Can a timesheet approver see pay and bill rates?

Last updated: October 6, 2026

Summary: It depends on whose account the approver is on. A contact on the client's account never sees a worker's pay rate, and a Time Sheet Only user on that account sees no rates at all. Someone on your own account does see pay and bill rates beside each worker on the Timesheets page — including a Time Sheet Only user. The Time Sheet Only role narrows which pages someone gets (Dashboard, Timesheets and Profile — no assignments, invoices, reports or payroll); on your own account it is not what hides rates.

Two different ways someone can approve timesheets

It helps to know which one you are setting up, because the answer about rates only applies to the second.

By email. A client contact is named as a timesheet approver and receives the approval request by email for each period. This is about who gets the email — see How can I change who receives timesheet approval emails?
In the portal. The person gets their own login on the client's account, with a role that decides what they can see and do. This is the one to use when someone needs to review timesheets in the app, and it is where the Time Sheet Only role comes in.

What the Time Sheet Only role can and can't do

Every user on the platform has exactly one role, and the role controls what appears in their account.

A Time Sheet Only user can:

View timesheets for the workers in their scope.
Approve or reject those timesheets.
See their own Dashboard and Profile.

A Time Sheet Only user does not get:

The Assignments section. Their menu has no Assignments page, so they cannot open an assignment record or the rates held on it. Rates can still appear on the Timesheets page they do have — see below.
Invoices. Invoice access is limited to other roles.
Reports. This role is excluded from reporting entirely.
Payroll, contractor records or team management.

This is the role the platform is designed around for a client's day-to-day time-tracking contact — someone who needs to confirm the hours are right and nothing more.

Who actually sees rates on the Timesheets page

Rate visibility follows which account someone is on, not which role they hold. That matters because the Timesheets page is the one page a Time Sheet Only user always has.

On the client's account. A client user never sees the worker's pay rate, whatever their role. They can see the bill rate — what the client is billed — if their role gives them the Assignments page. A Time Sheet Only client user has no Assignments page and gets no rates on the Timesheets page either, so they see neither number. This is the setup to use for a client contact who should only confirm hours.
On your own account. Pay rate and bill rate both appear next to each worker on the Timesheets page, and the Time Sheet Only role does not remove them. So a Time Sheet Only user on your account can see both numbers — and therefore the margin between them. If you need someone on your team to approve time without that, the role alone will not do it; email support@ascen.com and we will go through the options with you.

How to add one

Go to the Team page on the account the person belongs to.
Invite the new user by email address.
Choose Time Sheet Only as their role before sending the invite.

You need to be an Owner or Manager on that account to invite a user. Choose the role when you create the user — it is much cleaner than inviting them with broader access and narrowing it afterwards.

Changing the role on an existing user

Roles can be changed later, but only an Owner (or Ascen) can edit another user's role, and nobody can edit their own. If someone already has a broader role and the client now wants their rate visibility removed, ask the account Owner to change the role to Time Sheet Only, or email support@ascen.com and we can do it.

If you are not sure which role fits what a client is asking for, email support@ascen.com with what you want the person to be able to see and we will tell you which role to pick.