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Free Excel Staff Holiday Planner

Staff holiday and annual leave planner

Screenshot of the holiday tracker tool

This was our first-ever giveaway tool, a must for anyone who manages a team and needs to track and plan staff holidays.

Now downloaded over 40k times!!

Download Now!

Absolutely love this planner.  Used it last year and it was a massive time saver.  Would wholeheartedly recommend it to anyone who needs to manage staff leave.

Michelle Maddocks

I have to say I love the holiday/sickness tracker tool!  Its made a painful time-consuming job unbelievably simple, so thank you. Honestly, I can’t tell you how many problems this has solved within the Business I work for!!

Claire Rathmell

I downloaded the updated spreadsheet and I absolutely love the new feature. Great Job!!!

Ro Patino

Great tool and very easy to use

Sid Martin

This has been an amazing help to track absences in our business

Jody

I’ve been using the holiday planner and its been a fantastic tool for us. 

Gillian Flitton-Rapley

Thank you so much for your Team Holiday Spreadsheet … this is going to prove very, very useful!

Caroline

Thank you for providing this amazing Excel that actually really simplifies my task for my team and department.

Majid Sultan

I have download your holiday tracker 2016 and 2017 for our department use.  It is very simple and fantastic.

Orsha

The holiday tracker has enabled me to be able to count the days of each employee and be able to send them a report on the leave days balance. After I had implemented the tool I am now able to inform each staff promptly and frankly, it has lessened the paper workload and calculations.

Catherine

How to use it…

This short video takes you through how to set up and use the tracker…

Once you’ve mastered the basics, these top tips will help you get even more from it.

System requirements:

  • Excel 2007+
  • Windows
  • Macros enabled

Features of the staff holiday planner:

  • Track up to 1000 employees – Enter their name in column A and a new row will appear.
  • Compare the amount of annual leave taken by staff against their allocation for the year. Enter their allocation for the year, and the tool will track how many days they have left. Using the dialog box provided, you can highlight full, half, or public holidays. You can also mark training days, provisional holidays, free (lieu) days, sick days, or other days.
  • It works for 2025, 2026, or any year at all. When you first open the tool, simply tell it your leave year start date, and it will track holidays against this period.
  • Option to enter staff leave as days (and half days) or hours.
  • Multi-locale support – The tool has been tested to work with different date formats
  • Weekends are optional. You can Show or hide weekends as required, depending on whether your team works weekends. You can specify which days to use—particularly useful in the UAE, where Friday is part of the weekend.
  • Working days calculation—Easily show how many working days are available by simply selecting the range of days you want to add. Any holidays or public holidays will be deducted from the total. Sick days are also calculated.
  • It looks pretty and is super easy to use.
  • It’s free!

If you have a request for new functionality or have found a bug… report it to us here.

Enjoy 🙂

To download the holiday planner, please enter your details below.

This will subscribe you to our ‘annual leave’ mailing list. We will immediately send you an email with the download link. If you don’t receive it within 5 minutes, please check your spam folder.

We also recommend LeaveDates as an online alternative for managing staff holidays.

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98 Responses

  1. It’s a nifty macro. We often find that the information we are trying to reap from tracking holiday allocation is how much time each person will be available for work so that we can plan capacity for a sprint. It would be nice if the macro could total available days in a selected range.

  3. One of the issues I am having (and I have this with other trackers) is that many of the employees here have different start dates on their contracts, so the number of annual leave days allocated to them begin from different dates.
    Is there a way to calculate days remaining based on a specific range of dates that could be input easily based on start and end of contract?

  4. Hi Luke, thanks for your comment. I’m afraid it will be difficult to make the tool work in this way but I have a couple of options for you to achieve this… Would it be possible to pro-rata the holiday depending on the start date of the contract – so for example if someone starts on 1st Feb, then give them 11/12 of the usual holiday allowance for that year. By doing this you can fit all of your contractors into one standard annual leave year period. The other option is that you would need to use a separate tool for each contractor, but this would mean you have to go to lots of different places to get an overall view. I guess neither option is perfect for what you need unfortunately but we will keep thinking of options. All the best 🙂

  5. Hi Phil, thanks for your response. I’ll probably go with pro-rata for the holiday. I’ll work something out! Thanks again.

