The approval link in your timesheet email didn't work — what to do
Last updated: September 1, 2026
Applies to: Clients and site managers who approve timesheets for the workers on their assignments. If you are a worker waiting on your own hours to be approved, see What to do when your timesheet is stuck in "Awaiting Approval" instead.
Summary: The one-click link in your weekly approval email normally works without a login. If you get an error, the usual cause is that your email address is not yet set up as a user on the account — email support@ascen.com and we will send you an invitation. Once you have logged in, you can approve from the dashboard. If some of the hours are wrong, do not approve the email — tell us which day and worker, and we will correct the record first.
"I keep getting an error when I try to approve"
This is the most common problem, and it is almost never something you did wrong. The approval email contains a sign-in-free link, but it only works when your email address is registered as a timesheet approver on the account. If it is not — for example because the email was forwarded to you, because you are new in the role, or because your address was added recently — the link will fail.
What to do:
Email support@ascen.com and say that the approval link is returning an error. Include the worker's name and the work period from the email.
We will send you an invitation to set up your account. Set your password and log in at app.ascen.com.
Open Timesheets → Approvals and approve the pending hours there. See Approving timesheets: dashboard, email, and deadlines.
Approving from the dashboard has the same effect as approving from the email, so nothing is lost by switching. Your approval is what releases the worker's pay, so it is worth getting this sorted before the approval deadline rather than after — see What is the timesheet approval deadline?.
"The email only gives me an Approve button, but some of the hours are wrong"
That is expected: the email is approve-only. It is a shortcut for the normal case, not a full review screen. There is no way to reject a single day, or to approve part of a submission, from the email itself.
If anything in the email looks wrong — a day your site was closed, hours for someone who was not there, a break that was not deducted — do not reply "Approve". Instead:
Reply to the email describing exactly what is wrong, naming the worker and the specific date. We can remove or correct the entry before you approve the rest.
Or approve and reject line by line in the dashboard. Open Timesheets → Approvals, where each timesheet can be approved or rejected individually and you can open a full day-by-day breakdown first.
Be specific about totals rather than adjustments. "Thursday should be 7.5 hours worked with a 30-minute unpaid break" is unambiguous; "take another 30 minutes off her break" can be read two ways and usually costs an extra round of email.
"I approved by replying to the email but nothing seems to have happened"
Replying with the word Approve, keeping the original subject line, does record your approval and you should receive a confirmation. If you did not get one, the reply may have been sent from a different address than the one the request went to, or the reply may have gone only to a colleague rather than to us. Forward the original email to support@ascen.com and we will confirm the current status.
Making this easier next time
If the wrong person is receiving approval requests, or approvals should go to more than one person, your staffing agency controls that list and can add approvers, add people to a CC list for visibility, or set up a backup approver. Ask your agency contact — the settings are described in How can I change who receives timesheet approval emails?.
A caution worth knowing: the one-click link in the email is unique to you and works without a password. Treat a forwarded approval email like a sign-in link, because whoever receives it can approve in your name.
Who to contact
Ascen (support@ascen.com) — the approval link errors, you cannot log in, your approval was not recorded, or an entry needs correcting before you approve.
Your staffing agency — who should be listed as an approver, which worker should be on which assignment, and scheduling.