A spreadsheet is a holiday tracker that can't actually track
Spreadsheets record holiday - they don't manage it. As soon as your team is more than a handful of people, the cracks show: version conflicts, stale balances, missed requests, and hours of manual maintenance every week.
A holiday tracker that's always out of date
Spreadsheet-based holiday trackers are only accurate at the moment someone updates them. The rest of the time they're stale - and usually nobody knows by how much, or who has the current version.
Leave balances tracked manually
Every time an employee asks how many days they have left, someone has to open the tracker and do the maths. Formulas break, part-time pro-rata gets wrong, and carry-over is applied differently by each manager.
No mobile holiday tracker for your team
A spreadsheet on a shared drive doesn't work on a phone. Remote staff, field workers, and anyone not at a desk have no way to check balances, submit a request, or see the team calendar without contacting HR directly.
Hours of admin every single week
Updating the tracker, recalculating balances, chasing approvals, and emailing the latest version around - HR teams spend 2–4 hours every week on holiday tracking admin that dedicated software handles automatically.
- Roy L, Head of IT
✗ Always going stale
✗ No clash detection
✗ No mobile access
✗ No notifications
✗ No audit trail
✓ Real-time, always accurate
✓ Automatic balances
✓ Free holiday tracker app
✓ Push notifications
✓ Cover rules enforced
A team holiday tracker that shows
every manager exactly what they need
WhosOff is holiday tracking software that keeps an accurate, real-time record of every employee's holiday leave - from submission to approval to balance update - so managers always know exactly where the team stands without asking anyone.
Self-service holiday requests
Employees submit holiday requests online or from the free staff holiday tracker app in seconds. They see their balance and the team calendar before submitting - so requests are realistic from the start.
Real-time holiday leave tracking
Every employee's holiday leave tracker updates the moment a request is approved. Balances are always current - no recalculating, no chasing HR, no stale figures that don't account for last week's request.
One-click approvals, from anywhere
Managers get instant notifications when a request lands and can approve or decline with one tap on their phone. No email to find, no spreadsheet to update - the holiday leave tracker does it all automatically.
Automatic notifications & reminders
Approval notifications, request confirmations, and reminder alerts send automatically - so nothing slips through. Employees know the moment a decision is made, without having to chase anyone for an update.
Holiday tracking reports
Generate reports on holiday taken, remaining balances, by employee, team, or date range. Export to CSV or XLSX for payroll or management review without any manual preparation.
Full request history at a glance
Every holiday request - past, pending, and approved - with notes - is visible in one place. No more digging through email threads to confirm what was agreed or when.
Spot conflicts before approval -
not after the rota falls apart
Because every employee sees the shared team holiday calendar before submitting a request, most clashes are avoided before they ever reach a manager. For those that slip through, WhosOff's cover rules catch them automatically.
Team calendar visible before every request
When an employee opens the holiday request form, the shared team calendar is right there. They can see who's already off during their preferred dates before they submit - eliminating most clashes at source.
Minimum cover rules enforced automatically
Set the minimum number of people who must be available per team or role, and WhosOff enforces it automatically - flagging or blocking any holiday request that would breach it, before it reaches anyone's inbox.
Blackout periods for peak times
Lock out key dates - quarter-end, peak trading periods, company events - so employees cannot request holiday when you need full team availability. Rules run silently in the background without any manual policing.
No need for constant alerting
Instead of managers receiving alerts left, right, and center - WhosOff handles the minimum levels set out by HR, automatically. Staff are informed directly on screen if any rules are breached, allowing them to adjust their plans.
The employee holiday tracker UK teams have trusted since 2005
Free holiday tracker app for every user
The WhosOff staff holiday tracker app is free for every employee on your account - iOS and Android, included on every plan. Employees check balances, submit requests, and view the team calendar from their phone. Managers approve on the go.
Built for UK holiday tracking
UK bank holiday are built in - ready to implement with one click - so your employee holiday tracker stays up to date without any manual configuration each year.
Cloud-based - live within the hour
WhosOff is fully cloud-based holiday tracking software. Nothing to install, no IT involvement needed. Sign up today, import your team, and your staff holiday tracker is live within the hour.
