Who it’s for: Administrators
Platform: Forms, Sense Automate, Sense HR
Available on: Elite and Enterprise plans + Active Sense Forms Licence
Before you begin
Before installing this workflow, ensure that:
☑️ Your organisation has an active Sense Forms licence
☑️ You have permission to install and deploy workflows in Sense Automate
☑️ Employees who will complete timesheets can access their Forms sessions
☑️ Managers who will review timesheets can access their Forms review sessions, if using Manager Approval
☑️ Any existing Timesheets profile screen has been prepared before deployment. See Prepare the Timesheets screen below.
🖊️ Note: If you don’t already have a profile screen named Timesheets, you can skip the Prepare the Timesheets screen section and head straight to Overview.
Prepare the Timesheets screen
When the Weekly Timesheet workflow is deployed, it automatically creates a Timesheets profile screen in Sense HR. This screen stores Weekly Timesheet records and is also used by the monthly timesheet process.
If a screen with the same name already exists, the new screen won’t be created.
Before deploying the workflow, choose one of the following options:
Rename the existing screen (recommended) if you want to keep its existing records.
Update the existing screen so it matches the requirements of the Weekly Timesheet workflow.
Delete the existing screen if you no longer need the records stored in it.
Recommended: Rename the existing screen
If you want to retain the records stored in your existing Timesheets screen, rename the screen before deploying the workflow.
For example:
Timesheets → Timesheets (Old)
You may also want to remove access to the old screen through your Profile Templates or Access Roles so users only see the new screen.
When you deploy the workflow, a new Timesheets screen is created automatically with the correct structure for the Weekly Timesheet workflow.
This approach preserves your existing records while allowing the workflow to create and use its required screen.
Option 2: Update the existing screen
If you want to continue using the existing Timesheets screen, update it in Screen Designer so it contains the fields required by the workflow.
The screen must be named:
Timesheets
It must contain the following fields:
Field name | Field type | Column header |
Week Commencing | Date | Yes |
Timesheet Date | Date | Yes |
Project | Dropdown | Yes |
Hours | Number | Yes |
Pay Rate | Dropdown | No |
Break Minutes | Number | No |
Overnight | Checkbox | No |
Comment | Rich text | No |
Status | Text | Yes |
Decision Date | Text* | No |
Payroll Status | Dropdown | Yes |
Payroll Comment | Rich text | No |
Payroll Decision Date | Text* | No |
Manager Comment | Rich text | No |
* Important: Decision Date and Payroll Decision Date store ISO 8601 timestamps, for example 2026-07-01T09:14:00.000Z. Keep these fields as Text fields. Don’t change them to Date fields unless the workflow code that writes these values is also changed.
🖊️ Note: If you update an existing Timesheets screen for this workflow, keep the required field names, field types, and configured options exactly as specified. Some fields are referenced directly by the workflow, and changing their structure may prevent data from being written or retrieved correctly.
Option 3: Delete the existing screen
Delete the existing Timesheets screen if you no longer need the records stored in it.
When you deploy the Weekly Timesheet workflow, a new Timesheets screen is created automatically with the required structure.
⚠️ Caution: Deleting a screen permanently deletes the records stored in it. If you need to retain the historical data, export the relevant reporting category before deleting the screen.
For more information, see:
Overview
The Weekly Timesheet workflow provides a configurable process for collecting and processing employee working time through Forms.
Each week, employees receive a Weekly Timesheet session where they can record their working time, save their progress, and submit the completed timesheet.
You can configure how employees record their time and what additional information they provide, including:
total hours or start and end times
projects
breaks
overnight work
pay rates
weekly comments
Submitted timesheets can either be approved automatically or routed to a manager for review.
You can also optionally include a monthly payroll stage, bringing together approved timesheets into a monthly summary for payroll review.
Behind the scenes, the workflow combines multiple parts of the Sense Workplace platform into a single process:
Forms provides the employee and manager experience.
Automate controls the workflow, approvals, and routing.
Sense HR stores the completed Weekly Timesheet records.
Profile Templates determine which employees have the Weekly Timesheet screen.
Access Roles determine who can view or update those records in Sense HR.
How the process works
The workflow can support three stages:
Weekly employee timesheet
↓
Optional manager approval
↓
Optional monthly payroll summary
The exact process depends on your workflow configuration.
1. Employee completes their Weekly Timesheet
Each week, applicable employees receive a Weekly Timesheet Forms session.
