Vacation tracking software for a small team is sold on feature lists and is better judged on three records: the calendar, which shows who is off and who is due back; the approval record, which says who said yes to which request and when; and the balance per person, which moves the day a request is approved rather than the day someone updates a sheet. A product that keeps those three well is worth more than one with a mobile app, a Slack bot and an accrual engine it does not need. The U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics factsheet cited below puts most private industry workers at 10 to 14 days after a year of service, so even a twelve-person team is placing well over a hundred days a year, and the free template on this site sizes that load from your own headcount.
The calendar: who is off, and how many can be
The calendar's job is to answer the approval question on sight: who else is off that week, how many the team allows away at once, and whether this request fits. Software that shows the week and hides the cap sends the manager to a spreadsheet. Ask to see the week view with the cap on it before anything else, because that screen is the one the manager opens every time a request arrives.
The approval record and the balance: the two that settle disputes
An approval nobody recorded is a dispute in December, and a balance updated at month end is a balance that was true three weeks ago. The software should record who approved a request and when, and move the balance that day; it should keep sick days as a separate counter against the same person. The Department of Labor page cited below says federal law does not require paid vacation at all, so the balance is a matter of your own policy and only your own record can prove it.
What the category charges
Timetastic publishes a Business plan at $1.50 per user per month, Pro at $2.50 per user per month and Rota & Time Clock at $5.50 per user per month, so a team's price climbs with every hire. Offdayly Pro is $15 per month for the whole team, whoever is on it, and the free tools and templates stay free whether or not anyone subscribes.
Questions people ask about vacation tracking software
Is there free vacation tracking software?
The tools on this site size the year's off days, the requests, the cover and the carryover from your own headcount, free and with no account. Offdayly Pro is the tracking itself: the calendar, the approvals, the balances and the export.
Does vacation tracking software need to do accruals?
Only if your policy accrues by the month. Most small teams grant the allowance on the first of the year and cap the carryover, and the record that matters is the balance moving on approval. The template on this site prints the carryover exposure at your cap.
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