Invoices waiting on one client manager's inbox
On a time-and-materials engagement, your contract says invoices must be supported by client-approved timesheets. At month end, your operations team exports each consultant's hours, formats a spreadsheet per client, and emails it to the client's engagement manager. The manager is busy, forwards it to a colleague, queries two days for one consultant, and approves the rest a fortnight later.
The invoice cannot go out until then. Across several clients, a large share of monthly billing waits on other people's inboxes.
Why client approval drags
- Approval requests are spreadsheets emailed at month end, all at once.
- Client approvers have no easy way to query a single entry.
- Queries are handled in email threads and corrections are made by hand.
- Nobody chases systematically, because chasing clients feels awkward.
- Consultants submit their own timesheets late, delaying everything further.
Clients' approvers are often not the people who asked for the work. A manager in finance or procurement may be named as approver, with little idea what the consultants did on each day. They query entries because they cannot judge them, not because anything is wrong.
What delayed approval costs
| Delay | Effect |
|---|---|
| Approval takes weeks | Invoices late, cash flow suffers |
| Disputed entries found late | Harder to resolve when memories fade |
| Operations formatting spreadsheets | Admin time every month |
| No audit trail | Weak support if billing is questioned |
Month-end batching makes every problem bigger. A query about one day, raised four weeks later, sends a consultant searching their calendar to reconstruct what they did. The same query raised the following week takes a minute to answer.
How we build client time approval
- Consultants submit time as they do today, in your timesheet or PSA tool, with gentle reminders to do it weekly.
- Approved internal time for each client is summarised by consultant and day, with descriptions, in a clear view.
- The client approver receives a secure link, weekly or monthly as agreed, to approve all, or query specific entries.
- Queries go back to the consultant and engagement manager, are resolved in a thread, and corrections update the timesheet.
- Reminders go to the approver on a schedule you set, polite and automatic.
- Approved time flows into invoice drafts in your accounts system, with the approval record attached as support.
- Operations sees approval status for every client at a glance.
Weekly approval tends to work better than monthly, because each batch is smaller and queries are raised while everyone remembers. It is your choice and the client's.
We usually start with the client whose approvals take longest, agree a weekly rhythm with them, and include enough description in each entry for the approver to recognise the work. Other T&M clients follow once the process has settled.
Month end, afterwards
Most time is already approved by month end, because approval happened weekly. Invoices go out promptly with approval evidence attached. Queries are small and quickly resolved.
Client approvers find it easier too, which reduces friction in the relationship.
Is your T&M billing like this?
- Invoices wait for client timesheet approval.
- Approval requests are spreadsheets by email.
- Queries are resolved in long email threads.
- Chasing client approvers is inconsistent.
- Operations formats timesheets by hand each month.