The Time Approval feature in Productive allows managers to review time entries before they are recognized in reports or, in the case of budgets, made billable to the client.
Approvals ensure that only accurate, relevant time entries are included in reporting, invoicing, or profitability tracking.
Turning On Time Approval
Time approvals need to be enabled at the organization level and then applied to budgets or deals:
Go to Settings > Time Tracking.
Enable the Time Approval toggle.
📌 Once enabled, you can manage approvals individually in budgets and deals.
Where Time Approval Applies
Time approval can be used in different contexts in Productive:
Budgets
Users assigned as approvers review time before it becomes recognized and billable.
Approved time is included in budget usage and profitability reports.
Learn more: Time Approval in Budgets.
Deals
Time tracked in deals is often related to presales or sales work.
Users assigned as approvers can review and approve these entries, but they remain non-billable.
Only after a deal is won and time entries are transferred to a budget do they become billable.
Learn more: Time Tracking and Approval in Deals.
Further Reading: Timesheet Submission (Ultimate plan)
Employees can formally submit daily or weekly timesheets for approval.
Managers can track submission status, send reminders, and exclude certain employees if needed.
This adds an extra step to the approval process but does not replace budget or deal approval rules.
Learn more: Setting Up Time Entry Submissions.
How Time Approvals Work
When time approvals are enabled, approvers can review new time entries. Only after approval do entries become recognized and used in reports. Here’s the general process:
1) Notification and Approval Screen
Approvers receive a notification when a time entry is added (or submitted using the Time Entry Submission feature).
Pending entries appear in the Approvals tab.
2) Approval Timeline
Entries logged today will show up for approval the following day.
Entries logged on future dates will become available for approval on the day after they are logged.
3) Actions in the Approval Inbox
✅ Approve the entry
🔄 Request changes
⋮ Edit the entry (date, service, description, hours)
⏱ View timer logs (if the timer was used)
🗑 Delete the entry
Good to Know
If time approval is enabled after entries have already been logged, those past entries are automatically marked as approved.
By default, admins (or users with the Approve all time entries permission) can approve other people’s time, ensuring continuity if the designated approver is unavailable.