  6. Love the tool – only request is the ability to change or remove the types of leave. For example, I would only need
    – Half Day – Sick
    – Half Day – Vacation
    – Full Day – Sick
    – Full Day – Vacation
    – Company Wide Holiday (same as Public Holiday)
    – Emergency

    Is it possible for me to do that, or is it more involved?

    Thanks!!!

  7. In my MacBook pro with office 2011, I cannot see the correct days of the wee, they are all tagged with a “t” instead of S M T etc… and in the option panel the color many of the option are written in white ink with whit landscape 🙁
    Please Help

  8. Hi Riccardo, I’m afraid the tool does not work correctly on Macs because of the Mac security settings which disable macros. Unfortunately there is no way around this 🙁

  10. Yes of course Christina! We have added that feature. If you download the tool now you will be given the option of whether you want to use hours or days. If anyone else has any requests then please leave a comment below… 🙂

  11. Hi there, Just wondering I tried to go back and change the Allocation days because I forgot to do that before I hit “enable editing” for the last time and now it prompts me for a password…

  12. Hi Jennie, you should be able to change the allocation days at any time. You can’t type in the ‘Days taken’, ‘Days left’ or ‘Sick’ columns as these are protected but the Allocation column should be editable. Phil

  14. Hi Rebecca.
    The date format should follow whatever your country date format is – eg. in the UK dd/mm/yyyy, in the US mm/dd/yyyy etc.
    As far as colours and fonts are concerned I am afraid these are locked down on purpose to limit the entry of holiday information to only that entered using the popup box. Otherwise there is a risk that people using the tool would highlight some cells red, and the tool would not recognise those dates as holiday.
    I hope this answers your question 🙂 Phil

  15. A few nice new additions as a result of requests from people who have downloaded and used the tool….
    1. If you want to sort the first column to keep your employees in alphabetical order, you can double click on the column heading (ie. where is says employee by default).
    2. If you want to add a comment anywhere in the tool you can right click and select ‘Insert Comment’.
    3. The first column (showing your employees) can now be widened to whatever size you need.
    Enjoy 🙂 Phil

  16. I downloaded the updated spreadsheet and I absolutely love the new feature.

    Great Job!!!

  19. Hi May, you shouldn’t need a password as everything works without needing one. If you are asked for a password then you may be running on an unsupported version of Excel. This tool runs on Excel 2007+ and the Windows operating system.

  20. Hi May, you shouldn’t need a password as everything works without needing one. If you are asked for a password then you may be running on an unsupported version of Excel. This tool runs on Excel 2007+ and the Windows operating system.

  21. Great tool and very easy to use, though have the password issue too when trying to edit some cells.
    Would be great if you could have a different sheet for each financial/holiday year so that records were all in one document rather than having to create a new document (which is then not editable because of no password).

  22. -Is there any way to remove the 29th Feb so that i can trial this for 2017?
    -Is it possible to have a sick day as a half day rather than a full day?

    Thanks

  23. Hi there Hayley. If you download a new tool then you will be able to set up the holiday calendar year to start from 1st January 2017 (or whatever start date you need). When you do this then the 2017 dates will not have 29th February. Please let me know whether this works for you. Unfortunately it is not possible to add half-day sick leave at the moment, but it is on the list for adding in the near future 🙂

  24. Thanks for your kind comment Sid.

    After a private conversation I understand you need the password because you want to create a new tool for next year. Unfortunately the tool does not allow you to do this at the moment, but if you want to create a new 2017 tool you can download a fresh copy of the tool and start again. One benefit of doing this is that you will get the latest features which are available in the latest version.

    Kind regards, Phil

  29. Hi Phil – great tool!
    How can I assign 5 sick days to each of my employees? – it looks like it is setting it to 4.

