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Free Excel Leave Planner 2026

Track staff holiday, annual leave and absences across your whole team. UK bank holidays pre-filled. Microsoft Excel only.

.xlsx file · Microsoft Excel · Free · No support provided

Excel leave planner 2026 — monthly calendar view showing team holiday bookings
Calendar view — see all team leave at a glance
Excel leave planner 2026 — leave balance calculations showing remaining holiday days per employee
Balance sheet — track entitlement and days remaining per employee
Planning ahead? The 2027 version is also available. Get Free 2027 Planner →

What's included in the free planner

Calendar sheet

A colour-coded monthly calendar showing all team leave at a glance. Bank holidays are highlighted automatically. Fractional days (e.g. half days) are controlled by the value assigned to each leave code — no formula changes needed.

Calculations sheet

A separate sheet tracks each employee's entitlement, days taken and days remaining — updated automatically. Fractional days are supported; the fraction is set per leave code on the Codes sheet, keeping formulas simple. Hours-based tracking and detailed reports are not included.

All UK statutory leave types included

Pre-loaded with every UK legislative leave type — Annual Leave, Sick Leave, Maternity Leave, Paternity Leave, Adoption Leave, Shared Parental Leave, Compassionate Leave, Parental Bereavement Leave, TOIL and more — all colour-coded. Adding a custom type only requires updating the conditional formatting; all calculations update automatically.

Download your free 2026 planner

No sign-up. No email address. A free, ready-to-use Excel spreadsheet
with 2026 UK bank holidays already filled in.

Microsoft Excel (.xlsx) · Free · You will be asked to accept terms before downloading

This template is provided free of charge. No technical support is offered or implied.

How to get started

Download the file

Click download above. Accept the terms, save the .xlsx file and open it in Microsoft Excel. The planner is ready to use straight away.

Add your employees

Enter each team member's name onto the Calendar sheet. Use the Calculations sheet to configure leave entitlements per employee. The Codes and Settings sheets let you configure leave types, fractional day values, and other options.

Start tracking leave

Enter leave on the calendar. Balances update automatically and the yearly summary gives you a full picture at a glance.

Built for UK businesses
  • 2026 England & Wales bank holidays pre-filled — 8 public holidays already entered in the calendar
  • Statutory 5.6 weeks minimum supported — set any entitlement amount to match your policy
  • Pro-rata for part-time workers — enter any decimal entitlement (e.g. 22.4 days for a 4-day week)
  • Flexible fractional days — half days and other fractions are controlled by the value assigned to each code on the Codes sheet. No complicated IF statements — the formulas are kept simple so anyone can use them
When you need more

Ready to outgrow the spreadsheet?

The Excel planner works well for small teams. But as your team grows, managing leave in a spreadsheet gets messy fast — especially when multiple people need access, or employees need to book leave themselves. Simple Leave is the natural next step — and it's free for your first 3 months, so there's plenty of time to explore whether it's the right fit. We can also help you import your data from this spreadsheet, or from any other spreadsheet you're currently using, so you don't lose a thing when you make the switch.

  • Employees request leave online
  • Managers approve with one click
  • Live team calendar for everyone
  • Balances tracked automatically
  • Email notifications built in
  • Free for up to 5 employees
Try Simple Leave Free →

Free for up to 5 employees. No credit card required.

Frequently asked questions

Yes, completely free. No sign-up, no email address, no credit card. Click download and the .xlsx file comes straight to you. You can use it as many times as you like and share it with your team.
The planner supports up to 100 employees out of the box. More rows can be added if you are comfortable making your own spreadsheet amendments — but please note we cannot provide support or guidance for any customisations you make.
Yes. All 8 England and Wales bank holidays for 2026 are pre-filled in the calendar and highlighted automatically. If you're based in Scotland (9 bank holidays) or Northern Ireland (10 bank holidays) you can add the additional dates manually.
Yes. To add a new leave type you only need to update the conditional formatting rules with your new code. All balance calculations and totals update automatically — no formula changes required. Note: this template is not compatible with Google Sheets.
Yes — half days, quarter days, or any other fraction are all supported. Fractional day values are controlled by the value you assign to each leave code on the Codes sheet (for example, set a "Half Day AM" code to 0.5). The formulas are deliberately kept simple — there are no complicated IF statements to maintain. Hours-based tracking is not supported. For part-time workers, set their entitlement to the pro-rata equivalent in days — use our annual leave calculator to work out the right amount.
No. This template is a free download provided as-is, with no warranty and no technical support of any kind. We cannot help with setup, customisation, formula errors, or any issues you encounter. If you need a fully supported leave management solution with onboarding help, Simple Leave includes customer support as standard.
When you need employees to book leave themselves, automated approval workflows, email notifications, or any kind of reporting. Simple Leave is free for your first 3 months — plenty of time to try it properly — and from £0.60/employee/month after that. We can also help you import your existing spreadsheet data so switching is straightforward.