They record their working time and any additional information you’ve configured, then either save the timesheet as a draft or submit it.
2. Timesheet is approved
You can configure the workflow to use:
Manager Approval: the employee’s manager receives a Forms session to review the submitted timesheet.
Auto Approve: the manager review stage is skipped and the submitted timesheet is approved automatically.
With Manager Approval, managers can approve, decline, or send a timesheet back to the employee for changes.
3. Approved timesheets can be sent to payroll
The monthly payroll stage is optional.
When enabled, approved and auto-approved timesheets are brought together into a monthly summary.
Timesheets that are still pending, declined, or have been sent back for changes aren’t included in the payroll summary.
Install the workflow
Open Automate.
Navigate to Workflow Hub.
Locate Forms – Weekly Timesheet Approval.
Click Install.
Review the default configuration.
Click Install.
The workflow is added to your installed workflows ready for configuration.
Install the Forms – Weekly Timesheet Approval workflow from the Workflow Hub.
Configure the Weekly Timesheet workflow
From Sense Automate > Installations, open the More actions (…) menu for the Weekly Timesheet workflow and click Configuration.
Review each setting before deploying the workflow.
🖊️ Note: This section explains settings specific to the Weekly Timesheet workflow. For general information about configurable Library workflows, see Installations: Configurations for Library Workflows (Admin).
Weekly Timesheet Screen Name
Enter the exact name of the Sense HR profile screen used to save and retrieve Weekly Timesheet records.
The default is:
Timesheets
This screen is used when Weekly Timesheets are saved or submitted and when the monthly process retrieves records from the previous month.
⚠️ Important: The name must exactly match the screen name in Screen Designer. If it doesn’t, Weekly Timesheet records may fail to save or the workflow may be unable to find existing records.
Approval
Choose how submitted Weekly Timesheets are approved.
Manager Approval
Submitted timesheets are sent to the relevant manager for review.
The manager can:
• Approve the timesheet.
• Decline the timesheet. A comment is required.
• Send back for resubmission so the employee can make changes and submit it again. A comment is required.
Auto Approve
Submitted timesheets are approved automatically without manager review.
Time entry mode
Choose how employees enter their working time.
Start/End Times
Employees select their start and end times for each day.
The workflow calculates the hours worked automatically.Hours
Employees enter the number of hours worked each day.
Use Hours entry format to determine how these hours are entered and displayed.
Hours entry format
When Time entry mode is set to Hours, choose how employees enter their working time.
Decimal
Employees enter hours as a decimal.
For example: 7.5HH:MM
Employees select hours and minutes using the time picker.
For example: 07:30
The selected format is used consistently when displaying hours throughout the Weekly Timesheet process.
Enter Breaks
Choose whether employees need to record breaks.
Yes
Employees enter the number of break minutes taken for each day and project.
The recorded break is deducted from the worked hours before totals are calculated.No
Employees aren’t asked to record breaks.
Enable Weekly Comment
Choose whether employees can add a comment to their Weekly Timesheet.
Yes
An optional comment field is available when the employee submits their timesheet.
If Manager Approval is used, the employee’s comment is visible to the manager during review.No
The weekly comment field isn’t included.
Overnight Allowance
Choose whether employees need to identify overnight work.
Yes
Employees can select an Overnight option for each day and project.
This records information about overnight work only. It doesn’t automatically calculate additional pay.No
Employees aren’t asked to identify overnight work.
Project List
Enter a comma-separated list of the projects employees can select when completing their Weekly Timesheets.
For example:
Project A, Project B, Project C
Employees can record time against more than one project in the same Weekly Timesheet by using + Add another project.
Leave Project List blank if your organisation doesn’t need employees to allocate their time to projects.
🖊️ Note: The project names are defined by your organisation. They can represent projects, work categories, clients, cost areas, or another classification that makes sense for your timesheet process.
Rates Mode
Choose how pay-rate information is handled by the Weekly Timesheet workflow.
No rates
Select No rates if the workflow doesn’t need to display or calculate pay.
No rate information is shown or used, regardless of any pay information stored in the employee’s HR record.
Pay Details
Select Pay Details to use the employee’s current pay rate from their Sense HR pay record.
Use this option if you want the monthly timesheet summary to calculate and display a monetary value based on the employee’s hourly rate.
Enter Per Day
Select Enter Per Day if employees need to select an applicable rate for each day.
