ApproveThis manages your Timing Integration approvals.

When Time Tracking Meets Approval Automation

Let’s cut to the chase: if your team uses Timing for time tracking, you’re already ahead of the game on productivity insights. But if those time entries still get stuck in email threads or Slack chaos waiting for approvals, you’re leaving money and efficiency on the table. Enter ApproveThis – the approval workflow tool that doesn’t just move paperwork faster, but actually connects to the apps where work happens. Through Zapier, these two platforms turn into a productivity engine that handles approvals as automatically as Timing tracks your browser tabs.

What Makes This Integration Click

Timing’s automatic time tracking gives you raw data about where hours go. ApproveThis adds the human layer: deciding which hours count, which projects get greenlit, and who’s responsible for making those calls. Together via Zapier, they handle the full lifecycle:

• No more copy-paste audits: Time entries trigger approval requests automatically
• Projects start faster: Approved budgets or scopes instantly create Timing projects

And here’s the kicker: approvers don’t need Timing licenses. Clients, execs, or cross-department teams can review requests via email without jumping into another tool. That’s huge for agencies or consultants billing hourly.

Real-World Uses That Actually Matter

1. The “Why Is This Invoice So High?” Killer

Marketing agencies love Timing’s automatic time tracking – until a client questions why a campaign took 18 hours instead of 10. With the integration:

Every time entry in Timing triggers an ApproveThis request routed to the client’s project manager. They see the tracked apps/websites used during those hours (thanks to Timing’s detailed reports) and approve right from their inbox. If rejected, the entry gets flagged in Timing for review. No more end-of-month invoice surprises.

2. Project Greenlights That Don’t Stall

Software teams using Timing to track sprints can auto-create approval requests when new projects hit certain hourly estimates. Say a dev team’s Timing data shows a feature will take 80+ hours – that triggers an ApproveThis workflow requiring CTO sign-off before work starts. Approval thresholds in ApproveThis can even auto-approve small tasks while escalating big ones, matching how your team actually operates.

3. Client Work That Stays in Bounds

Consultants: imagine your client agrees to a 100-hour/month retainer. Timing tracks all billable time, and ApproveThis uses calculated fields to show real-time totals. At 90 hours, the client gets an approval request for any additional work. They approve with one click, and Timing automatically tags those extra hours as out-of-scope. No awkward money talks – just clear thresholds.

Setting This Up Without the Headache

Zapier’s the middleman here, and setup’s simpler than you’d think:

1. Connect Timing and ApproveThis to your Zapier account
2. Pick a trigger from Timing (new time entry, project, etc.)
3. Map the data to an ApproveThis action (create request, escalate if over budget)
4. Test with real data – we recommend using a 1-hour time entry as your guinea pig

Pro tip: Use ApproveThis’ calculated fields to auto-calculate project budgets or hourly totals directly in the approval request. No manual math needed.

Who Benefits? (Spoiler: Pretty Much Every Team)

Project Managers: The Visibility Play

PMs get ApproveThis dashboards showing real-time approval status of Timing-tracked tasks. No more “I thought you approved that?” moments. Vacation delegation ensures sign-offs happen even when someone’s OOO.

Finance Teams: The Guardrails

Auto-reject time entries that lack project codes. Require dual approval for hours over 10/day. Send approved Timing data straight to QuickBooks. All without manual reviews.

External Clients: The Silent Win

Agencies can embed approval requests into client workflows without giving them Timing access. Clients approve actual hours worked (with app/website proof from Timing) via email. Disputes drop because transparency’s baked in.

The Nuts and Bolts You Actually Care About

ApproveThis features that make this integration pop:

Approval thresholds: Auto-approve time entries under 2 hours but escalate anything over 8. Match your policies without manual oversight.

Calculated fields: Show clients real-time totals (e.g., “$1,920 @ $120/hr”) within approval requests. Numbers update automatically if hours change.

Conditional routing: Send design team hours to the Creative Director, dev hours to the CTO. All from the same Timing project.

No, This Isn’t Just About Saving Minutes

The real value? Alignment. When time data and approvals live in separate systems, decisions get made on hunches. This integration ties approvals directly to the reality Timing tracks. Client says the budget’s tight? Set a threshold that auto-flags when Timing predicts an overage. Team constantly over-optimistic on timelines? Use historical Timing data to require approvals for ambitious estimates.

Bottom Line: It’s About Letting People Work

Timing’s job is to track work, not chase approvals. ApproveThis’ job is to make decisions happen, not to micromanage. Together via Zapier, they cut the noise so your team can:

- Start projects faster with auto-approved small tasks
- Bill accurately with client-approved time entries
- Spot budget risks before they blow up

It’s workflow automation that actually respects how people work.

Ready to Stop Being a Human Router?

If you’re using Timing but still handling approvals manually, you’re essentially running a productivity relay race with ankle weights. Take 10 minutes to set up ApproveThis, connect it via Zapier, and see how much time you’ve been wasting on something that could’ve been automated. Or schedule a demo – we’ll show you exactly how agencies and in-house teams use this integration to stop chasing approvals and start hitting deadlines.

P.S. If you’re still reading this, congrats – your attention span is already in the top 10% of approvers. Put it to good use.