Timesheet Approval with Approvals for Confluence by AppFox
We tested 4 different scenarios to provide a good representation of how you could get a Timesheet approval in Confluence using AppFox’s Approvals for Confluence.
This documentation is a detailed breakdown of the 4 processes with one of the apps: Approvals for Confluence by AppFox. If you are interested in the overview article, please navigate here.
1. Adding a Timesheet Report as an Image and requiring a single approver
We’ll start the scenario by creating our Confluence page and importing our Timesheet report as an image/screenshot.
The next step is simply to start the approval process by clicking on the app on the Confluence page and to request an approval.
From that same pop-up is where we will be defining who our approver is as well as the setting behind the approval.
In our case, we choose Max as the single approver and don’t touch any of the other default settings.
Max will receive an email requesting his approval on the page, where he will be able to approve or reject the Timesheet/Confluence page.
If Max approves the Timesheet submission, then there will be some indicators that the page has been approved by all approvers.
You’ll also be able to look at the approver’s comments as well as the history of the approval process, in case there are numerous versions of the Timesheet due to edits or rejections.
2. Adding a Timesheet Report as a .csv and requiring multiple approvers
The second scenario is extremely similar to the first, with the main difference being that more approvers will be required to check our Timesheet and make sure that it is accurate. Something interesting we noticed while playing around with the approvers is that adding a group will add every user of that group individually - we’ll get to the likely logic of that decision in scenario 3.
The main difference between scenarios one and two will just be in the number of approvers needed before the page is marked as approved by the app (if the setting has been ticked, each approver will receive an email notification, and the user that requested the approval can also get the updates on the changes.
Something quite nice is that there is a section of the app named “Approval Search” which can display all the approvals that have been submitted based on their status. Aside from the status of the approval, the interesting part is the showcase of the version that has been approved.
Now that the two Maxes have approved the Timesheet, the user will be able to submit their invoice and fuel his gaming microtransaction addiction. Thanks for enabling him Maxes!
3. Adding a Timesheet Report as a table and requiring “Partial” approvers
In this scenario, we go back to our Confluence page where we copy-paste our February Timesheet into a table and have at least one person approve the Timesheet.
To do so, we’ll do the same steps as scenarios one and two, with the main difference being that we check the option “Set Minimum Required Approvals”. This option can be great when there are multiple approvers (say multiple bosses) but you only need one to give their “OK”.
In other words, you could create a Jira group for approvers, and add that group as approvers. As previously mentioned, this will add each user individually as approver. But since we only need one person to approve our Timesheet, then this is where the minimum approver option comes in handy.
Once at least one of the approvers gives their blessing for the Timesheet to be submitted to payroll, then the Confluence page will update itself with some visual indication that the page has been approved. In addition, this information will also be reflected in the “Approval Search” section.
As such, if you have to buy a bottle of wine for any of your approvers in the future, you will know which one to thank for enabling your bed pillow collection.
4. Rejecting the Timesheet Report
We saw three different ways to render a Timesheet on Confluence as well as three different ways to approve those Timesheets. Of course, just like in life, rejection is part of the story. So what happens when our Timesheet is rejected by the approver?
With Appfox’s app, there are two scenarios after getting rejected.
In the first one, it is up to the approver to change their opinions on the Timesheet and modify their choice to approve the page.
The second scenario is a little more natural and fluid: if you tick the option to reset the approval paths whenever an edit is made on the page (when creating the approval path), then once the page is edited with the amended Timesheet, the approval process will reset (so will the notifications). So this can be a quick and easy way to go through edits without needing to reset the process.
The approver will receive an approval email again (if the notification option is active).
