Set up approval policies

Approval policies let you control who approves what, and in what order for your organization. Each policy applies to one area and can have multiple levels of approvers.

What approval policies cover

You can set a separate policy for each of these areas:

• Timesheets — who approves submitted hours.
• Time off — who approves time-off requests.
• Invoices — who approves invoices before they’re paid.

Every new organization starts with sensible default policies (for example, an HR Manager approves timesheets and time off, and a Finance Manager approves invoices), so approvals work out of the box — you only need to change them if you want a different setup.

Where to configure them

Go to Settings → Approval Policies. Use the tabs for Timesheets, Time Off, and Invoices to edit each policy. You’ll need the permission to manage approval policies.

How a policy is built

A policy is made of levels, and each level has one or more approvers:

• Levels run in order — level 1 must clear before level 2, and so on. Use multiple levels when something needs more than one stage of sign-off (for example, a manager *then* finance).
• Required approvals — for each level, set how many of its approvers must approve before it clears. For example, a level with three approvers and a required count of two clears once any two approve.
• Approvers — each slot in a level can be one of:
• Specific user — a named person.
• Role — anyone who holds that role (resolved when the request is submitted).
• Department head — the requester’s department head, filled in automatically.
• Direct manager — the requester’s direct manager, filled in automatically.

Save, archive, or restore

• Save — apply your changes to the policy.
• Archive policy — turn off approvals for that area. Requests already in progress aren’t affected.
• Restore default — revert to the original seeded policy for that area.

Good to know

• When a request is submitted, it captures a snapshot of the policy as it is at that moment — so editing a policy later doesn’t disrupt requests already in flight.
• Empty or unresolved slots (for example, a requester with no department head) are skipped automatically.

Once policies are set, approvals show up for the chosen approvers to action. See Review and approve timesheets and Review and approve time-off requests.