---
title: "Unapproved timesheets: unblocking IT services invoices"
canonical: https://www.billabex.com/en/blog/it-services-unapproved-timesheet-invoice/
lang: en
alternate: https://www.billabex.com/fr/blog/esn-compte-rendu-activite-non-valide-facture.md
alternates:
  fr: https://www.billabex.com/fr/blog/esn-compte-rendu-activite-non-valide-facture.md
  en: https://www.billabex.com/en/blog/it-services-unapproved-timesheet-invoice.md
  de: https://www.billabex.com/de/blog/it-dienstleister-nicht-freigegebener-taetigkeitsbericht-rechnung.md
  es: https://www.billabex.com/es/blog/informe-de-actividad-no-validado-desbloquear-factura-consultora-it.md
  it: https://www.billabex.com/it/blog/servizi-informatici-resoconto-attivita-non-approvato-fattura.md
  nl: https://www.billabex.com/nl/blog/it-dienstverlener-urenstaat-niet-goedgekeurd-factuur.md
  pl: https://www.billabex.com/pl/blog/uslugi-it-niezatwierdzony-raport-prac-a-faktura.md
  pt: https://www.billabex.com/pt/blog/servicos-informaticos-relatorio-atividade-nao-aprovado-fatura.md
updated: 2026-11-12
index: https://www.billabex.com/llms.txt
---

# Unapproved timesheets: unblocking IT services invoices

An IT services invoice can remain blocked even though nobody explicitly disputes its amount. Accounts payable is waiting for an activity report, the operational manager believes it was approved, and the consultant still sees “submitted” in the timesheet system. Sending more payment reminders repeats a question that the recipient cannot yet answer.

To resolve the position, identify the missing event. Was the report submitted? Did the correct person receive it? Are particular days disputed, is a deliverable outstanding, or has the approver simply left the assignment? Each situation requires a different request. The approach below concerns B2B relationships governed by French law, including IT subcontracting arrangements where the direct customer and end customer are different organisations.

## Read the clause before chasing a signature

Collect the agreement, specific conditions and billing annexes. Identify the required document, its format, the person or role responsible for approval and the agreed process for disagreements. Establish which party must obtain approval when your direct customer supplies services to an end customer.

A [24 January 2025 judgment of the Nanterre economic activities court, case 2023F01474](https://www.courdecassation.fr/decision/686917b50cb281e2464a9ecd), illustrates the issue. In an IT subcontracting dispute, the court rejected a claim for **€28,560 including VAT in invoices**, considering the contractual requirement for activity reports signed by the principal customer and the supporting documents produced. This was a first-instance decision on specific facts, not a general rule that every unsigned timesheet extinguishes a receivable.

The narrower operational lesson is that a project presentation or general evidence of participation may not satisfy an agreed requirement to establish the period and approval. Compare the available evidence with the contract and address any gap before repeating the same request for payment. More attachments are useful only when they answer the actual requirement.

## Reconstruct the chain while retaining the direct customer

In a three-party relationship, draw a simple chain: consultant, end-customer manager, contact at the IT services customer and paying department. Record who passes which document and who can request a correction. The consultant should not become solely responsible for collections simply because they know the team on site.

Identify your debtor from the agreement. An end customer’s obligation to approve an activity report does not mean that it directly owes you the contract price. Avoid sending it a payment demand intended for your contracting customer. Ask the latter to complete the agreed approval route and confirm how the record should reach the appropriate reviewer.

The [connection between timesheet data and IT services invoices](https://www.billabex.com/en/blog/it-services-timesheet-collections-data/) should retrieve the assignment, period and submitted version. Without that mapping, intermediaries may review different documents while believing they are discussing the same month. Establish the reference before asking anyone to decide whether it is acceptable.

