Reply to: Approvers on leave!!!!

[Wanderer]

These are hard times so I am not in the habit of letting people owe the company more than as specified in the contract terms otherwise I would be one of the many contractors over the years who loses a fortune when an agent goes bust.

Fair comment. I think contractors forget that we are often extending a substantial line of credit of credit to these agencies. I'm never happy with them owing me more money than is necessary.

You can get insurance to cover you against agency failure though....

[configman]

Got to agree with Mr Bolshie.

Contractors should not be living hand to mouth. Suddenly many are.

In my situation it is not living hand to mouth, on one hand I have the client not signing timesheets because of holidays (and not delegating responsibility) and on the other hand the agent not wanting to pay late timesheets. There are signs agent has cashflow problem so I am not letting it get out of control. This is the first contract in fifteen years that the client has refused to sign timesheets and when going down the chain of command still get refusal because its not their job. I had to threaten to walk of site to get them signed, and I've had to put the agent under pressure to get every payment. These are hard times so I am not in the habit of letting people owe the company more than as specified in the contract terms otherwise I would be one of the many contractors over the years who loses a fortune when an agent goes bust.

[ItsQuickerAntiClockwise]

Really dont see what the beef is here. If you manage your affairs properly, missing two weeks payment this billing cycle and, potentially getting seven in the next one equals the same!

Got to agree with Mr Bolshie.

Contractors should not be living hand to mouth. Suddenly many are.

[Support Monkey]

when this happens to me i just go to the next man\women down the chain of command and explain the situation, never had anyone refuse yet (they sometimes ask for a copy of the timesheet justin case which i give them)

And from an IR32 point of view it presumabley shows your not being controlled by one person in the department if multiple people can sign off your timesheet

[Not So Wise]

Next time something like this happens just invoice agency anyway, breakdowns in the agency/client processes are not your problem.

If you really want to cover things, just create your own timesheet and get someone with enough seniority to sign it and send that off with invoice

[Scrag Meister]

Really dont see what the beef is here. If you manage your affairs properly, missing two weeks payment this billing cycle and, potentially getting seven in the next one equals the same!

No major beef, just having moved house AND got married in the last 9 months, the finances have taken a major slap and my plan is just about to get them back in order , assuming all timesheets are approved.

Anyway, 1 of the 2 outstanding weeks has now been approved.
The other one on a new time recording system will, hopefully, only have to wait until tomorrow.

[BolshieBastard]

Really dont see what the beef is here. If you manage your affairs properly, missing two weeks payment this billing cycle and, potentially getting seven in the next one equals the same!

[kaiser78]

I'm two weeks behind for the same reason. It's a PITA, but it happens. Always good to arrange at least two people who can sign your timesheets; I've been in the situation of having only one person authorised to do it who then goes away for 3 weeks.

If they're refusing to sign you need to walk.

They are not refusing to sign - they are just on leave. Big difference leading to misleading advice. Annoying as it is, you cannot change the situation so include on Sept invoice and stop fretting.

[JonSmile]

I normally check their diaries and if they are not going to be about I will get timesheets signed off in advance (as they trust me).

[Scrag Meister]

I'm two weeks behind for the same reason. It's a PITA, but it happens. Always good to arrange at least two people who can sign your timesheets; I've been in the situation of having only one person authorised to do it who then goes away for 3 weeks.

If they're refusing to sign you need to walk.

Not a matter of refusing, just can't see my timesheets as they are not authorised approvers for my sheets.

5 weeks to invoice, 3 are approved, hopefully at least one more this afternoon depending how things pan out.

[VectraMan]

I'm two weeks behind for the same reason. It's a PITA, but it happens. Always good to arrange at least two people who can sign your timesheets; I've been in the situation of having only one person authorised to do it who then goes away for 3 weeks.

If they're refusing to sign you need to walk.

[Scrag Meister]

Its all online!!

Not a matter of getting paper signed but getting this system to allow someone in the office to approve my online timesheet.

If was paper would be easy.

Have spoken to the agent and they WILL NOT pay without the online approval having been done.

[dynamicsaxcontractor]

Annoyed or what, comes to the end of the month and both of the managers who approve my timesheets are on leave!! and neither of them had the foresight to arrange a proxy approver before leaving.

I may be left with the last 2 weeks being left un-approved until they return in which case I will end up having to take those 2 weeks forward to next months invoice, End of September!!!

Grrrrrrr!!!!

Am hoping I may be able to get it sorted, will keep you posted.

This happened to me last year. However I sent the invoice as normal, after a phone call from the agent about why timesheet wasnt signed he chased it and got it sorted.

[d000hg]

In many companies people on leave are still reachable, and even check their business email. Why not send an email to both of them and ask them to let you know who to go to for a signature. Or if you know them well enough, phone them and ask.

Just because you're on holiday doesn't mean you're missing, as a permie in a management role.

[lukemg]

This happens from time to time, unless you have concerns about the client or agency, why sweat for the sake of a few weeks. You would be stuffed going direct and if you are living hand-to-mouth, that's probably a mistake.