Employees choose from the options configured in Rate Options (For Rate Mode: Enter Per Day).The selected rate is included for reference but isn’t used by the workflow to calculate a payroll total.
🖊️ Note: If you need the monthly timesheet summary to calculate a monetary value, use Pay Details rather than Enter Per Day.
Rate Options (For Rate Mode: Enter Per Day)
This setting applies when Rates Mode is set to Enter Per Day.
Enter a comma-separated list of the rates employees can select.
For example:
x1, x1.5, x2
The employee can then select the appropriate rate for each day.
This setting is ignored for other Rates Modes.
Choose which employees the workflow applies to
Applicable for: Mode
Choose which employees are included in the Weekly Timesheet process.
The selected population applies to both:
weekly timesheet assignment
monthly summary generation
You can select:
All
Select All to include all applicable employees in the Weekly Timesheet process.Custom
Select Custom to determine eligibility using information stored in employees’ Sense HR profiles.
Configure the following three settings to define the custom group.
Custom Applicable for: Screen
Enter the name of the profile screen containing the field you want to use to determine eligibility.
For example:
Employment Details
Custom Applicable for: Field
Enter the name of the field on that screen that should determine eligibility.
For example:
Contract Type
Custom Applicable for: Values
Enter a comma-separated list of the field values that should be included in the Weekly Timesheet process.
For example:
Employee - Full Time, Employee - Part Time
Only employees whose profile contains one of the specified values in the configured field are included.
Example:
To make Weekly Timesheets available only to full-time and part-time employees, you might configure:
Setting | Example |
Applicable for: Mode | Custom |
Custom Applicable for: Screen | Employment Details |
Custom Applicable for: Field | Contract Type |
Custom Applicable for: Values | Employee - Full Time, Employee - Part Time |
The workflow checks the specified field on the specified profile screen and only includes employees whose value matches one of those configured.
Test the employee experience
Test with Admins
Choose whether deploying the workflow should immediately create test Weekly Timesheet Forms sessions for administrators.
Yes
When you deploy the workflow, Weekly Timesheet sessions are automatically created for administrators.
Use these sessions to check the Forms experience and make sure the workflow is configured as expected.
Change Test with Admins to No when you’re ready to go live.No
Deploying the workflow doesn’t create administrator test sessions.
💡 Tip: Test the workflow before making it available to your wider employee population.
Configure the monthly payroll process
The payroll stage is optional.
When enabled, the workflow can create a monthly payroll summary based on approved Weekly Timesheets completed through Forms.
Send to Payroll
Choose whether the workflow should generate a monthly payroll summary from approved Weekly Timesheets.
Yes
Generate a monthly payroll summary based on approved timesheets completed through Forms.
The monthly review/action request is sent to the configured Payroll Email. If no Payroll Email is configured, it is sent to an administrator.No
Don’t generate a payroll summary from this workflow.
No monthly review/action request is sent.
Payroll Email
When Send to Payroll is set to Yes, enter the email address that should receive the monthly timesheet review request.
The resulting payroll review includes the monthly timesheet summary and allows the recipient to mark it as:
Verified
Flagged for follow-up
Payroll Email Schedule
Enter the schedule used to run the monthly payroll process.
The schedule uses a valid 5-field cron expression and determines when the workflow collects the previous month’s approved timesheets for payroll review.
For example:
0 7 1 * *
runs the monthly process at 7:00 AM on the first day of every month.
Use this setting to control when the monthly timesheet summary is generated and sent for review.
🖊️ Note: The schedule applies to the monthly payroll run only. It doesn’t affect the weekly employee timesheet schedule.
Payroll Verified Notification
Choose which recipients should be notified when payroll marks a monthly timesheet summary as Verified.
Payroll Flagged Notification
Choose which recipients should be notified when payroll marks a monthly timesheet summary as Flagged for follow-up.
Selected recipients receive a follow-up email and a To Do task.
Leave this setting blank if no notification should be sent.
Payroll Monthly Summary View
Choose how hours are grouped in the monthly timesheet summary.
You can select:
By project
Groups the month’s hours by project.
If Project List is blank because your organisation doesn’t use projects, By project automatically falls back to By day.By day
Shows the monthly timesheet information by day.By week
Groups the month’s hours by week.
Choose the view that makes the monthly information most useful to the person reviewing it.
Test the payroll process
Test Payroll
Choose whether deploying the workflow should immediately run a test of the monthly payroll process.