Real UK-based support
Our Canterbury team answers calls and emails Monday to Friday, 9am–5.30pm. No bots, no offshore queues - real people who know the product inside out.
WhosOff at a glance
2,500+
companies using WhosOff800k+
employees managed4.4★
average review score20 yrs
in business since 2005- Up to 8 weeks FREE trial
- No credit card required
- No setup fee or long-term contract
- Free holiday tracker app for all users
- Holiday & sick days tracked together
- Cyber Essentials certified
- G-Cloud Crown Commercial Services supplier
One calendar. Every holiday tracker entry. Always up to date.
The WhosOff team holiday tracker is built around a shared calendar that every employee and manager can access - from the desktop site or the free holiday tracker app - showing every approved and pending absence in real time.
Every absence type, colour-coded
Holiday, sick leave, compassionate leave, and other absence types appear colour-coded on the calendar - so managers understand the nature of every absence at a glance, not just that someone is off.
Filter by team, department, or location
Large organisations can filter the team holiday tracker to show just their department or site - so managers see relevant entries, not hundreds of records they don't need to act on.
Pending requests visible immediately
Pending holiday requests appear on the shared calendar the moment they're submitted - so colleagues planning their own leave can see the full, current picture, including unconfirmed bookings.
Syncs to Google Calendar & Outlook
Approved holidays sync automatically to Google Calendar, Outlook, and Apple Calendar - so the team always knows who's off without logging into a separate holiday tracker system.
Holiday tracking spreadsheet vs WhosOff:
an honest comparison
If your team is still using a spreadsheet as a holiday leave tracker, here's exactly what changes when you move to purpose-built holiday tracking software.
| Holiday tracking task | Spreadsheet | WhosOff |
| Submit a holiday request | ✗ Email manager, update spreadsheet manually | ✓ Self-service, desktop or the free holiday tracker app |
| Approve or decline requests | ✗ Reply to email, update tracker manually | ✓ One click from any device - decision notified instantly |
| Check remaining holiday leave balance | ✗ Ask HR or open the tracker and calculate | ✓ Visible to every employee, always current |
| View who's off across the team | ✗ Shared file, usually out of date | ✓ Real-time shared team holiday calendar |
| Prevent holiday clashes | ✗ No automatic checks - discovered after approval | ✓ Cover rules and team calendar prevent clashes proactively |
| UK bank holiday management | ✗ Added manually each year | ✓ Built in by region, one-click import |
| Mobile access for employees | ✗ Not designed for mobile use | ✓ Free staff holiday tracker app for iOS and Android |
| Sync to Google Calendar or Outlook | ✗ Manual export | ✓ Automatic, no action needed |
| Holiday tracking reports for payroll | ✗ Manual pivot tables | ✓ One-click export to CSV or XLSX |
| Time to action a request | ~ Hours to days, dependent on email | ✓ Often minutes, via push notification |
2,500+ teams use the WhosOff
as their employee holiday tracker
"We now have greater accessibility across shifts with increased accuracy and visibility"
HR Manager
"If you’re thinking of moving to an online holiday planner, I’d advise you to do it sooner rather than later!"
Director
"WhosOff was a no-brainer for us, as everyone can easily access the system and see each other’s availability"
Content Manager
2,500+
Companies using WhosOff800,000+
Employees managed4.4★
Average review score20 yrs
in business since 2005Employee holiday tracker
questions, answered
Common questions about holiday tracking software and the WhosOff team holiday tracker.
What is an employee holiday tracker?
What is the best holiday tracker for employees?
Is the WhosOff staff holiday tracker app free?
Can WhosOff replace a holiday tracking spreadsheet completely?
Can the team holiday tracker prevent double-booking of the same dates?
Does WhosOff sync with Google Calendar and Outlook?
What reports does the holiday tracking software produce?
How long does it take to set up WhosOff as our holiday tracker?
Is there a free trial of WhosOff's holiday tracking software?
Ready to Replace Your Holiday Tracking Spreadsheet?
Join over 2,500 UK teams that have switched to WhosOff - the employee holiday tracker that updates itself, prevents clashes, and gives every team member a free app to use on the go.
Prefer to talk? Call +44 (0)1227 812932 or email our team - Mon-Fri, 9am-5.30pm