End-of-Year Guide: Managing PTO/Allowance Limits for the New Year

3 min read By TimeOff Support

At TimeOff.Management, there are several ways to set allowance or PTO limits for employees.

The best option depends on how your company gives leave to employees.

You can use:

department limits
individual employee limits
accrual schedules
tenure-based allowance
manual allowance adjustments
leave type limits

This guide explains how each option works and what happens when a new company year starts.

1. Department limits

Department limits are the simplest way to manage allowance.

Each department has its own allowance. Every employee in that department follows the same allowance rule.

For example, your full-time team may get 25 days of annual leave per year. Your part-time team may get a different amount.

Department limits are front-loaded. This means the full allowance is available from the start of the company year, or from the start of employment, depending on your company settings.

Department limits reset automatically at the start of the new company year or employee allowance year.

2. Individual employee limits

Individual limits are used when one employee needs a different allowance from their department.

For example, one employee may have a custom contract, work part-time, or receive a different holiday entitlement.

Individual limits are also front-loaded. This means the full allowance is available from the start of the company year, or from the start of employment, depending on your company settings.

Individual limits reset automatically at the start of the new company year or employee allowance year.

3. Accrual schedules

Use an accrual schedule when employees earn leave over time.

Instead of giving the full allowance at the start of the year, leave is added gradually.

This is useful when your company wants employees to build up annual leave month by month, quarter by quarter, or on another schedule.

For the next company year, admins should check and set up the new accrual schedule in advance.

Go to:

Policies → Accrued Allowance Schedule

From there, you can create the schedule for the next company year and assign it to the right employees.

4. Tenure-based allowance

Some companies give employees more leave based on length of service.

For example, an employee may receive one extra day of annual leave after two years with the company.

This can be set up automatically using:

Policies → Tenure-based allowance

Once set up, TimeOff.Management can apply the correct allowance based on the employee’s years of service.

This helps reduce manual work and keeps allowance rules fair and consistent.

5. Manual allowance adjustments

Use manual adjustments when you need to add or remove days from an employee’s allowance.

This is useful for one-off changes, such as:

time off in lieu
a correction to allowance
extra leave agreed by the business
removing leave added by mistake
a special allowance change for one employee

To make a manual adjustment, go to:

Employee Details → Allowance tab → Allowance adjustment

Admins can add or remove days and leave a comment explaining the change.

All adjustment records are saved. This gives the company a clear history and helps keep allowance changes transparent.

6. Leave type limits

Leave type limits work separately from the main employee allowance.

You can set a yearly limit for a specific leave type.

For example, you may want to set limits for:

sick leave
unpaid leave
working from home
study leave
compassionate leave
special paid leave

Leave type limits reset automatically for the new company year.

This is useful when you want to track and control a leave type without changing the employee’s main holiday allowance.

What resets automatically?

The following allowance limits reset automatically when the new company year or employee allowance year starts:

department limits
individual employee limits
leave type limits

Accrual schedules should be reviewed and set up for the next company year in:

Policies → Accrued Allowance Schedule

Manual adjustments do not work like standard yearly allowance. They are recorded as separate changes, with comments and history saved for transparency.

Best practice before the new company year

Before the new company year starts, check that:

department allowances are correct
individual employee allowances are still needed
accrual schedules are set up for the next year
tenure-based allowance rules are up to date
manual adjustments have clear comments
leave type limits are still correct

Doing this before the new year starts helps avoid confusion and keeps employee leave balances accurate.