DWR Approval

How to clear the DWR Approval Backlog in Job Book: the columns and their quick filters, expanding a row to check its line items, batch approval and Undo Last Approval Batch, and where an approved DWR goes next.

Key Concepts

The DWR Approval Backlog is where submitted Daily Work Records from every job wait for a Manager or an Administrator to review; in practice that is the job’s project manager, who is named on every row. A DWR is the day’s timesheet: it captures labour, equipment and materials in a single submission, and until it is approved it is provisional. Approving it is the sign-off that lets payroll and invoicing use it. Why the project manager should be the one approving is on the Time Sheets product page.

  • A DWR goes from draft, to Submitted, to PM Approved, to invoiced. This screen is the third step; DWR Entry sets out all four.
  • The backlog holds exactly what the PM Queue saved view of the DWRs list holds, as a grid for approving in batches instead of one card at a time.
  • Once approved, a DWR can no longer be edited by the Technician who submitted it.

Performing Common Tasks

Opening the backlog

On the dashboard, in the Workflow card, click DWR Approval Backlog. The Workflow card is on the Manager’s and the Administrator’s dashboard only; a Job Coordinator does not see it.

The Workflow card on the dashboard, with DWR Approval Backlog marked
The DWR Approval Backlog is where the job's project manager signs off submitted DWRs, a batch at a time.
The DWR Approval Backlog with its four buttons, the grouping bar, the eight columns, the quick filter row and two rows
Built for approving in batches: filter to your own jobs, tick the rows, click the button.

Approve Selected DWRs is at the top left, Expand All, Collapse All and Undo Last Approval Batch at the top right, and the table lists every DWR in the system that has been submitted and not yet approved.

The grid is the one the backlogs share. Ticking rows, the batch button, sorting, grouping, the funnel filter, the filter row, expanding rows and undo are all described on Backlog Grids. This page covers what is particular to DWRs.

Reading the table

The columns are Date, Created By, Submitted, DWR #, Job #, Client, Project Manager and Office. The DWR # column contains hyperlinks to the individual DWRs.

Sorting, filtering and grouping

By default, DWRs are sorted by Date and Job # in ascending order. That means the oldest DWRs appear first, and within each day they are sorted by Job #.

To see only the DWRs for the jobs you manage, type the first letter of your name into the Project Manager box, pick yourself from the list that drops down, and press Enter.

Expanding a DWR to see its line items

The expanded panel’s columns are Line Item, Hours, Details, Unit, Qty and Description. Labour, equipment and material lines share the one panel. A labour line names the employee under Details and shows the hours under both Hours and Qty. An equipment or material line leaves Hours and Details blank and shows its unit and quantity instead: HR and 8 for a total station out for the day, PER and 4 for four survey posts.

The DWR Approval Backlog with Expand All applied, showing a panel of three line items under the one row: a labour line, a material line and an equipment line
Expanding a row is the check to make before you approve: the hours on a labour line, the unit and quantity on an equipment line.

Correcting a DWR before you approve it

If you need a closer look at a specific DWR, or need to edit it, click the hyperlink in the DWR # column. It opens in a new browser tab where you can review, edit or manually approve the DWR. DWR Entry goes into editing in more depth.

If a DWR needs only a minor fix, such as a typo, you can correct it yourself. A direct edit means you own that change.

If the submission needs more work, tell the Technician who submitted the DWR to edit it instead, and be clear about what needs to change and why.

Approving DWRs

  • After you have reviewed the DWRs, tick the ones you want to approve and click Approve Selected DWRs.
  • The confirmation names the number of DWRs. With two rows ticked it reads “Are you sure you want to approve these 2 DWR(s)?”. Click OK.
Both rows selected and the approval confirmation dialog open over the backlog
OK approves every ticked row at once; Undo Last Approval Batch is there if the count was wrong.

The selected DWRs are now approved and drop out of the backlog immediately.

Undoing an approval

Undo Last Approval Batch brings back the DWRs from the batch you just approved. It reverses only the most recent batch, and only once: after you use it, or approve another batch, the earlier batches can no longer be undone from here. To unapprove one of those DWRs, find it yourself:

  • On the dashboard, in the Daily Work Records card, click Explore.
  • Go to the All saved view and find the DWR you want to unapprove.
  • Open the DWR and click Edit.
  • Scroll to the bottom of the DWR and clear the PM Approved checkbox.
  • Click Save.

The PM Approved checkbox is shown in DWR Entry.

Where an approved DWR goes

Approved DWRs move out of the backlog and, on a Time & Materials job, into the DWR Invoice Backlog, where an Administrator turns them into draft invoices; Invoicing a Time & Materials Job covers that step.

Approval does not change the job’s figures: DWR $ on the Active Job Dashboard counts a DWR from the moment it is saved, and the Time Card Report lists its hours approved or not, with Status telling you which.

Best practices

  • Clear the backlog daily, or at least before payroll cut-off. Delays hold up payroll and slow invoicing, and five minutes at the end of the day is usually enough.
  • Ask Technicians to submit their DWRs the same day. Fresh entries are easier to verify.
  • Filter to your own jobs to spot outliers quickly.
  • Expand a row and check its line items before you approve.
  • If a job carries approved work that has not been billed, talk to an Administrator.

Video

Job Book How to Use Guide #8: DWR Approval Backlog

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