  30. Not to worry, I realised it adds up rather than take away as it does with the annual leave… thanks!

  31. Hello, I also get asked for a password when trying to update days taken. How do I stop this? Thanks

  32. Hi Celia, you shouldn’t need a password if you have enabled Macros and are using the toolbox buttons. Maybe email me more details if you’re still having this issue.

  34. I’m sorry but the tool is only compatible with Excel run on the Windows operating system.

  35. Hi, the you tube video looks great. I have downloaded it but get “Runtime Error 13 Type mismatch” popping up when i try and open it, any ideas? I have options to ‘end’ or ‘help’. Running on a Macbook air.

  37. Is there anyway to changes the labels in the show options tool. Im using “Free Day” to reflect that someone attended that day and “Provisional” as Not scheduled as we use this great took as a full attendance tracker. Sick and Record hours as leave are the only two we need to remain the same. Would be great also if the colours added in a Letter. Like the recorded hours added the letter H for holidays. Grey added the letters NSH for no schedule as a number of people access it and it would avoid the need for referring back to the holiday type screen to remieber which is which.

  38. Hi Michelle, I’m afraid the tool only runs on Windows due to the different way that Apple products work.

  39. Hi Richard, I have a beta version of a more flexible version of the tool which you can try if you like. It allows you to change what the buttons are used for. Let me know if you want to give it and try and I’ll send you a copy. Cheers, Phil

  41. hi,just dowloading the excel and definetlly help me a lot, but can i sort the veiwing to month. it more easier to see it.

  43. Hi. Is there any way to change the options for days off? In our company a morning off is ¾ of a day (5 hours) and a afternoon off is ¼ of a day(2 hours). Also wondered if we could also add a free afternoon off option?

  44. Nice for recording department absences. Just one thing can I alter the labels more suited to my organisation. Many thanks!!

  46. Hi Maria, typically I would suggest using the ‘hours’ mode of the tool to accomplish this type of holiday. Then you can enter the number of hours for every request type. Have you tried using this?

  47. I’m afraid it needs Excel Macros to run so it won’t run in Google spreadsheets.

  48. Hi Echa, I’m afraid the tool can’t do this at the moment but we’re working on a new version which is more flexible in this way.

  49. Hello this is a great tool but is there anyway I can change the following: The holiday type cells? I need one for Business Travel and Paternity leave, also is there anyway you can change the format of the date? i.e 01-Jan-17 instead of 01/01/2017? Lastly is there anyway I can hide columns? I want this so I’m able to print out a snap shop of the senior members of staff movements to show to our Head rather than showing the whole departments absences. I look forward to hearing from you.

  52. Hi Tolu. I have been told that it works on the newer versions of Office for Mac. I only say it isn’t supported as I haven’t personally tested it. Please give it a try and see if it works for you. 🙂

  53. Sorry for the delay Kayleigh. At the moment the only way you can do this is to purchase the password and make these changes yourself. However I am working on a new free version which will have more options for customising holiday types. Should be on the site in the next month!

  54. Is there an easy way to add a filter of employee job descriptions next to the employee name? We have over 100 employees so would be handy to be able to filter to view holidays by employee job description

  56. Hello, I would like to have the team edit their own vacations and not be able to go back and delete old vacation days. Is there a function where the sheet can lock days already entered?

  57. Hello. The tool is unique but is there any way we can customize the holiday types?

  58. Hello. I really like the application, but i have problem with it. It’s not allowing me to save it with macros. I’ve try everything(enabled with macros), and when i close and open it again i can not use the macros again. Can someone help me?