## Classify the obstacle by the answer needed

The following categories describe practical situations and their consequences for follow-up. They are a proposed working method, not measured frequencies in the IT services sector.

| Established situation                 | Useful question                             | Internal action                                          |
| ------------------------------------- | ------------------------------------------- | -------------------------------------------------------- |
| The report did not reach the approver | Where should this version be submitted?     | Resend the correct record and retain receipt evidence    |
| The approver is absent or has left    | Who is authorised for this period?          | Obtain confirmation from the contract owner              |
| A quantity is disputed                | Which lines and dates are affected?         | Refer the difference to the assignment owner             |
| A new procedure is invoked            | Where and when was this requirement agreed? | Compare the request with the contract and correspondence |

In the final case, distinguish useful administrative cooperation from accepting a contractual change. You can help the customer process an upload while asking the responsible people to clarify its effect on payment. A collections employee should neither dismiss every new request nor silently treat it as a revised contractual condition.

## A new approver does not erase the earlier agreement

On [26 February 2025, in appeal 23-21.063](https://www.legifrance.gouv.fr/juri/id/JURITEXT000051284011), the French Court of Cassation partly overturned a decision concerning website maintenance. The lower court needed to establish the particular circumstances supporting silent acceptance of changed operating and billing procedures. The decision remitted the matter; it did not itself finally order payment of the disputed invoices.

For daily follow-up, the case supports retaining correspondence about procedural changes. A newly appointed contact may not know the earlier approval arrangements. Provide the relevant history without claiming that a customer’s internal email automatically changes the contract, or that such a message can never have contractual consequences.

If the disagreement concerns the scope of the agreement, involve the commercial or legal owner. Collections can establish the chronology and request a decision. It should not invent a rule of deemed acceptance to close a record. The objective is an agreed or properly assessed position, with the underlying messages still available.

## Ask a question that can receive a precise answer

An effective message begins with the period and missing evidence. In a fictional example: “Invoice F-114 concerns assignment M-28 from 1 to 31 October. Activity report version 2 was submitted on 3 November. Your accounts payable team says approval is outstanding. Please confirm who is authorised to review this period and identify any lines that are disputed.”

This does not presume that approval already exists or that the customer refuses to pay. Address the person who owns the approval route, keeping accounts payable informed where appropriate. Attach the commercial evidence needed to answer the question and remove personal information unrelated to it.

After receiving a reply, separate the approval task from the request for a payment date. If the report is accepted, confirm invoice receipt and ask about processing. General [unpaid-invoice follow-up practices](https://www.billabex.com/en/blog/tips-for-following-up-on-unpaid-invoices/) remain useful, but the next message must reflect the facts now established. Continuing to request a signature that has already been supplied damages the usefulness of the conversation.

## Preserve evidence without reconstructing the past

[Article 1353 of the French Civil Code](https://www.legifrance.gouv.fr/codes/article_lc/LEGIARTI000032042341) allocates proof between the party requesting performance of an obligation and the party asserting discharge. For the IT services file, retain evidence explaining the service and amount claimed, together with any payment evidence supplied.

A confirmation obtained today about October work should carry its real date. It can identify the earlier period it confirms without being backdated. Retain reservations and corrections as well. Removing them would create a misleading picture of what the customer accepted and when that acceptance occurred.

If only part of the service is acknowledged, have the relevant owner assess whether that portion can be handled separately. Any financial correction must remain traceable. Keep the original amount, decision and new documents. Silently replacing a timesheet or invoice to obtain a green status makes later reconciliation and review harder, even if the immediate portal obstacle disappears.

## Close the obstacle on a verifiable fact

A matter has not been resolved because someone promises to “take a look.” It progresses when an approver is named, a difference is described or acceptance is documented. A [customer payment register](https://www.billabex.com/en/blog/tracking-client-payments-with-excel-download-our-free-template/) can record those facts with an owner and next action, making a handover possible without another round of explanation.

[Billabex follow-up conversations](https://www.billabex.com/en/product/follow-ups-conversations/) help retain the context surrounding payment discussions. For an IT services firm, that context should show what still requires approval, who can provide it, and then how the financial document will actually move towards payment.