Maintain records of work hours and payroll

Payroll for the week is late and Maria in HR needs the signed timesheets by Friday noon. Send the compiled hours sheet to Maria and then to James in Finance for approval, in that order, after you confirm every row has a department code and at least one supporting note for overtime entries.

Before I send timesheets to Maria in HR, make approving easy: surface total regular and overtime pay per person at the top, freeze the name and ID columns, highlight any rows missing a department code or manager note, and add a one-line flag for entries over 60 hours this pay period.

I exported the weekly hours and three people have unapproved edits from last Friday. Maria expects the sheet by Friday noon and James will reject if codes are missing. I’m worried those edits hide overtime without manager notes and I can’t reach two supervisors. What’s the most defensible next move: send the sheet with a clear exceptions tab and emailed sign-off request, or delay payroll until I get confirmations? Which minimizes liability and keeps payroll on time?

Every other pay period I chase missing department codes and late manager sign-offs, which stalls payroll and damages trust with Finance. I spend hours chasing people instead of reconciling. Which habit should I change to stop this pattern: enforce a hard earlier cutoff with automated invalid flags, require preapproval for timesheet edits, or redesign the sheet so missing codes block submission? Recommend the most practical change for a small team with limited technical support.