How to set up leave balances and accrual
Balances are the part most spreadsheet-based systems get wrong. Time Off handles annual or monthly accrual, carryover caps that stop unused days rolling forward indefinitely, and separate allowances per leave type — so the number someone sees is the number they actually have.
Takes about 10 min
Steps
Choose annual or monthly accrual
Annual grants the full allowance at the start of the period; monthly accrues it gradually across the year.
Set the allowance
How many days each person gets.
Set a carryover cap if you use one
This limits how many unused days roll into the next period, which is what stops balances drifting upward year after year.
Configure per-type allowances
Different leave types can carry different allowances rather than sharing one pool.
Worth knowing
- Because weekends and public holidays are excluded automatically and half-days count as 0.5, the balance reflects working days rather than calendar days.
- Public holidays are handled across 56 countries for any year, which matters for a distributed team where a holiday in one country is a working day in another.
- This is leave tracking, not payroll. It doesn't calculate pay in lieu, statutory entitlement or termination balances — for those you need an HR or payroll system.
Questions
Does it handle public holidays for a distributed team?
Yes. Public holidays are supported across 56 countries for any year, so a holiday in one person's country is excluded from their count without affecting colleagues elsewhere.
What is a carryover cap?
A limit on how many unused days roll forward into the next period. Without one, balances drift upward year after year; with one, they reset to something predictable.