Payroll reviewers and managers with pay period access
Review and approve timesheets
Check a worker's shifts and pay details, approve the pending shifts, and continue through the pay period without returning to the list each time.
Reviewed September 21, 2026
Before you start
- You need permission to access Pay Periods and the account must have the relevant payroll review experience enabled.
- Approval controls appear where timesheet approval is required and supported by the account configuration.
- Know the pay period and review policy you are applying. Resolve missing time, rates, and adjustments before confirming an approval.
Steps
Open the pay period
Open Payroll, then Pay Periods, and choose the period you need to review. Check the dates and worker rows. Where shown, worked shift counts help you understand how much work sits behind a row; they do not replace checking the details.
Review the worker's timesheet
Open the worker. Check the identity, shift dates, hours, rates, gross amounts, approval statuses, and relevant time off or adjustments. Compare the figures with the records and rules your team uses for review.
Choose the approval action
For a pending timesheet, select Approve & Next when a next pending worker is available, or Approve Timesheet otherwise. Read the confirmation carefully: the action approves all of this worker's pending shifts in the selected pay period.
Confirm and check the result
Confirm with Approve & Next or Approve in the dialog. The screen advances only after a successful approval. If there is a next pending worker, review that worker. If the queue is resolved and none remain, you return to the pay period.
Continue or return to the list
An already approved timesheet can show Next pending when another pending worker is available. If you need to work within a specific filter or search, return to the pay period list and select the intended worker there.
Validate the output separately
After review, check the pay period totals and the output required by your payroll process. Use Export where available and validate the resulting file before sending it downstream. Timesheet approval, exporting, and paying workers are separate steps.
Staying on the page can be expected
If the next pending worker is still loading or cannot be resolved, approval can succeed while the screen stays on the current timesheet. An absent Next pending control in that state does not prove that every worker has been reviewed.
A failed approval does not advance the queue
If approval fails, remain on the current worker and resolve the reported issue. Check the displayed status before repeating the action. Do not infer success from having clicked the button.
Example
Jordan Lee has two eight hour shifts at $27 per hour, giving $432 in gross pay before any applicable adjustments. A reviewer checks both shifts and their statuses, confirms the pending shifts, and then checks the identity of the next worker before continuing.
Check your work
- You approved the intended worker in the correct pay period.
- Hours, rates, and totals agree with the source records.
- Each approval succeeded before you moved on.
- The pay period and export were checked separately from individual approval.
Troubleshooting
Why is the approval button missing?
Check whether the account requires timesheet approval, whether the relevant payroll experience is enabled, and whether you have Pay Periods access. An already approved worker shows an approval status rather than an action to approve again.
Why did the next worker fall outside my filter?
Approve & Next uses the pending queue for the whole pay period. Return to the list to continue within a particular search or filter.
Why did approval succeed without moving to another worker?
The next pending lookup may still be loading or may have failed. Check the approval status, then return to the pay period list or use Next pending when it appears. Do not assume that staying on the page means approval failed.