Tracking vacation time is one record kept well: a balance per person that starts at the allowance, moves down the day a request is approved, and carries the approver and the date against every change. Everything else, the calendar view, the reminders, the export, is a way of reading that record. The spreadsheet fails because its balance moves when someone updates it rather than when the approval happens, and the gap between the two is where the double booking lives. The U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics factsheet cited below found after 10 years of service 31 percent of private industry workers with paid vacation had 15 to 19 days, so for a settled team the balance is a real sum worth keeping to the day.
Start from the written allowance
The allowance per person, the grant or accrual rule, and the carryover cap, written once. The U.S. Department of Labor page cited below says federal law does not require paid vacation, so these are your policy and the record is the only evidence of it. The free template on this site takes the allowance and prints the year's load and the carryover at your cap.
Move the balance on approval
A request approved in March for August comes off the balance in March, with the approver and the date. The manager reading the balance in April sees the truth. A record that waits for the vacation to be taken shows a balance that is already promised, which is how the same week gets approved twice and the same person gets days they no longer have.
Read the record at year end
The days left per person against the carryover cap, and their pay value, are what the accountant asks for in December. The template prints the exposure at your cap in January; Pro holds the balances that arrive at it, with the request history behind each one so the figure can be explained as well as stated.
Questions people ask about tracking vacation time
What is the best way to track vacation time in a small business?
A balance per person that moves on approval, with the approver recorded. The template sizes the year; Offdayly Pro keeps the balance.
How do I track vacation time for part-time staff?
Pro-rate the allowance in the written policy and record days against it the same way; the template takes the allowance per person as an input.
q
a