Time Card Management

  • Release version: Australia
  • Updated March 12, 2026
  • 2 minutes to read
    • Summarize
    Summarized using AI
    This content was generated using new OpenAI-powered functionality. Results are provided on an as is basis and are not guaranteed to be accurate or complete.

    Summary of Time Card Management

    The Time Card Management feature in ServiceNow enables users to accurately report and track time spent on assigned tasks such as projects, incidents, problems, and change requests. It integrates with the Task table to facilitate time tracking through time cards and time sheets, supporting submission and approval workflows to ensure proper time management and accountability.

    Show full answer Show less

    Key Features

    • Time Entry and Submission: Users can record time worked using time cards and time sheets, then submit these for approval.
    • Approval Workflow: Time cards and sheets are routed based on user time sheet policies that define non-project and project time approvers.
    • Approver Capabilities: Time card approvers can review, approve, reject, or recall time sheets and time cards for corrections, and use dashboards to monitor exceptions and categorize reported time.
    • Delegation: Approvers can delegate their approval responsibilities to others, though delegation cannot be limited to individual resources and delegates cannot further delegate approvals.
    • Admin Functions: Time card administrators can create and manage time sheet policies, approve or reject by exception, process time sheets, and edit or create time cards in Pending or Rejected states.
    • Time Sheet Portal: Provides a consolidated weekly view of assigned tasks, enabling streamlined time entry and submission.
    • Cost Management Integration: When enabled, time cards help manage labor costs within the Cost Management application.
    • Domain Separation Compliance: Time Card Management supports domain separation at a data-only level, allowing data isolation and controlled access for domain-specific users.

    Activation and Configuration

    • Administrators activate the Time Card Management plugin (com.snc.timecard), which also activates Performance Analytics dashboards requiring a separate license.
    • Time sheet policies define rules for time sheets and time cards.
    • Rate types can be created to support cost and billing requirements.
    • The project management feature can automatically activate time card capabilities.

    What This Enables ServiceNow Customers to Do

    • Efficiently track and report time against various task types to improve resource management and project tracking.
    • Implement structured approval processes to ensure accuracy and compliance in time reporting.
    • Delegate approval responsibilities to maintain workflow continuity during absences.
    • Leverage dashboards for visibility into time tracking exceptions and trends.
    • Manage labor costs effectively when integrated with Cost Management.
    • Maintain data privacy and security through domain separation, suitable for organizations requiring strict data isolation.

    The Time Card Management feature enables time card users such as task assignees to report and track their time for the assigned tasks.

    Watch this three-minute video to learn about setup of the time tracking feature, entering time and approvals.

    Time Card Management works with the Task table to record time worked on various task types, such as projects, incidents, problems, and change requests.

    With the Time Card Management feature:

    • The time card users can record the time worked on a task using time cards and time sheets. They can submit their time cards and time sheets for approval.
    • Time cards and time sheets are routed for approval based on the Non-project time approver and Project time approver fields in the user time sheet policy. User managers with time card approver role can also log time and submit the time sheet of their resources
    • The time card approvers can perform the following tasks:
      • Review and approve or reject the time cards in a submitted time sheet.
      • Recall the approved time sheets or time cards to return them to the users for corrections.
      • Use dashboards to view reports of time card and time sheet exceptions, and categorize time reported by the users.
      • Delegate another time card approver to process time sheets from your resources when you might not have time or will be unavailable. Note the following points for delegation:
        • You cannot delegate approval only for an individual resource.
        • The delegated time card approver cannot further delegate your time sheet approvals.

      The project_manager and the resource_manager roles contain the timecard_approver role in the base system. However, the timecard_approver role can also be used independently without these roles.

    • The time card admin can create and manage time sheet policies, and can also approve or reject by exception and process the time sheets. Time card admin can also create or edit time cards of any users if the time cards are in Pending or Rejected state.
    Note:
    The Time Card Management plugin is required to use time cards. Some of the procedures require the project management feature, which activates time cards automatically. For more information, see Project Management (com.snc.financial_planning_pmo).

    Domain separation in Time Card Management

    Domain separation provides complete data isolation for domain-specific users. Time card Management is domain separation compliant at the Data only level.