Step 1
Set allowances
Add your employees, teams, annual allowances and carried-forward leave.
Annual leave planner spreadsheet
Free Staff Holiday Planner Template
Track staff allowances, leave requests, approved and pending days, remaining balances and team overlap — with working-day calculations and a full-year leave calendar.
Free XLSX download
Excel & Google Sheets
Instructions included
holiday-planner-template.xlsx
FlowRota
Instructions
Setup
Employees
Holidays
Requests
Summary
Calendar
Employee
Allowance
Approved
Pending
Remaining
Warning
Alex
28
10
2
18
Sam
30
22
3
8
Jordan
28
27
0
1
LOW
Taylor
25
26
0
-1
OVER
Useful calculations
The workbook does real planning work rather than giving you a blank table.
Editable inputs
Yellow cells are designed for your staff, dates, shifts and planning settings.
Ready to reuse
Save a fresh copy for each rota period or import the workbook into Google Sheets.
Inside the workbook
Everything included in the download.
The workbook is split into clear tabs so setup, planning and checking do not all live in one oversized sheet.
1
Instructions
Guidance on allowances, working-day calculations, shift-worker adjustments and overlap checks.
2
Setup
Choose the holiday year, team names and the maximum number of people you normally allow away at once.
3
Employees
Enter each employee's team, annual leave allowance, carried-forward days and notes.
4
Holidays
List bank holidays or other dates that should be excluded from Monday-to-Friday working-day calculations.
5
Leave Requests
Record request dates and status. Working days calculate automatically, while Days to deduct remains editable for shift workers.
6
Summary
See approved leave, pending leave, remaining allowance, percentage used and low/over-allowance warnings.
7
Team Calendar
Choose a team and review every date in the year for approved and pending overlap against your chosen maximum.
8
Dashboard
See total approved leave, pending days, low balances and dates where the team overlap limit is exceeded.
How to use it
Go from blank workbook to usable plan in three steps.
Step 2
Record requests
Enter each request's start/end dates and status. Working days calculate automatically, excluding dates listed as bank holidays.
Step 3
Check balances and clashes
Review remaining allowance in Summary and use Team Calendar to spot dates where too many people are away.
Free download
Download free staff holiday planner template.
No account, email gate or card required. Open the XLSX file in Excel or import it into Google Sheets.
What makes it useful
Built to reduce the spreadsheet work you would otherwise do manually.
Each calculation and summary is there to answer a practical planning question before the rota or leave plan is shared.
Allowance tracking
Combine annual allowance and carried-forward leave, then deduct approved days automatically.
Working-day calculation
Monday-to-Friday leave days are calculated between the request dates, excluding dates entered on the Holidays sheet.
Shift-worker flexibility
Days to deduct can be overwritten where a part-time or shift worker's leave deduction differs from the standard working-day result.
Approval status
Track Pending, Approved, Declined and Cancelled requests in one leave log.
Remaining balance warnings
Summary highlights employees with low remaining leave or balances below zero.
Team overlap calendar
Choose a team and maximum people away; dates above that limit are flagged in the full-year calendar.
Google Sheets
Prefer Google Sheets? Use the same download.
The workbook is supplied as XLSX so you only need one version. Import it into Google Sheets and continue editing there.
Download the XLSX file
Save the template to your computer or device using the download button above.
Upload to Google Sheets
In Google Sheets choose File → Import → Upload and select the workbook.
Edit your planning inputs
Replace the sample data with your own staff, dates and planning settings. Core formulas are designed to remain usable after import.
Questions
Before you download.
Is the holiday planner free?
Yes. You can download the XLSX workbook without creating a FlowRota account.
Does it calculate working days automatically?
Yes. It calculates Monday-to-Friday working days between the request dates and excludes dates entered on the Holidays sheet.
What about part-time or shift workers?
The workbook includes a Days to deduct field that defaults to the calculated working days but can be edited when the employee's actual leave deduction should be different.
Can it track annual leave allowance and remaining days?
Yes. Enter each employee's allowance and carried-forward leave, then approved leave is deducted automatically in the Summary sheet.
Can it show when too many people are away?
Yes. The Team Calendar lets you choose a team and maximum people away. Dates over that threshold are highlighted.
Can I use it in Google Sheets?
Yes. Import the XLSX file into Google Sheets. Core formulas and editable planning fields are designed to remain usable after import.
Start planning
Use the spreadsheet today — or build the rota online.
The template is free and useful on its own. If you later want one live rota with staff updates, availability, leave and attendance connected, FlowRota is there when you need it.