Overview
Definitiv now includes a Project Manager Timesheet Approval Mode setting that controls whether a project manager can approve their own timesheet when they record time against a project they manage.
Previously, when a project manager submitted a timesheet coded to a project they manage and manual approval was required, that timesheet could be routed back to the project manager themselves for approval. In organisations that require segregation of duties, this is a compliance gap, an employee should not be able to approve their own time. In setups where timesheets are sent to both the project manager and the line manager with "any approver can approve", a project manager coding time to their own project could also cause the timesheet to drop out of the line manager's approval queue, removing oversight.
The new setting closes this gap. When set to Line Manager, a project manager is excluded from approving their own timesheet on projects they manage, and the timesheet is routed to their line manager instead.
📌Note: This setting is optional. It defaults to Self for all existing and new organisations, which preserves the current behaviour. Nothing changes unless an administrator switches it on.
Where to find the setting
The setting is located at Configuration, Organisation Settings, Approvals tab, between the Approval Policy Mode setting and the Automatic Approvals section. It is a dropdown with two options:
Self (default) — the existing behaviour. A project manager remains an eligible approver for their own timesheet and may approve it, subject to your normal approval configuration.
Line Manager — a project manager cannot approve their own timesheet on a project they manage. The project manager approval step is skipped for that timesheet, and it is routed to the project manager's line manager instead.
How to enable the setting
Go to Configuration, Organisation Settings, Approvals.
Locate Project Manager Timesheet Approval Mode.
Select Line Manager from the dropdown.
Click Save.
The change applies to all timesheets submitted after it is saved. It does not retrospectively change timesheets that have already been submitted or approved. You can switch back to Self at any time to return to the previous behaviour.
How approval routing works under each mode
Scenario | Setting = Self | Setting = Line Manager |
Project manager submits their own timesheet against a project they manage. | Normal project manager approval — the project manager may approve their own timesheet. | All project managers are excluded; the timesheet is routed to the submitter's line manager only. |
Multiple project managers on the project, one submits their own timesheet. | Normal project manager approval. | All project managers are excluded; the timesheet is routed to the submitter's line manager only. |
Project manager submits a timesheet for a project they do not manage. | Normal approval flow. | Normal approval flow — the exclusion does not apply. |
An employee who is not a project manager submits their own timesheet. | Normal approval flow. | Normal approval flow. |
When the exclusion applies
Under Line Manager mode, the project manager self-exclusion only applies when all of the following are true:
The organisation setting is set to Line Manager.
The project uses Use Project Specific Approvals.
The Project Manager approver type is enabled on the project.
The submitting employee is an assigned project manager on that specific project.
If any one of these is not met, the existing approval logic applies unchanged. Timesheets that contain lines coded to more than one project are assessed project by project — the exclusion can apply to the lines for a project the employee manages while the lines for other projects follow standard routing.
Where the timesheet is routed (fallback order)
When a project manager is excluded from approving their own timesheet, Definitiv resolves an alternative approver in this order:
Line Manager — the submitting employee's line manager, as determined by the organisation hierarchy.
Default Approver — the organisation's Default Approver configured on the Approvals tab, used when the employee has no line manager in the hierarchy.
⚠️Important: If the submitting employee has no line manager and no organisation Default Approver is configured, there is no eligible approver to route the timesheet to and submission cannot complete. Make sure a Default Approver is configured on the Approvals tab before enabling Line Manager mode, so every timesheet always has a fallback approver.
Interaction with automatic approvals
Automatic approval is unaffected by this setting. Auto-approval is evaluated first, before any approver is resolved. If a timesheet meets your organisation's auto-approval criteria, it is approved automatically and the project manager self-exclusion logic is never triggered — regardless of whether the setting is Self or Line Manager.
The self-exclusion and line manager routing only come into play when a timesheet requires manual approval (for example, where automatic approval is disabled, or the submitted hours do not meet the auto-approval criteria).
What is not affected
Leave request approvals: these continue to follow the line management hierarchy and are not changed by this setting.
Projects set to "Line Managers to approve" projects that are not configured for project-specific approvals are unaffected; their existing routing applies.
Projects without the Project Manager approver type: if a project does not use the Project Manager approver type, there is nothing to exclude, and routing is unchanged.
Timesheets for projects the employee does not manage: standard approval routing applies, including to the assigned project manager(s) of that project.
Notifications: the project manager receives the standard submission confirmation, and the line manager receives the standard approval notification. No new notification types are introduced.
Audit trail and approval history: logging is unchanged.
Existing customers: the setting defaults to Self, so there is no change to existing approval workflows unless you opt in.
Worked examples
Single project manager, Line Manager mode. Jane is the only project manager on a project and submits a timesheet coded to it. The project manager approval step is skipped, Jane is removed from the approver pool, and the timesheet is routed to Jane's line manager. If Jane has no line manager, it is routed to the organisation's Default Approver.
Multiple project managers, Line Manager mode. Jane and Tom are both project managers on a project. Jane submits a timesheet coded to it. Both Jane and Tom are excluded, and the timesheet is routed to Jane's line manager — not to Tom.
Project manager coding time to a project they don't manage. Jane manages Project A but not Project B. She submits a timesheet coded to Project B. The exclusion does not apply, and Project B's assigned project manager (for example, Morgan) approves it under the normal flow.
Auto-approval enabled. Jane is the only project manager on a project, auto-approval is set to "Exact", and her submitted hours match her rostered hours. The timesheet is auto-approved upstream and no approver — line manager or otherwise — is involved.
Frequently asked questions
Q. Will enabling this effect timesheets that are already submitted?
A. No, the setting applies only to timesheets submitted after it is saved. Timesheets already in an approval queue or already approved are not changed.
Q. Do I need to reconfigure each project?
A. No, this is a single organisation-level setting. You do not need to change any per-project approval configuration to use it.
Q. What happens to a project manager's timesheet for a project they don't manage?
A. Nothing changes; the exclusion only applies when the submitter is an assigned project manager on the specific project the time is coded to. For all other projects, the normal approval routing applies.
Q. What if the project manager has no line manager?
A. The timesheet falls back to the organisation's Default Approver. If no Default Approver is configured either, the timesheet cannot be submitted, so we recommend configuring a Default Approver before turning the setting on.
Q. Does this change anything for leave approvals?
A. No, leave request approvals are not affected and continue to follow the line management hierarchy.
Q. Can I turn it off again?
A. Yes, switch the setting back to Self at any time and the system reverts to the previous behaviour, where project managers can approve their own timesheets subject to your normal approval configuration.
Q. Does it override automatic approvals?
A. No, automatic approval is always evaluated first. If a timesheet qualifies for auto-approval it is approved automatically, and the line manager routing does not apply.