A timesheet approval backup plan names who reviews time when the usual manager is away, which employees they cover, and what must reach payroll before cutoff. Put those decisions in writing and test access before the absence begins.
Assign one accountable backup for each team and pay period. Give that person a short handoff listing pending timesheets, unresolved corrections, review deadlines and the escalation contact. Close the handoff by checking the actual approval status, including any timesheets changed after review.
1. Define exactly what the backup owns
“Please cover my approvals” leaves too much open. A replacement supervisor may see several teams, several request queues and more than one pay period. Specify the employee group, coverage dates and review tasks. Distinguish timesheet review from leave requests, punch corrections and final payroll release.
The absence window and the payroll period are separate fields. A supervisor can be away for three days while the review covers two weeks of time. Record both, together with the time zone for each deadline. This makes the handoff usable across branches and avoids a last-minute argument about which cutoff applied.
Primary backup
Owns the review queue during the coverage window, follows up on missing information and sends the status update to payroll.
Escalation owner
Resolves questions the backup cannot decide, arranges authorized coverage if the backup is unavailable and confirms the handling of outstanding items.
Name the person responsible for reviewing the absent manager’s own timesheet as well. Covering a team does not automatically assign review of the supervisor’s hours. Where your internal controls require a separate reviewer for a person’s own changes, preserve that arrangement during the absence.
Use the organization’s existing payroll cutoff policy to set the deadline. Avoid creating a second cutoff that conflicts with the payroll team’s processing plan.
2. Test the approval route before the manager leaves
Test with the backup’s own account. Ask them to locate a representative employee and the relevant period, open the pending review and confirm who receives any next step. Viewing a timesheet is not enough to prove that the person can complete the required authorization.
In TimeTrex, check both the hierarchy configuration and the backup’s permission group. The hierarchy identifies the supervisor relationship; permissions determine available actions. Have the administrator verify the intended scope and test the result. The documentation recommends consulting support when modifying permissions.
A backup may already have the required access. If a change is needed, record its owner, scope and planned end date through your normal access process. Check a team inside the coverage scope and an unrelated team outside it. Use named accounts so the review remains attributable to the person who performed it.
TimeTrex documents higher-level coverage behavior for requests in its hierarchy guide. Confirm the applicable timesheet authorization route in your own configuration before relying on that behavior for time review. Do not assume every object follows an identical approval sequence.
Include a short practice handoff before a planned absence. The normal manager can explain one open issue while the backup finds the record and identifies the next action. This reveals missing context much earlier than a reminder sent on payroll morning.
3. Copy this timesheet approval handoff template
Keep the handoff in the team’s approved shared location. Link to the underlying records rather than copying unnecessary employee information into an email or a personal spreadsheet. Update the queue summary when an item changes owner or status.
Team / employee group: [Coverage scope]
Pay period: [Start date] through [End date]
Coverage window: [Start date and time] through [End date and time, time zone]
Normal approver / named backup: [Names and work contact route]
Escalation owner: [Name and contact route]
Review deadline / payroll cutoff: [Separate deadlines, time zone]
Queue at handoff: [Expected timesheets; authorized; ready for review; awaiting correction; not yet submitted]
Open items: [Record reference, issue, owner, next action, due time]
Access test: [Who tested, when, employee group and observed result]
Status update: [Where and when the backup reports to payroll]
Return handoff: [Remaining items, late changes and temporary access review]
Use status labels that describe evidence. “Awaiting employee response” is more useful than “in progress.” “Authorized at 10:15, then changed at 10:40; review reopened” is more useful than a permanent checkmark beside the employee’s name.
The handoff supports review; the saved timesheet and its current authorization status remain the operational record. Reconcile the summary with the live system before declaring the team ready for payroll.
