver leaves it unapproved and asks the person to fix it while the period is still open.
- When the reporting period closes, every work log in it becomes final: Closed Approved or Closed Rejected.
While approval is on, people can edit or delete only work logs that are still Pending Approval.
Why approve timesheets at all?
One of the most direct benefits of timesheet approval is the prevention of payroll errors. When timesheets are approved before processing, HR and finance teams can confidently proceed with accurate timesheets that reflect real billable work hours. This minimizes disputes and ensures employees are paid correctly and on time.
Another benefit lies in regulatory compliance. Labor laws often require precise documentation of employee time, including breaks, overtime, and regular hours. An effective timesheet approval system provides the necessary audit trails and validation to support compliance.
From a managerial perspective, approved timesheets also offer clear visibility into employee work hours, team availability, and project progress. They help project managers and team leads manage budgets, distribute workloads efficiently, and prevent staff burnout. When tied to broader workforce analytics, timesheet data can even uncover inefficiencies and inform decisions about hiring or resource reallocation.
Approving timesheets is less about distrust than about having a date after which the numbers stop moving.
Who can approve timesheets?
Four ActivityTimeline roles can approve work logs:
Employees see only their own timesheets. If managers also need to log hours for their people (for example, for someone on the road), turn on Allow to log time for other users in Configuration → Timesheets Config.
How to set up timesheet approval in ActivityTimeline
An admin does this once, in Configuration → Timesheets Config:
- Turn on Approval Workflow in Timesheets. It's off by default, and while it's off every work log is final as soon as it's logged.
- Turn on Time Tracking Period Closure if past periods should lock.
- Set Time Tracking Period to Weekly or Monthly.
- Set the Time Logging Grace Period: from no grace period up to 30 extra days to log time after a period ends.
- Decide on Update approved worklogs if changed in Jira. Off (the default) keeps approved records exactly as approved. On lets a change made in Jira update the approved record.
One thing to know before step 2: period closure works with Jira issue work logs only. When you turn it on, the options to treat bookings and imported calendar events as work logs switch off.
Each work log then has one of four statuses.
If for some reason you need to allow managers log hours on behalf of their subordinates, just enable this option in Configurations:
With the Time Logging Grace Period setting, organizations can define how long after the reporting period ends employees are still allowed to log hours. Previous time becomes unavailable for time logging, which accommodates late submissions without compromising data integrity.
The app displays reminders to prompt employees in their personal workspaces to submit their timesheets and automatically locking time periods to prevent late changes.
How to approve timesheets faster
For a team of ten, reviewing work logs one at a time takes most of a Friday afternoon. Three things cut that down. Bulk Approve in the Detailed timesheet view approves everything you've checked at once. The Approval Progress template in the Progress view shows, per person, how much of the period is already approved, so you start with the people who are behind. And if approval is part of a bigger process, the ActivityTimeline REST API can approve a work log by its ID.
Give feedback the same day you leave something unapproved. A note on Monday is a fix; a note after the period closes is an argument.
Disabling timesheet approvals
There are scenarios where an organization may choose to disable timesheet approvals temporarily or permanently. For example, during internal transitions or in smaller teams with high trust, manual approvals may be unnecessary.
To turn approval off, an admin switches off Approval Workflow in Timesheets in Configuration → Timesheets Config. From then on, work logs are final as soon as they're logged. Tell the team before you do it, because the change applies to everyone.
Conclusion
A well-structured timesheet approval process is crucial for payroll accuracy, labor law compliance, and effective resource management. Tools like ActivityTimeline empower teams to streamline this process, reduce administrative burden, and ensure that work hours are tracked and approved transparently and controllably. Whether managing a small team or a global workforce, a reliable timesheet approval system can make all the difference.
