Raise and decide approvals

Approvals is where you ask for, and give, sign-off on things that change a project’s cost or scope. Anyone working on a project (its manager, or anyone assigned to it or booked on it) can raise a request. Anyone with a Planner seat decides it (a project manager needs a Planner seat to decide too). Nobody decides their own request.

Time approval is separate; see Approve time.

Writing to Autotask arrives with the Autotask connector

Raising, approving and rejecting requests works today, and an approved estimate change updates the task straight away. Creating Autotask project charges for approved costs and expenses, described below, arrives with the Autotask connector. Until then approved charges show Autotask charge pending and are created when the connector is switched on.

Types of request

Type	Use it for	When approved
SOW change	An agreed change to the project’s scope of work	Recorded against the project with its history. ProjectSmith doesn’t change your Autotask contract; update it there if billing changes
Project cost	A cost the project incurs, such as hardware, licences or a subcontractor	An Autotask project charge is created on the project
Expense	Something you paid for on the project, such as travel or parking	An Autotask project charge is created on the project
Estimate change	More (or fewer) hours needed on a task	The task’s estimate changes to the new figure, in ProjectSmith and then in Autotask

Amounts are in your workspace’s currency. For costs and expenses, the person raising the request suggests whether it is billable to the customer, and the approver has the final say. Billable charges are invoiced by Autotask with the rest of the project.

Raise a request

1. Open the project and choose Request approval, then the type. For an estimate change you can also open the task and choose Request estimate change.
2. Give it a clear title, such as Extra two days for the site survey or Parking, Northcott site visit.
3. Fill in what the type needs:
   • a cost or expense: the amount, and whether it is billable;
   • an estimate change: the task and its new estimate in hours (the current estimate is shown beside it);
   • optionally, the task a cost, expense or SOW change relates to.
4. Say why, then choose Send request.

The request shows as Pending. The project’s manager gets an inbox item; Planners see it under Approvals > Requests.

Screenshot placeholder: the Request approval dialog for a project cost, with the amount and billable fields.

Changed your mind? In Approvals > My requests, choose Withdraw on a pending request. Withdrawn requests stay in the history.

Decide a request

1. Go to Approvals > Requests. It lists the pending requests on projects you decide, with the amount or the estimate change (current hours → new hours).
2. Choose Decide to open the request and read why it was raised.
3. For a cost or expense, tick or clear Billable to the customer.
4. Choose Approve, or Reject with a note. A note is required to reject, so the person knows what to change.

The person who raised the request gets an inbox item either way. Tick Show decided to see requests already decided on your projects. Every project also lists its requests, with their decisions, under its Time tab.

Screenshot placeholder: the Decide dialog with the billable choice, the note and Approve and Reject.

Common questions

Can I change a request after it’s decided? No. Decided and withdrawn requests can’t change; raise a new one, and the history shows both.

Can I approve my own request? No. Another Planner decides it.

Who sees requests? Everyone working on the project sees its requests under the project’s Time tab. On the Approvals page you see your own requests, plus those you can decide.

The charge didn’t appear in Autotask. Charges are created once the Autotask connector is on. After that, if Autotask refuses a charge, the request shows Autotask charge failed, retrying and ProjectSmith keeps retrying.