4. Worked example: covering a 24-person team
This fictional example shows how to reconcile a review queue. It does not set a required approval timetable or payroll rule. A warehouse supervisor is away Thursday and Friday. The backup owns review of 24 employee timesheets; payroll requests a status update Friday at 11 a.m. in the branch’s stated time zone.
| Current status | Timesheets | Backup’s next action |
|---|---|---|
| Already authorized | 14 | Watch for later changes; avoid repeating completed work. |
| Ready for review | 6 | Review the records and resolve or route questions. |
| Awaiting correction | 3 | Follow the named owner and due time for each issue. |
| Not yet submitted | 1 | Contact the employee and check for a submission blocker. |
The opening check is 14 + 6 + 3 + 1 = 24. Each timesheet belongs to one current status, so the count reconciles to the team. The backup reviews all six ready items, then reviews two corrected records and the newly submitted record. That leaves 23 authorized and one unresolved.
Before the Friday update, an authorized record changes. Its authorization must be checked again. In this example the dashboard now shows 22 authorized, one awaiting renewed review and one unresolved correction. The total is still 24. A summary that simply added nine approvals to Thursday’s total would miss the reopened item.
The backup resolves and reauthorizes the changed record, then escalates the last correction with its record reference, known facts, owner and next action. Payroll receives a clear status of 23 authorized and one outstanding. An outstanding approval should trigger the organization’s timely-pay and correction process; it should not become an undocumented reason to omit known work.
5. Handle cutoff, late corrections and the return handoff
Use a short queue review at an agreed time before cutoff. Check missing submissions, unresolved exceptions, records waiting for employee verification and timesheets changed after approval. Give each outstanding item an owner and a due time. If the backup cannot establish what happened, escalate the evidence gap instead of guessing a punch or copying scheduled hours as actual work.
TimeTrex’s timesheet authorization guide explains that edits after verification or authorization clear the authorization and require employee re-verification. Recheck the resulting workflow after a correction, especially near the deadline. A screenshot of yesterday’s completed queue cannot establish today’s status.
When the manager returns, provide the remaining item list, important decisions and records changed during coverage. Confirm which person now owns follow-up. Ask the administrator to review any temporary access arrangement at its planned end, then close the coverage record after the handoff is acknowledged.
Keep the first return review brief: Did the backup find the right employees? Were pending items visible? Did a correction reopen review as expected? Which question required knowledge that should have been documented? Use the answers to improve the next handoff.
6. Approval coverage checklist
Use these checkboxes for a review session. They reset when the page reloads; keep the completed handoff in your approved record system.
Common questions
Who should approve timesheets when a manager is away?
Use the named backup authorized under your organization’s review process. Confirm both their employee scope and their ability to perform the required action before the absence. Escalate to the designated owner if the approved coverage arrangement is unavailable.
Is seeing an employee’s timesheet enough to prove approval access?
No. Test the required review action and the routing that follows it. In TimeTrex, hierarchy assignments and permission groups both matter. An administrator should confirm the intended setup and verify its behavior.
What happens if an approved timesheet changes?
Recheck its current status. TimeTrex documents that changes after verification or authorization clear authorization and require employee re-verification. Track the changed record as needing renewed attention until the applicable review is complete.
How often should the backup plan be tested?
Test before a planned absence and after changes to the employee group, review route or backup person. For unplanned absences, first confirm the authorized coverage and current queue, then document any gaps discovered during the handoff.
Sources and next steps
Product behavior was checked against the current TimeTrex documentation on October 27, 2026. The handoff format, queue example and checklist are suggested operational practices; confirm the workflow and review responsibilities that apply to your organization.
- TimeTrex: Hierarchy — supervisor relationships and object-specific routing.
- TimeTrex: Permission Groups — access scope and available actions.
- TimeTrex: Timesheet Authorizations — reviewing pending timesheets and handling later changes.
Make approval coverage part of your timekeeping workflow
Start with one team and one pay period. Map its review route, test a backup and use the handoff to identify missing information before payroll cutoff.
Talk to TimeTrex about your workflow
