FAQ: Tracking approvals

Question: We now have clients sign paper timesheets to show they were approved.  How would we deal with this requirement in an automated timesheet like TimeControl?

TimesheetAuditability_300x200.jpg This is a great question and one faced by any organization that is shifting from paper-based timesheets to an automated system.  Signature approvals are designed to have evidence that the person who signed the document actually saw the document they signed and their signature signifies their approval of the content.  There are two main areas of reluctance for auditors to accept an automated version of a signature in a computer-based timesheet:

  1. How do we know that the person whose name is now on the timesheet is actually the person who approved it? And;
  2. How can we be sure that the data in the view the person approved has not been changed.

In TimeControl, both of these concerns are dealt with in the way that TimeControl deals with auditability of the movement of timesheet ownership.

When a timesheet is created.  TimeControl notes in the database the user name and the date/time.  Then, whenever the timesheet changes ownership through releasing it for approval, the timesheet being rejected, updated re-released, approved and ultimate posted, TimeControl creates an entry in the Timesheet Release Log.

If a user is using the Alternate User function to log into TimeControl as someone else, TimeControl accommodates this also.  In this case the audit log will show both the person who had the responsibility of releasing or rejecting the timesheet as well as who the actual user was who performed the action.

Since this means that there is no reason to share one’s credentials to get into TimeControl, virtually all financial auditors HMS has encountered accept the user name entry in the audit log as equivalent to a signature on a piece of paper.  This has been tested in audits by authorities such as both Revenue Canada and the US IRS for R&D Tax Credits, Defense Contract Audit Agency audits, Sarbanes-Oxley compliance audits and countless other situations where timesheet data is part of an audit.

To be certain that this functionality will pass your own auditing standards, you should consult your Finance team and, if need be, have them speak to the technical experts at HMS.