  59. Totally agree Thomas. This is missing at the moment but I plan to add it in the next version of the tool which will be much more flexible. Watch this space 🙂

  60. Hi Vive. At the moment there is no way to do this unfortunately but I am working on a more flexible version of the tool which will allow you to customise what the leave types can be used for. Phil

  61. Hi Zachary, I’m afraid this is not possible in the current tool which is designed more for managers to update. I did work on a bespoke took for a customer who wanted this feature so please let me know if you want me to quote for this. Phil

  62. Hi Maui, At the moment there is no way to do this unfortunately but I am working on a more flexible version of the tool which will allow you to customise what the leave types can be used for. Phil

  63. Please can you check if this is a setting which your company have imposed. Does it save the file as .xlsx or .xlsm. If it saves it as .xlsm then it is saving it as having macros, which suggests the security settings of your Excel are stopping macros from running. You can change your security settings in Excel -> File -> Options -> Trust Centre -> Trust Centre Settings -> Macro Settings. Good luck 🙂

  68. Hi there. To clear the contents of the cell, it is asking me for a password, “the cell or chart you are trying to change is on a protected sheet. To make a change, unprotect the sheet, you might be requested to enter a password.” I am working from Windows 7. Any advice would be great!

  69. Hi I’ve just downloaded the professional version and the days of the week are not showing and I would like to block/remove the weekends. How do I adjust the start up information or do I need to start again? Thanks

  71. After completing 11 employee details fine, why is the dashboard not displaying the remaining personnel holiday leave / taken details etc ??

  73. Hi Philip, I have just downloaded Excel-Macros. I wanted to back track from the begging of the year but by default the software started from today’s date even though i have put the start day as 1/1/17. Is there a way that i can change this?

  74. If you scroll to the left you will see that the year does start from the date you provided. It just automatically scrolls to today’s date to be helpful 🙂

  76. Hi guys, I would like to all our staff to be able to view this tool but only certain members should edit it. How do I achieve this? Thanks

  77. Could you let me know if there is a limit of the number of employees which can be added to the premium system, please?

  79. Hi Justin, this is not possible I’m afraid. The only suggestion I can make is to save a copy somewhere for your team to view and keep the master copy somewhere separate. Hope this helps. 🙂 Phil

  81. Hi Vivian, there is no 2018 version. The version on the site is for ALL years. When you open the file after downloading, it will prompt you for the year start date which you can specify as 2018. Good luck and enjoy 🙂 Phil

  82. Hi Philip, I’ve downloaded the tool and it looks great. That said, when I input the date range as being for 2018 the data cells change to #REF! – Any idea how I can correct this? Look forward to hearing from you. Kind Regards, Ken

  84. Hi Philip, it’s Excel 2013 on Windows. Weirdly, if I set the date range as 2017 – all is fine. Any clues?

  85. How do you move the data from one year to the next.. Do I have to do a new setup for each year?

  87. Hi Crystal. Yes you have to download a new tool every year as they only last 1 year. However you do not need to input all the data manually, you can copy and paste the names and allocations to save yourself time. Just make sure you only copy the names, otherwise it will complain that the sheet is protected. 🙂

  89. Thank you! Lastly, It would be great if you could go back to change the setup options.. I find myself wishing I could make changes without losing all the data I put in.

  91. How do you add new lines – i click on insert but it is blanked out? It says i need password to unprotect sheet. Thanks

  93. Hi there, can you help me please. I downloaded the above and then
    uploaded it to googledrive to use on the go but it seems to have lost the
    ‘show options’ tabs so I can’t select the tabs for sick day, holiday
    half day etc….? How do I get that back up? It is there for the original download but not on googledrives…everything else is…Thanks

  95. Run report option does not seem to be working. Does anybody know of an issue with producing reports from menu?

  97. Hello,

    I’ve just downloaded and started adding info but when I go to save the file it is asking me for a password, if I cancel this it doesn’t save any of the changes.

    Thanks in advance.
    Paul.

  98. Hi Paul, the file is protected to stop it from being changed in ways which may stop the macros from working correctly. It is fully functioning without the password. If it is asking for the password, it is most likely that you are doing something in a way in which the tool wasn’t meant to be used. I suggest you watch the training video on this page to familiarise yourself with how the tool is meant to be used. Please let me know if you have any further issues, Phil

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