Why it matters
Hours don't go to your provider on their own. You review each worker's week, resolve anything unusual, and sign off when everything looks right. FabWise makes sure the numbers you export are the numbers you actually approved — not a version you reviewed before a correction was made.
How it works
Timecards lists each workweek as a row. Tap Review on the week you want. That opens the week's grid — one row per worker. Click a worker's row to open their shifts for that week.
Each shift row previews its state. A clean shift shows a green checkmark. A shift whose exceptions you've already acknowledged shows a quiet gray checkmark with the count. A shift with something still open shows an amber warning icon — hover it to read exactly what it needs ("Needs acknowledgment," "Meal needs confirmation," "Needs end time"). A shift the worker never showed up for shows an amber Missed — needs classification pill.
The grid tells you what's needed. To act on it, click anywhere on the shift's row — the whole row opens that shift's page. When all exceptions for a worker's week are resolved, you sign off. The CSV export includes only signed-off workers.
Each week has its own URL — you can bookmark it, share it, or come back to it directly. Navigating away and returning always lands you on the same week's grid.
What's an exception?
An exception is anything about a shift that needs your attention before it goes to your provider:
- Worker arrived significantly late
- Worker left significantly early
- Shift was unscheduled (not on the schedule that day)
- Meal break not taken (and the shift qualified for one)
- Worker forgot to end their shift — auto-ended by the system
- Significant extra time — minutes worked beyond the scheduled shift, from an early start, a late end, or both
When an exception is open, the shift is flagged. The worker's Status cell counts what's left — "3 to review." When that count reaches zero, the cell turns into a Sign Off Week button.
The review grid
Path: Admin → Timecards → [select a week]
The page header totals the whole week: Total hours, Meal, Personal, and the Direct / Indirect split. Total hours counts only the shifts you've finished reviewing, so it fills in as you work. If any shift still needs a correction, a badge beside the total says how many are still out.
Below that, one row per worker:
- User — the worker's name.
- Hours — that worker's net hours for the shifts you've finished reviewing. Same rule as the header total: it climbs as you clear each shift, so a week mid-review reads lower than it will when you're done.
- Status — where the week stands. A count of what's left to review, a Sign Off Week button once nothing is left, or a Signed Off badge with the person who signed it and an Unlock button.
Click a worker's row to open their shift-by-shift breakdown.
Shift-by-shift breakdown
One row per shift, with these columns:
- Shift — the date.
- Sched Start / Actual Start and Sched End / Actual End — scheduled beside actual, so the comparison reads straight across.
- Meal and Personal — the two unpaid deductions, split out.
- Net Hrs — the pay-basis net for that shift. It reads a dash when the shift's facts aren't complete enough to produce an honest figure. See Net Hours.
- Exceptions — the state preview: green checkmark, gray checkmark with a count, amber warning icon, or the Missed pill.
To open a shift, click anywhere on its row. The shift date is also a link, if you'd rather tab to it.
To read what triggered a shift's exceptions without leaving the grid, tap the chevron at the right end of the row. A panel opens under the row with a one-line summary of each one, in plain language ("Late arrival: arrived 38 minutes past scheduled start"), plus a View Shift button. The panel stays closed until you open it.
Either way, you resolve the exception on the shift's own page, in the section it belongs to (Start, End, Break, Personal Time, Tasks, or Attendance for a missed shift).
Acknowledge or correct on the shift page
On the shift page, the section that flagged the exception highlights amber and carries its own action: Acknowledge if the recorded times are correct as-is, or a correction control (Correct times, Left at scheduled time, or the meal two-choice) if something needs to be supplied or fixed. Add an optional note and save — FabWise returns you to this same grid. FabWise records the shift's details at the moment you acknowledge; if those details change later — a time is corrected, a break is updated — the acknowledgment reopens automatically and you review the updated version.
The record the review leaves behind
Approving a shift doesn't erase what you reviewed. Each item you resolve moves into a Reviewed section on the shift page, and it stays there.
What you'll see
The Reviewed section sits below the amber items that still need you. It lists one card per item you've already resolved. Each card shows:
- What it was — the flag's name, in the same words the open card used.
- Who resolved it, and when.
- What was decided — "Acknowledged," or the specific choice you clicked where there was one.
- The note, if one was written.
While anything on the shift is still open, the section stays collapsed so the shift reads as "one thing needs you," not "six things." Once the review is closed, it opens by default — that's the state where the record is what you came for. A long note collapses to a summary line with the full text one click away.
An item only appears in Reviewed while it's genuinely closed. If the shift's details change and an acknowledgment reopens, that item goes back to being an amber card — you won't see a resolved card claiming it's settled alongside a live one saying it isn't.
Adding a note after approval
You can add a note to a shift that's already approved, and to one that's inside a signed-off week. This does not require an unlock, and it does not mark the week amended.
- Open the shift.
- On the item you want to comment on, tap Add a note.
- Type the note and save.
A note is commentary. It changes no times, no hours, and no exception state — nothing about what your provider receives. That's why it isn't blocked by payroll lock. Use it when you learn something after the fact: a worker explained the late arrival the next morning, a supervisor confirmed the meal was taken, you want the reasoning on the record before it fades.
