Managing leave for 5+ people? See the automated alternative
Free 2026 Holiday Planner - Excel & Google Sheets
Download your free staff leave tracker. Perfect for small teams getting started.
How many employees do you have?
Let us help you find the right solution for your team size
The spreadsheet is perfect for you!
For individual tracking, our free planner has everything you need. Download it above.
When your team grows, come back and we'll have a solution ready.
The spreadsheet is a great start
For small teams, the spreadsheet works well. Download it above.
However, teams your size typically waste 2-3 hours/month on manual admin once everyone starts taking leave.
Spreadsheets get messy at your size
At 6-15 people, teams typically waste 5-8 hours/month on spreadsheet admin, version conflicts, and approval emails.
- ✗ Manual leave balance calculations
- ✗ Email approval chains that get lost
- ✗ Version conflicts when multiple people edit
- ✗ No audit trail of who approved what
Your team has outgrown spreadsheets
For teams your size, spreadsheets become unmanageable. You're likely spending 10+ hours/month on leave admin.
Most teams this size lose data, have version conflicts, or waste hours on manual processes.
Spreadsheet vs Leavetrack
Honest comparison - no hidden catches
| Feature | Free Spreadsheet | Leavetrack |
|---|---|---|
| Track leave manually | ✓ Yes | ✓ Automated |
| Multiple users | ⚠ Conflicts | ✓ Seamless |
| Approval workflow | ✗ Email chains | ✓ One-click |
| Leave balance calculations | ✗ Manual | ✓ Automatic |
| Audit trail | ✗ No | ✓ Complete history |
| Calendar integration | ✗ No | ✓ Google/Outlook |
| Data backups | ✗ Your responsibility | ✓ Automatic |
| Version conflicts | ✗ Common | ✓ Impossible |
| Time to approve leave | 5-10 minutes | 10 seconds |
| Setup time | 30 minutes | 15 minutes |
| Cost | Free | £1/user/month |
Start with the spreadsheet. Upgrade when you're ready.
How much time does your team waste on leave admin?
Calculate the real cost of manual leave tracking
Your Costs:
Stop Wasting Time With Manual Spreadsheets
Leavetrack has everything you need to track and manage staff leave
Replace cumbersome and error prone manual processes with a user-friendly tool that does it for you.
-
"One Click"
- Approve and reject requests with one click straight from the notification email.
-
Easy Reports
- In-built reporting and you can export everything for further analysis in Excel.
-
Monitor Accruals
- Leavetrack automatically tracks leave entitlement and warns you when an employee will exceed their accrued leave.
-
Calendar Integrations
- Add individual, team and company calendars to your preferred calendar application so staff leave is available wherever you are.
How It Works
Book, Approve, Plan and Report
Book Leave
Employees book leave using a simple, intuitive interface. Administrators and managers can also book leave for employees.
- Book leave in seconds
- Fully customisable leave types
- Visibility for employees as to how much leave they have used
Approve Leave
Managers and administrators review requests and approve (or reject) the leave. Each request clearly displays any clashing leaves and an audit trail of activity.
- Clear overview of leave status and details
- Approve and reject requests from notification emails as well as in app
- Audit trail shows who did what and when
Plan Leave
Managers and administrators have access to a beautifully designed wall chart showing a full overview of what leave has been booked, by whom and when.
- Color-coded wall chart shows at a glance who is on leave
- Easily filterable by department to show only what you need
- Quickly spot any potential future issues with clashing leaves
Report Leave
Comprehensive reports allow you to review all records in Leavetrack or export the data for further analysis in Excel.
- Full records of all leave booked through Leavetrack
- Easily export to CSV to analyse further in Excel, Google Sheets or other software
- Entitlement report allows easy financial management of accruals
When Should You Upgrade From the Spreadsheet?
The spreadsheet is great for getting started. Most teams consider Leavetrack when they experience:
Your team hits 5+ people - Multiple people editing causes version conflicts
You're spending 30+ minutes/week on leave admin - Updating the sheet, answering emails, calculating balances
Someone accidentally deleted or corrupted data - No undo button when things go wrong
Approval emails are getting lost - Email chains become unmanageable
You need an audit trail - Who approved what and when?
You want calendar integration - So leave appears in Google Calendar or Outlook
Calculating leave balances is taking too long - Manual math for accruals, carryovers, etc.
You've had a 'version conflict' error - Two people editing at once breaks everything
Frequently asked questions
- How does the Excel/Google Sheet Planner Work?
-
The planner allows basic manual tracking of staff leave in 2026. You can add in public holiday, set the working days and define categories of leave. Each employee (or an administrator) can then input leave on the sheet.
- What are the limitations of using a spreadsheet leave planner?
-
Cards down, the Google Sheet is a bit better than the Excel because it allows multiple users at the same time. But in both cases, the manual nature of tracking leave means that while you have a central point of information, you don't get the efficiencies in the process of booking leave. You still have to handle email approvals, cancellations, changes etc.
- What are the advantages of using LeaveTrack?
-
We offer a streamlined, efficient and easy to use way to manage staff leave. All requests and approvals are managed through the system which offers an overview of leave balances allowing you to track unlimited types of leave that are aligned to your business needs. Our wall planner offers an easy way to plan leave and reporting tools allow you to export your records to Excel for further analysis.
- How do we know that Leavetrack will work for us?
-
We've been around for 13 years and some of our customers have been with us nearly that long! We find that Leavetrack is a good fit for small and medium sized organisations who need something better than an Excel sheet for planning staff leave, but not so complicated as to require time-recording and shift planning. We offer a free trial so if it doesn't work out, there's no downside for you.
- Does Leavetrack work for companies with employees in multiple locations?
-
Yes! We have a highly flexible system that allows you to manage employees in different locations and apply different leave rules to them. Our integrations allow you to import public holidays for 100s of countries, minimising the work you need to do when planning staff leave.
- What's the cost?
-
Simple and straightforward. £1 per active user per month. Archived users remain in your account forever, for free, and their records are always accessible. Compared to the time spent managing staff leave on email and Excel, we think it's a good deal.
- Is my data safe?
-
Leavetrack runs on Digital Ocean, which is backed by Amazon Web Services. They are SOC2 accredited and that means they have been audited to ensure the data environment is secure and your data is safe. Nobody has access to your data except you and we only access it if you need us us to resolve problems.
- How do I get more information?
-
You can read through our Support Documents, which will give you a full picture of how Leavetrack works. Or, you can chat to us by clicking the question mark in the bottom right. If we're not available, leave a message and we will get back to you.
Experience stress-free leave planning.
Try Leavetrack for free today.
Risk free, 30 day trial.