Approving Timesheets for Payroll
At the end of each pay period, Veras walks you through a three-step review so nothing incomplete reaches payroll: clear the correction requests, clear the issues, then approve each employee's timesheet.
This guide covers:
Who can approve timesheets
How to start the approval flow
What each of the three steps asks you to do
What approval actually does — and what you can't undo
Who Can Approve Timesheets
Access depends on your permissions, and if your organization is using Veras Time & Attendance. Please reach out to your organization's Veras admin, or Veras Support if you believe you don't have the right access.
Before You Start
Approval is blocked for any employee who has an open issue or a pending correction request. The flow is built to walk you through clearing those first, but it's worth knowing why an employee might not be selectable when you get to the last step.
See Resolving Timesheet Issues and Correction Requests for how to clear each one.
Starting the Approval Flow
Go to Time tracking. When a pay period is ready to be approved, a blue banner appears above the tabs:
Approve employee timesheets.
Review and approve your team's timesheets for a given pay period.
Select Approve timesheets to open the approval window.
If you don't see the banner, the last completed pay period has already been fully approved for every pay group.
Choosing a Pay Group
If more than one pay group needs approval, you'll be asked to pick one first:
Approve timesheets for the pay groups listed below
Each row shows the pay group name and the pay period being approved. Select the one you want.
If only one pay group needs approval, this step is skipped and you go straight to Step 1.
Veras always approves the most recently completed pay period for that pay group. The window header confirms which one you're working on:
Review and approve timesheets for {Pay group} (Jul 1 - Jul 14, 2026)
The Three Steps
A sidebar on the left tracks your progress under the heading Approval steps, with a progress bar and a {n} of 3 complete counter. Each step turns to Completed with a green check as you clear it.
Step | Title | What it asks |
Step 1 | Corrections | Approve or reject. |
Step 2 | Issues | Notify employees |
Step 3 | Approve | Review & approve |
You can click between steps freely — the sidebar is a navigator, not a gate. But an employee with open corrections or issues can't be approved in Step 3, so working through the steps in order is the fastest path.
Step 1: Corrections
Review each request and approve or reject.
Every pending correction request for this pay group appears as a card. Each shows the employee's name, when the request was submitted, the shift date, and the specific changes being requested.
Select View full timesheet on any card to see the timesheet as it stands today before deciding.
Use the green ✓ to approve or the red ✕ to reject.
When there's nothing left to review you'll see:
No corrections to review
You're all caught up on this step!
Select Continue to issues to move on.
Step 2: Issues
Notify employees to correct their timesheets.
Every timesheet with a missing punch appears here, showing the employee, the shift, and exactly what's missing.
You have two options for each one:
Message — sends the employee a pre-drafted note asking them to submit a correction
Expand the row and fix the timesheet yourself
When everything is clear:
No issues to resolve
You're all caught up on this step!
Select Continue to approvals to move on.
Tip: If you're up against a payroll deadline, fixing the timesheets yourself is faster than waiting on employee corrections — but messaging keeps the employee accountable for their own time. Pick based on how much runway you have.
Step 3: Approve
Review each employee's timesheet and approve for payroll.
This step lists everyone in the pay group with their totals for the pay period.
Column | What it shows |
Name | Employee name and primary position |
Scheduled | Total scheduled time for the pay period |
Worked | Total recorded time |
+/- | The difference between the two |
Issues/Corrections | Yellow badge for issues, blue badge for pending corrections, or |
Status | Approved in green once approved, otherwise |
Action | View — opens that employee's full timesheet |
Approving several employees at once
Check the box next to each employee you want to approve, or use select-all. The button in the top right changes to Approve timesheets. Select it to approve everyone you've checked.
A row can only be checked when the employee has no issues, no pending corrections, and hasn't already been approved. If someone can't be selected, that's why — go back to Step 1 or Step 2 and clear them.
Reviewing one employee at a time
With nothing selected, the button reads Review timesheets. Select it to open the first employee's full timesheet inside the approval window, where you can look at every shift before deciding.
The button on each employee changes based on their state:
Approve & next — the timesheet is clean; approve it and move to the next employee
Approve & finish — same, but this is the last employee
Next — this employee has an open issue or correction, or is already approved, so approval isn't offered. Move on without approving
Once everyone is approved, you'll see:
You're all set! Your team's timesheets are ready for payroll.
What Approval Does
When you approve an employee's timesheet:
Your name and the time of approval are recorded against that employee's pay period
That employee's timesheet is locked for the pay period. No further edits, and no new correction requests
A green check appears in the Manager column on the Pay page, with a tooltip showing who approved it
Approving does not send a notification to the employee, and it does not run or export payroll. Payroll is exported separately from the Pay page.
Need Help?
If you have questions about approving timesheets or need a pay period reopened, please contact the Veras Support team for assistance.