Yes
Deploying the workflow immediately triggers a test monthly summary and sends it to the configured Payroll Email.
Use this to test the payroll process independently of the normal monthly schedule.
Change Test Payroll to No when you’re ready to go live.No
Deploying the workflow doesn’t trigger a payroll test.
🖊️ Note: Test with Admins and Test Payroll are separate settings. This allows you to test the employee Weekly Timesheet experience and monthly payroll process independently.
Before you deploy
Review your configuration carefully before deploying the workflow.
In particular, check that:
The Timesheet Screen Name exactly matches the screen in Sense HR
The correct Approval method is selected
Employees are recording time using the required Time entry mode
Hours entry format is correct where Hours are used
Projects, breaks, comments, overnight work, and rates are configured as required
Applicable for: Mode includes the correct employees
Administrator testing is switched off when no longer required
Send to Payroll reflects whether you want this workflow to generate a monthly payroll summary
Payroll recipient and notification settings are correct where payroll is enabled
Test Payroll is switched off when testing is complete
Once you’ve reviewed the settings, click Done.
Deploy the workflow
After reviewing the configuration, you’re ready to deploy the workflow.
Return to Sense Automate > Installations
Locate Forms - Weekly Timesheet Approval.
Open the More actions (…) menu.
Click Deploy.
✅ The workflow status changes to Deployed.
Once deployed, the workflow is ready to create Weekly Timesheet sessions for the employees included in the configuration according to its weekly schedule.
If Test with Admins is enabled, test sessions are generated for administrators immediately.
🖊️ Note: If you make configuration changes after deployment, review whether existing sessions are affected before deploying the updated workflow.
What employees experience
The Forms session adapts to the configuration you’ve chosen.
Depending on your setup, employees may be asked to:
enter start and end times or total hours
allocate time across one or more projects
record break minutes
flag overnight work
select an applicable rate
add a weekly comment
Employees can save their Weekly Timesheet as a draft and return later, or submit it when complete.
For employee instructions, see:
👉 Complete a Weekly Timesheet.
What Managers experience
If Manager Approval is enabled, managers receive a separate Timesheet Pending Review Forms session after an employee submits their timesheet.
The review can include:
the date
project
total hours
start and end times
break taken
selected rate
overnight status
employee’s weekly comment
Managers can approve, decline, or send the submission back for changes.
For manager instructions, see:
Timesheet records in Sense HR
Weekly Timesheet records are stored in the employee’s Timesheets profile screen in Sense HR.
The workflow can store information including:
Week Commencing
Timesheet Date
Project
Hours
Pay Rate
Break Minutes
Overnight
Comment
Status
Decision Date
Payroll Status
Payroll Comment
Payroll Decision Date
Manager Comment
The information populated depends on how the workflow has been configured and how the timesheet progresses through approval and payroll.
🖊️ Note: Access to the Timesheets screen and its records is controlled separately through Profile Templates and Access Roles.
Permissions
The Weekly Timesheet workflow and the Timesheets profile screen are configured separately.
This means:
deploying the workflow does not automatically give users access to the stored records in Sense HR
granting access to the Timesheets profile screen does not give users permission to configure or deploy the workflow
Access to stored timesheet records is controlled through:
Profile Templates, which determine whether the Timesheets screen is included in an employee's profile
Access Roles, which determine who can view, add, update, or delete records on that screen
For more information, see:
Basic Troubleshooting
Employees aren’t receiving Weekly Timesheet sessions
Check that:
the workflow is deployed
the employee is included by Applicable for: Mode
if Custom is selected, the configured Screen, Field, and Values exactly match the employee’s Sense HR profile data
the employee is an active/registered Sense user
The wrong project options are displayed
Review Project List in the workflow configuration.
The comma-separated values entered in Project List determine the project options employees can select when completing their Weekly Timesheet.
If Project List is blank, employees complete their timesheet without a project breakdown.
Timesheet records aren’t being saved or found
Check that Weekly Timesheet Screen Name exactly matches the name of the profile screen in Screen Designer.
The default screen created by the workflow is:
Timesheets
The workflow uses this screen when saving and submitting Weekly Timesheets and when the monthly process retrieves records.
If the configured name doesn’t exactly match the Screen Designer name, records may fail to save or the workflow may be unable to find them.
