IT Services Home

Electronic Timesheet Authorization Instructions

The following are the steps necessary to submit a timesheet or leave slip to your supervisor electronically.

I. Download/Install your personal digital certificate.
II. Complete and electronically sign your timesheet / leave slip.
III. Copy it into the network folder named after your immediate supervisor.

Removing an old certificate from your digital certificate list

I. Download / Install your personal digital certificate

To sign files electronically, you must have a digital certificate. Each employee has a personal digital certificate associated to their network user account. The certificate must be installed onto your computer before you can digitally sign files.

To download and install your personal digital certificate:

1. Using the Internet Explorer 5.5 or later web browser, go to the following URL: https://ar-nexus/certsrv/
2. When prompted to login, enter your username and password and click the OK button. Note: The username and password to use is your network account (for Coon Rapids employees), or your Front Page web access / Central Services Web Ticket print request account (Cambridge employees).
3. Under the Select a Task area, click the Request a Certificate link.
4. On the next page, click the User Certificate link.
   1. Note: you may be prompted to install an Active X control (Microsoft Certificate Enrollment Control) after clicking this link. This Active X control is necessary to download and install your certificate. If you are unable to install the control, contact Technology.
5. On the next page, click the Submit button. A dialog box 'Potential Scripting Violation' should appear stating the web site is requesting a certificate on your behalf. Click the Yes button to proceed.
6. The following page should state 'The certificate you requested was issued to you'. Click the link titled Install this certificate. A dialog box will appear to install the certificate. Click the Yes button, and the certificate will be added to your users certificate store.
7. Close Internet Explorer.

You can verify that the digital certificate was installed by opening Internet Explorer, clicking the Tools menu, and selecting Internet Options. Click the Content tab, then click the Certificates button. You should see an entry under the Personal tab with the same name as your network username.

II. Complete and electronically sign your timesheet / leave slip

To use your digital certificate to add your digital signature to your timesheet and leave slips:

1. Complete your timesheet / leave slip.
2. Next, click the File menu, and select Save As.
3. Give the signed file a name in the format of Lastname_Firstname_PayPeriodEndDate (i.e. DoeJane 12-16-03), select a location to save it in (your network home directory is a good place), then click the Save button. The file must be saved before you add your digital signature.
4. To sign the file in Office 2003/XP:
   1. click the Tools menu, and select Options.
   2. Click the Security tab, then the Digital Signatures button.
   3. In the Digital Signatures dialog box, click the Add button
   4. In the list of digital certificates available, click the one named after your username (it will also be issued by ar-nexus), then click the OK button.
   5. Click the OK button of the Digital Signatures dialog box, then click the OK button of the Options dialog box.
5. To sign the file in Office 2007:
   1. Click the Office button in the upper-left corner
   2. Highlight the Prepare option, then select the Add a Digital Signature option
   3. If there is only one certificate installed (this is usually the case), the Sign dialog box will appear, and the Signed As field should list your own username. If you need to select a different certificate, click the Change button
      1. The list of installed certificates available for signing will appear. Select the certificate you wish to use, and click the OK button.
   4. Click the Sign button to add your certificate. You do not need to enter anything in the Purpose for signing this document field.
   5. Note: when you go back to edit your time sheet for the next pay period, it will be Read Only until you remove your certificate from the previous pay period. To remove any signatures:
      1. Click the Office button in the upper-left corner
      2. Highlight the Prepare option, then select the View Signatures option.
      3. A new pane should appear on the right that lists any certificates added to the document. Right-click each one in the list, and select the Remove Signature option.
      4. Click the Yes button on the Remove Signature dialog box.

Breaking the signature: resaving a signed file will break the digital signature. Any changes made after signing a file cannot be saved without breaking the original signature. If you need to modify a signed file, you must repeat steps 4 thorugh 8 to resign it.

Note: you can rename a signed file, and copy that signed file to another location, without breaking the signature.

III. Copy the signed file into your supervisors network folder

To submit your digitally signed timesheet / leave slip, you must copy the file into the network folder of your supervisor.

1. Using Windows Explorer or My Computer, browse to the location you saved your signed file in step II.
2. Right-click the file and select Copy.
3. Browse to the N: drive and your supervisors network payroll folder (N:\payroll\supervisors). Right-click your supervisors folder and select Paste.

Note: you can also drag-and-drop the file with your mouse to copy it into your supervisors folder.

Removing an old certificate from your digital certificate list

To remove an expired or unverified certificate from your list of certs, use Internet Explorer to manage the installed certificates.

1. Start Internet Explorer, click the Tools menu, and select Internet Options.
2. Select the Content Tab
3. Click the Certificates button towards the middle of the page.
4. On the Personal tab (should be the tab displayed by default), look for the certificate with an Issue To name that matches your username, and the expiration date closest to today (if removing the oldest certificate). Select the certificate, and click the Remove button.
5. When the warning message about decrypting data pops up, click the Yes button.
6. Click the Close button, then the OK button to exit the IE Internet Options dialog box.

back to top