HMS has been creating timesheet systems since its first mandate in 1984.  We’ve learned a few things since then.   By the time we released TimeControl, our commercial timesheet software in 1994, we had created numerous custom timesheet systems for organizations of many sizes.  We realized that timesheet approvals was the cornerstone of creating a timesheet that would work for an organization yet almost everyone had a different perspective on how timesheet approvals should work.  Who needed to do the approval?  The supervisor, the project manager, the account manager, the payroll manager?  Who else?  The subject could quickly become a quagmire.

That led us to create functionality in TimeControl that would be tremendously flexible and yet carry many robust layers, some visible, some behind the scenes that would let administrators create the timesheet approval mechanism they needed.

In 1994 we trademarked the term “The Matrix Approval Process for Labor Actuals™”.  This process is embedded within TimeControl and allows timesheet to be approved both by Project Management and by Finance.  There can be many other elements to creating your own approvals. TimeControl has continued to evolve and the ability to create approval mechanisms within the timesheet has evolved with it.  TimeControl’s functionality includes many more options for filters, validation rules, workflow, accruals and other building blocks to creating a powerful and multi-faceted automated approval process.

HMS Software has extensive resources available to TimeControl users to help develop an approval process that supports their particular environment.  Approvals can include multiple levels, conditional branching and include both full-timesheet validation and line-by-line approvals.  The TimeControl website includes an area dedicated to approvals including white papers, webcasts and other collateral created by HMS technical personnel.  The white paper “The Timesheet Approvals Challenge” shows why so many organizations end up implementing more than one timesheet system even when that is not their intention.  The white paper “Creating your Approvals Process in TimeControl” covers all the elements of functionality that you can employ in creating your own approval process.

Find out more about the Matrix Approval Process for Labor Actuals and how to solve your timesheet approvals challenges at: www.timecontrol.com/use-cases/matrix-approvals.