The Timesheets screen isn’t available on an employee’s profile
Check that:
the employee’s Profile Template includes the Timesheets screen
the user trying to access it has permission to view the screen through their Access Role
🖊️ Note: If a screen named Timesheets existed before you deployed the workflow, the workflow won’t create another one. See Prepare the Timesheets screen earlier in this article.
Users can’t edit Weekly Timesheet records
Editing stored Timesheets records is controlled through Access Roles, not the Weekly Timesheet workflow configuration.
Check whether the user’s Access Role allows them to update records on the Timesheets screen.
The monthly timesheet summary isn’t being generated
Check that:
Send to Payroll is set to Yes
Payroll Email Schedule contains a valid 5-field cron expression
the relevant timesheets have reached an approved status
Only approved and auto-approved timesheets are included in the monthly process. Pending, declined, or returned timesheets aren’t included.
The monthly summary is grouped incorrectly
Check Payroll Monthly Summary View.
The summary can be configured:
By project
By day
By week
If By project is selected but Project List is blank, the summary automatically falls back to By day.
Summary
The Weekly Timesheet workflow provides a configurable process for collecting and processing weekly working time through Forms.
Depending on your configuration, employees can record total hours or start and end times, allocate time to projects, record breaks and overnight work, select rates, and add comments.
Submitted timesheets can be approved automatically or routed to a manager for review. Approved timesheets can also feed into an optional monthly payroll process.
Weekly Timesheet records are stored in the employee’s Timesheets profile screen in Sense HR, where access is controlled independently through Profile Templates and Access Roles.
FAQs
Click for answers to frequently asked questions
Click for answers to frequently asked questions
Q: Can employees save a Forms Weekly Timesheet and finish it later?
A: Yes. Employees can save a Weekly Timesheet as a draft and return to the same Forms session later to finish and submit it.
Q: Can I choose how employees record their working time with the Forms Weekly Timesheet?
A: Yes. You can choose how employees record their working time by setting Time entry mode to either Hours or Start/End Times. Start/End Times calculates the hours worked automatically.
Q: Can I choose how hours are entered into a Forms Weekly Timesheet?
A: Yes, you can choose how hours are entered into a Forms Weekly Timesheet. When Time entry mode is set to Hours, use Hours entry format to choose between Decimal and HH:MM.
Q: Can employees record time against more than one project?
A: Yes. If you’ve configured multiple options in Project List, employees can use + Add another project to record time against multiple projects within the same Weekly Timesheet. Leave Project List blank if you don’t need employees to allocate their time to projects.
Q: Where are Weekly Timesheet records stored in Sense HR?
A: Weekly Timesheet records are stored in the employee’s Timesheets profile screen in Sense HR. The name configured in Weekly Timesheet Screen Name must exactly match the screen name in Screen Designer.
Q: Who can view or edit stored Timesheets records?
A: Who can view or edit stored Timesheets records is controlled through Profile Templates and Access Roles rather than the Weekly Timesheet workflow itself. Profile Templates determine whether the screen is available on the employee’s profile, while Access Roles determine what a user can do with its records.
Q: Can I deploy the Forms Weekly Timesheet workflow to a specific group of employees?
A: Yes. To deploy the Weekly Timesheet workflow to a specific group, set Applicable for: Mode to Custom, then identify the Sense HR Screen, Field, and Values that determine which employees should be included.
Q: Can I test Weekly Timesheets before using the workflow with employees?
A: Yes. Set Test with Admins to Yes before deployment to automatically create Weekly Timesheet Forms sessions for administrators. Change Test with Admins to No when you’re ready to go live.
Q: Does the Weekly Timesheet workflow have to send timesheets to a manager for approval?
A: No. Set Approval to Manager Approval if managers should review submissions, or Auto Approve if submitted Weekly Timesheets should be approved automatically without manager review.
Q: Can the Weekly Timesheet workflow generate information for payroll?
A: Yes. Set Send to Payroll to Yes to generate a monthly payroll summary based on approved Weekly Timesheets completed through Forms. This payroll stage is optional.
Q: Which timesheets are included in the monthly payroll process?
A: The monthly payroll process includes Weekly Timesheets that have an Approved or Auto-Approved status. Timesheets that are pending, declined, or sent back for changes aren’t included until they reach an approved status.
Q: Can I test the payroll process without waiting for the scheduled monthly run?
A: Yes. Set Test Payroll to Yes before deployment to immediately trigger a test monthly summary and send it to the configured Payroll Email. Change Test Payroll to No when testing is complete.