Free Employee Vacation Tracker (Excel)
What's in the free vacation tracker
The template ships with two sheets. The Vacation Tracker sheet holds one row per employee — up to 30 — with annual allowance, any carryover from last year, days taken and days scheduled. The Vacation Log is where you keep the detailed record: 200 rows for employee, start and end dates, workdays taken and notes.
The two sheets work together: the tracker gives you the number everyone actually asks about — how many vacation days does this person have left — while the Log is the paper trail behind that number.
Remaining, calculated automatically — with a red flag
In the Vacation Tracker sheet, Remaining subtracts taken and scheduled days from allowance plus carryover, and it updates the moment you change any of those numbers. If an employee's remaining balance goes negative — they've taken or scheduled more than they have — the cell flags red so you catch it before it becomes a payroll problem.
This is the vacation tracker excel most people search for: a clear balance per employee, without you re-adding four numbers by hand every time someone books a week off.
What this tracker doesn't do
It's a two-sheet spreadsheet, not a visual annual calendar — you won't see a month-by-month grid of who's off when. And workdays in the Vacation Log are entered by you, not calculated automatically from a start and end date (so a Friday-to-Monday trip counting as 2 workdays or 4 is your call, based on your team's schedule).
If you need a calendar view of the whole team's time off at a glance, that calls for a shared team calendar rather than a spreadsheet — see the note below the download.
Who this vacation tracker is for
Small business owners and office managers who track vacation as its own category — separate from sick days or general PTO — and want both a quick balance check and a detailed log to back it up. It fits teams of up to 30 people running vacation manually, without a full HR platform.
If your company treats vacation, sick and personal time as one combined PTO pool, the simpler PTO tracker below might fit better.
How to use it
- Enter each employee's annual vacation allowance and any carryover in the Vacation Tracker sheet.
- Enter taken and scheduled days per employee — Remaining calculates automatically and flags red if it goes negative.
- Log each vacation period in the Vacation Log: employee, dates, workdays and notes.
- Use the Vacation Log as your backup detail when you update taken days in the Vacation Tracker sheet.
Download the free Free Employee Vacation Tracker (Excel)
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PTO & Leave Tracker — with Automatic Accrual
If vacation is one of several leave types you track, the paid PTO & Leave Tracker ($19) handles vacation, sick and personal time as three separate policies with automatic accrual for up to 30 employees.
See the full versionTracking PTO for a whole team?
For a calendar view of the whole team's vacation and workdays calculated automatically from the dates, LeaveSheet runs it as a web app at $1.50 per employee per month.
See LeaveSheet — $1.50/employee/moFrequently asked questions
Can I use this vacation tracker in Google Sheets?
Yes. Upload it to Google Drive and open it with File > Save as Google Sheets. Both sheets keep working.
Is this template really free?
Yes. You give an email address to download it, and then it's yours to use with no further cost.
Does it show a visual vacation calendar?
No, it's two structured sheets — the Vacation Tracker and a Vacation Log — not a month-by-month calendar grid.
Does it calculate workdays automatically?
No. You enter the number of workdays for each vacation period yourself in the Log, so it matches how your team actually counts days off.
How many employees and rows does it cover?
Up to 30 employees in the Vacation Tracker sheet and 200 rows in the Vacation Log. Add more rows if your team is larger or the year fills up.