Projects & Timesheets

Track employee hours against client projects with a full two-stage approval chain (Project Manager → Finance) and automatic labor-cost calculations.

How it works at a glance

Admin creates project → Adds members with billing rates → Employees log daily hours → PM approves → Finance approves → Costs auto-calculated

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Prerequisites

Before using this module, the following must be configured in Core HR:

• ✅ Active employees - project members must already exist in the system
• ✅ At least one Location - projects are linked to office locations
• ✅ Designations assigned - used for team role identification

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👤 Role-Based Access

Action	SUPER_ADMIN / HR_ADMIN / ACCOUNT_ADMIN	Project Manager	EMPLOYEE
Create / edit projects	✅	❌	❌
Add / remove members	✅	❌	❌
Set billing rates	✅	❌	❌
View project cost summary	✅	✅ (own project)	❌
Log timesheets	✅	✅	✅
Approve timesheets (L1)	-	✅	❌
Final approve timesheets (L2)	✅ (ACCOUNT_ADMIN)	❌	❌

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Admin Workflow

Step 1 - Create a Project

Navigate to: Projects → Create Project

Field	Description	Example
Name	Human-readable project name	Project Delta
Code	Short unique code	DELTA01
Description	Brief summary	High-impact client build
Manager	Assign a Project Manager (from employees)	(select employee)
Status	Initial state	ACTIVE
Start Date	When work begins	2026-01-01

Note

Only ACTIVE projects accept timesheet entries. Set a project to COMPLETED or INACTIVE when no more hours should be logged against it.

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Step 2 - Link Project Locations

If the project is tied to specific offices (useful for geofencing and multi-location companies), link them:

Navigate to: Project Detail → Locations Tab → Add Location

This restricts which office locations are associated with the project for reporting purposes.

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Step 3 - Assign Project Members & Billing Rates

Each member must be assigned with a role and an hourly billing rate.

Navigate to: Project Detail → Members Tab → Add Member

Field	Description	Example
Employee	Select from active employee list	John Doe
Role	MEMBER or LEAD	MEMBER
Hourly Rate	Billing rate in base currency	75 (per hour)

Updating a rate: Click the edit icon next to the member and enter the new rate. The old rate is automatically snapshotted on existing submitted timesheets to protect financial history.

Removing a member: This is a soft delete - the member can no longer log hours, but all their historic timesheets remain intact.

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Employee Workflow

Step 1 - View My Projects

Navigate to: My Projects (sidebar)

Employees see all projects they are assigned to, along with their role (MEMBER or LEAD) and joining date.

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Step 2 - Log Timesheet Hours

Navigate to: Timesheets → Log Time

Field	Description	Notes
Project	Select from assigned projects	Only ACTIVE projects are shown
Date	Date work was performed	Cannot be a future date
Hours	Hours worked	Total across all projects cannot exceed 24 hours per day
Description	What was accomplished	e.g. Implemented login features
Billable	Whether hours are billable to client	Affects cost calculations

System validation guards (automatic):

Rule	What it checks
🔴 Future Date Guard	Rejects dates later than today
🔴 Project Status Guard	Rejects hours on COMPLETED or INACTIVE projects
🔴 Joining Date Guard	Rejects hours before the employee joined the project
🔴 24-Hour Daily Cap	Rejects entries that would push total daily hours past 24

Entries saved but not submitted are shown as DRAFT (yellow/orange in the calendar view).

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Step 3 - Submit Timesheet for Approval

Once ready, submit your draft entry for manager review:

Navigate to: Timesheets → click the draft entry → Submit

Tip

Submitting locks the hourly rate to the current value configured by admin. If the admin later changes your rate, your already-submitted timesheets are unaffected.

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Step 4 - Respond to Returns

If your manager returns a timesheet with comments:

1. You will see the entry marked RETURNED with the manager’s comment
2. Edit the hours or description as needed
3. Click Resubmit - it goes back to PENDING_PM

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Timesheet Approval Workflow

Timesheets follow a two-step approval chain:

DRAFT → [Employee Submits] → PENDING_PM → [PM Approves] → PENDING_FINANCE → [Finance Approves] → APPROVED
                                           ↓ [PM Returns]
                                         RETURNED → [Employee Edits & Resubmits] → PENDING_PM

L1 - Project Manager Approval

Navigate to: Team Approvals → Timesheets

• Review the employee’s hours and description
• Click Approve (moves to PENDING_FINANCE) or Return with comments

L2 - Finance Final Approval

Navigate to: Finance Portal → Timesheet Audit

• Only ACCOUNT_ADMIN or SUPER_ADMIN can complete L2
• Click Approve - moves status to APPROVED

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Project Cost Analysis

Admins and the Project Manager can see labor cost breakdowns.

Navigate to: Project Detail → Costs Tab

How Labor Cost is Calculated

Labor Cost = Approved Hours × Snapshotted Hourly Rate

• Billable hours are included in the project P&L
• Non-billable hours appear in utilization analytics only

The Costs tab also shows:

• Expense claims linked to this project (by category)
• Date range filtering to query specific billing windows
• Per-employee cost breakdown

Caution

Only SUPER_ADMIN, HR_ADMIN, ACCOUNT_ADMIN, and the project’s designated Project Manager can access the Costs tab. Standard employees and managers of other projects will receive a 403 error.

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Common Troubleshooting

Problem	Solution
Project not visible when logging time	Ensure you are listed as a member; check project status is ACTIVE
Hours rejected due to daily cap	You’ve already logged 24 hours for that date across all projects
Timesheet locked - cannot edit	Only DRAFT and RETURNED timesheets can be edited
Cannot see project costs tab	Your role doesn’t have cost view access; contact your PM or admin
Billing rate changed but old timesheets look wrong	Rate changes are snapshotted at submission; only new submissions use the new rate

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← Core HR Ensure employees and locations are set up first.

Expenses → Configure expense claim workflows for project teams.