Notes are manager-only. Workers never see them.
Editing a note
- Open the shift.
- On the card carrying the note, tap Edit note.
- Change the text and save.
The card shows the current version — one note, not a running pile. The earlier version isn't deleted, though: every version is kept in Change History, each with the person who wrote it and the time they wrote it. Nothing you save over is lost, and nothing already saved is quietly rewritten. If a wage question ever comes up, the full sequence is there.
Missed shifts
A scheduled shift the worker never started shows as Missed in the grid. Confirm it like any other exception so the week can be signed off.
When you open a missed shift, the Attendance card lets you record why it was missed — an attendance note that builds a running conduct record, so you're never scrambling to document things later:
- Classification — Excused (approved or valid reason), Unexcused (no valid reason, but they told you), or No-call-no-show (no notice at all).
- Note — context in your own words. The note is manager-only — workers never see it.
A few things worth knowing:
- It's an attendance note, not a pay decision. All three classifications are zero worked hours and never change the exported numbers.
- You can record or update it even after the week is signed off — documentation isn't blocked by payroll lock.
- The classification shows as a small badge ("Missed · Unexcused") on the shift and in the grid.
- If a "missed" shift was actually worked and you correct it, it stops counting as an absence automatically.
You read the pattern over time — counts by classification and a per-incident log — on the worker's Performance page. See Worker Performance & Attendance.
Sign off
When all exceptions for a worker's week are resolved:
- A Sign Off Week button appears in that worker's Status cell.
- Tap Sign Off Week to lock the week.
- The week is now finalized and appears in the CSV export.
Sign-off is per worker per week. You can sign off workers as they're ready — you don't have to wait until the whole account is ready.
Two states hold the button back even when nothing is flagged:
- Week in progress — the week hasn't ended yet. Sign off after it closes.
- Pending time off — the worker has a time-off request still awaiting your decision. Approve or decline it, then sign off.
After sign-off
Once a week is signed off:
- Shift times for that period are locked.
- Changes to shifts in that period require an unlock.
- Notes are the exception — you can still add or edit one without unlocking.
- The worker's row appears in the CSV export.
Unlock and amend
If you need to make a correction after signing off:
- Tap Unlock, beside the Signed Off badge on that worker's row.
- Make your correction.
- Sign off again.
Unlock is one tap — FabWise doesn't ask you to type a reason. The unlock is recorded either way, with who did it and when. If hours for that week had already been exported, the week is marked Amended on the Payroll Report. Your provider sees the final, corrected numbers.
Export hours
Path: Admin → Timecards → [select a week] → Download CSV
Download CSV stays disabled until every worker in the period is signed off — hover it and it tells you so. That's deliberate: a partial file sent to your provider is a partial payroll.
Once it's available, the CSV includes every worker who is signed off for the period. Workers with open exceptions or unsigned weeks are not included.
The export is one CSV your provider imports through its own column mapping. Your provider handles overtime classification, pay rates, and compliance. FabWise produces accurate hours; your provider calculates the check.
Historical weeks
Weeks that predate the sign-off feature were signed off for you when it shipped. They show as Signed Off like any other week, with System as the signer instead of a person, and they export normally. Going forward, sign-off is a supervisor's act.
Common questions
Q: Can I add a note to a shift after the week is signed off?
A: Yes. Notes aren't blocked by payroll lock, and adding one doesn't unlock the week or mark it amended. A note changes no times and no hours — it's commentary on the record, not a change to it.
Q: I edited a note. Is the old version gone?
A: No. The card shows the current version, and Change History keeps every version with its author and timestamp. Nothing you save over is deleted.
Q: An item I resolved disappeared from the Reviewed section — where did it go?
A: Something about the shift changed and the acknowledgment reopened, so that item is an amber card again. Resolve it against the updated details and it returns to Reviewed.
Q: A worker's week is offering Sign Off Week but I haven't reviewed every shift — did I miss something?
A: If the Status cell offers Sign Off Week, all exceptions have been resolved. Shifts without exceptions don't require action — they're clean by definition. If you want to spot-check a clean shift, click its row in the grid.
Q: An acknowledgment I made earlier reopened — why?
A: Something about the shift changed after you acknowledged it. FabWise records what the shift looked like when you acknowledged, and reopens if the facts change. Review the updated exception — it shows you what changed.
Q: Can I sign off a week with open exceptions?
A: No. Sign-off requires all exceptions resolved. This is intentional — your hours export reflects what you've actually reviewed, not a partial approval.
Q: What are direct vs. indirect hours?
A: Direct hours are time spent on specific job tasks (tracked in Workstation). Indirect hours are time within the shift not attributed to any task — setup, transitions, clean-up. Both count toward the worker's total hours. The split is for your job-costing visibility, not a payroll distinction.
Q: What if a worker's shift is still in progress?
A: In-progress shifts don't appear in the review grid until they're completed. A worker who has started a shift but not ended it won't show in that week's exceptions until they end it.
Q: I was in the middle of reviewing a week and clicked away — can I get back?
A: Yes. Each week has its own URL. Use your browser's back button or bookmark the page. When you return — via direct URL, bookmark, or back button — you land on the same week's grid, exactly where you left off.
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Last updated: 2026-08-29