I can't approve timesheets for some of my workers
Last updated: October 28, 2026
Summary: Timesheet approval requests for each worker go to the approver or approvers set for that worker. If you can't approve time for some of your workers, often workers who have just started, a common reason is that you are not set as their approver yet. Ask your staffing agency to add you, or email support@ascen.com with the workers' names. Once you are added, we can resend the approval reminder so you can approve the pending timesheets. The same approver also approves the worker's expenses that are billed to your company.
Why you can't approve some workers
Approval requests go to the timesheet approvers recorded for each worker. Approvers can be set for your whole company, for a work location, or for one worker's assignment, and the most specific setting wins. If no approver is set at any level, the request goes to the primary user on your company's account.
That is why approval requests reach you for some workers and not others. Common cases:
New workers just started and were set up with a different approver, or inherited your company's default approver, who is someone else.
You took over from someone who used to approve time.
A worker is at a different work location that has its own approver.
How to get added as the approver
You can do either of these:
Ask your staffing agency. They manage the approver list for your account and can add you.
Email support@ascen.com and include:
the names of the workers whose timesheets you need to approve
your name and your work email address
whether you should approve only for those workers, for a work location, or for everyone at your company, including new workers who start later
A worker can have more than one approver, so say whether you should replace the current approver or be added alongside them.
Approvers must be users on your company's Ascen account. If you don't have a login yet, we will send you an invitation to set one up.
After you are added
We can resend the approval reminder for the timesheets that are waiting, so the current week isn't held up.
Approve from the link in that email or from the Timesheets page in your dashboard. See How do I approve timesheets?
Approve before your approval deadline. Your approval is what releases the worker's pay. See What is the timesheet approval deadline?
Expenses wait for the same approver
Expenses that are billed to your company go to the worker's timesheet approver, in the same approval request as that period's timesheets. Once the approver has approved it, Ascen can review and process it. If a worker's expense is still waiting, check that the right person is set as their approver.
Not sure who the approver is?
Email support@ascen.com with the worker's name. We can tell you who is currently listed as their approver, resend the approval reminder, and update the list if it needs to change.
Related problems
You get approval emails for workers you don't manage: see You received a timesheet approval email that isn't yours.
The approval link in the email shows an error: see The approval link in your timesheet email didn't work: what to do.
You are a worker whose timesheet is waiting for approval: see What to do when your timesheet is stuck in Awaiting Approval.
Who to contact
Ascen (support@ascen.com): adding or changing a timesheet approver, finding out who is listed, resending an approval reminder, approval links that don't work, and logging in.
Your staffing agency: adding you as an approver, which workers are on your assignments, scheduling, and correcting a timesheet before you approve it.