Free template
Free Annual Leave Tracker Template
A simple starting point for small teams that still manage annual leave in Excel or Google Sheets.
No signup · No card · Opens in Excel and Google Sheets
The file contains three clearly marked example rows (“EXAMPLE — Alex Example” and similar) that you can delete before adding your own people. This template is a planning aid, not legal or employment advice.
What it tracks
One row per person, eleven columns, nothing to learn.
The template is a starter register: who is on the team, what they are entitled to, what they have used and what is coming up.
- Employee
- Who the row belongs to.
- Team
- The team or department that feels the absence.
- Manager
- Who approves this person's leave.
- Working pattern
- Full time or the specific days a part-time employee works.
- Annual entitlement
- Days for the current leave year, pro-rated where relevant.
- Carry-over
- Days brought forward from the previous leave year.
- Leave taken
- Days already taken and agreed.
- Pending leave
- Days requested but not yet decided.
- Remaining balance
- Entitlement plus carry-over, minus leave taken and pending leave.
- Next approved absence
- The next agreed dates, so cover can be planned.
- Notes
- Anything the team needs to know — keep it non-sensitive.
A monthly routine
Ten minutes, once a month.
- 1Add any newly agreed leave to “Leave taken” and clear it out of “Pending leave”.
- 2Update “Next approved absence” for anyone whose dates have passed or changed.
- 3Recalculate “Remaining balance” and check the total against your own records.
- 4Check the next two months for periods where several people in the same team are away.
- 5Save a dated copy of the file so you can see what the numbers looked like last month.
Where spreadsheets strain
A spreadsheet works until the details start moving.
Multiple managers
Once more than one person approves leave, two people can agree overlapping absences before either updates the file.
Part-time schedules
A day off is not the same amount of leave for everyone, so entitlements and deductions need per-person working patterns.
Carry-over rules
Caps, expiry dates and exceptions turn a simple column into a calculation someone has to remember each year.
Balances that keep changing
Accruals, mid-year starters, leavers and corrections mean the balance is only correct until the next change.
Overlapping absences
A spreadsheet shows totals per person, not whether a team still has enough cover in a given week.
No record of decisions
When a cell is overwritten, the previous value and the reason for the change are gone.
When LeaveVia is the next step
When keeping the file correct costs more than the file saves.
LeaveVia covers leave and team availability. It is not payroll, timesheets or a full HR platform, and it sits alongside whatever you already use for those.
Requests and approvals
Employees request leave; approvers decide and the decision is recorded.
Ledger-based balances
Every entitlement, accrual and day taken is a recorded transaction, so balances add up.
Policies and accruals
Leave types, leave years, accrual rules and rounding configured once.
Working patterns
Full-time, part-time and pro-rata handled per employee.
Team availability and coverage
See who is away in a period, with a warning when cover gets thin.
Calendar sync
Approved leave can appear in connected Outlook or Google calendars.
Reports and exports
Export balances and leave taken when finance or year end needs it.
Outgrown the spreadsheet?
Move your team off the spreadsheet with a 30-day free trial. No card is required to start, and nothing is charged until your trial ends.