The OpenAir Self-Rejection of Timesheets Feature

It’s not uncommon for a user to enter all of their time on a timesheet and submit the timesheet – and then notice something is off.  It’s not *as* common for users to accidentally submit a timesheet they haven’t completed, but it happens.  In the default OpenAir configuration the user has a couple of options.  They can:

• Contact one of the people listed as an approver of that timesheet and ask them to reject it so the user can change the time
• Create and submit an overlapping timesheet for the same period with the necessary corrections

The first option is at best inconvenient, while the second option can easily create clutter and confuse. It also requires overlapping timesheet permissions that many organizations do not enable.

The “Self-Rejection of Timesheets” feature in OpenAir can allow the user to reject the timesheet themselves without having to interrupt anyone else’s workflow or create an unnecessary extra timesheet.  When this switch is enabled every submitted (but not yet approved) timesheet will have a “Reject” button that only the timesheet owner can see and use.  When this is clicked, the timesheet moves to a Rejected status; the user can then make the necessary changes and re-submit the timesheet.

It is important to note that this button will only appear if the timesheet has not been approved by anyone, including the user themselves.  For organizations that make heavy use of the “Self-approver” feature, this may not be an option for you if that self-approval occurs first or early on in the approval cycle.

The other potential downside to this feature is that the approvers may receive multiple notifications that a timesheet is waiting for their approval; initially when the timesheet is first submitted, then again when the corrected timesheet is submitted.

Each organization should consider if this is a valuable feature for their users to have and if it fits within their approval workflows.  If so, it can save time and prevent distractions, and is just one more step an organization can take to timely and accurate time collection.