Getting Started - How to Set up TimeOff

This quick start guide walks you through the initial setup. By the end you’ll have a good understanding of the basics and be ready to start tracking time off.

In this guide

• Add users
• Set up employee schedule
• Manage departments
• Set up allowance/PTO
• Customise leave types
• Add locations and bank holidays
• Privacy settings
• Reports

1. Add users

Users can be quickly added one by one from the Employee section in the Main Menu.

You can also add users from Team View.

If you’d like to save time and add employees in bulk, simply send an Excel spreadsheet with the following details: employee first and last name, email address, and department to kate@timeoff.management. We’ll upload the data for you within one working day.

To learn more, see: Adding, editing, deleting users.

2. Set up employee schedule

It’s very important to set up employee schedules, especially for part-time employees, so the system can accurately calculate deductions from their allowance.

How to update an employee’s schedule:

• Go to the Employee tab and select Schedule.
• If the employee has an existing schedule, amend the Default Schedule and click Save Changes.

• If the employee has a new schedule starting from a specific date:
  • Click “Specify working hours for employee” and Add New Schedule.
  • Select the Start Date.
  • Adjust the schedule as needed.
  • Click Save Changes.

3. Manage departments

Departments can be created when adding new employees and managed later from the dedicated Departments section in the Main Menu. You can add supervisors and adjust department settings there.

Learn more: Managing departments.

4. Set up allowance/PTO

After adding employees, schedules, and departments, check your allowance setup.

Allowance is the amount of leave an employee can use during the company year. Some companies call this holiday allowance, annual leave, vacation allowance, or PTO.

Most teams start with a department allowance.

This means everyone in the same department follows the same allowance rule.

You can then use employee-level settings when someone needs a different setup.

For example, you may need to:

• give one employee a custom allowance
• set up a part-time employee
• use an accrual schedule
• add manual allowance adjustments
• apply leave type limits
• prepare carry over before the new company year

Allowance setup usually depends on:

• the company year
• employee schedules
• departments
• individual employee allowance
• leave types
• accrual policies
• carry over rules

For a full overview, read: Setting up allowances

5. Customise leave types

To set up company leave types, go to Leave Types in the Main Menu. TimeOff comes with two default leave types: Holidays and Sick Leave. You can create an unlimited number of highly customizable leave types to suit your company’s needs.

There are several options available to customize a leave type, such as influence on employee allowance, auto-approval, annual limit, or booking notice period. Learn more: Leave types.

Note: Company-wide leave types can be adjusted on a per-employee basis where needed.

6. Add locations and bank holidays

If your company has teams operating from different locations, you can create and manage these locations in the Locations section of the Main Menu.

You can also assign employees to a location and upload bank holidays for that location.

Learn more: Managing locations and Public holidays.

7. Privacy settings

This step is about understanding who can see what. Administrators have full access, while other roles have more restricted views.

Admin users can:

• Set up the account and billing details
• See all employee allowances
• Book and cancel leave for all employees (including historic leave)
• Configure annual entitlement and account settings

Department approvers/secondary supervisors:

• Do not see company-wide Settings (Locations, Leave Types, Departments)
• Can view allowance and calendars for employees in their department
• Can access Employee list, restricted to their department

Users:

• Do not see Settings or Employee menus
• Cannot change their annual entitlement
• Cannot cancel bookings in the past (they can cancel future bookings)
• Cannot see other employees’ allowances or summary calendar info
• Cannot edit their working schedule

Privacy modes: Team View supports multiple privacy options, from sharing info between teammates to Admin‑only views and hiding leave types. See: Team View leave data privacy settings.

8. Reports

Access reports from the Reports section in the Main Menu. All reports can be downloaded as CSV files.

Three key report types:

The Allowance snapshot report shows employee allowance information on the date the report is created.

Use this report to check:

• annual allowance
• days already used
• days already booked
• remaining allowance
• employee allowance position at a point in time

This is useful when checking leave balances, preparing for year end, or reviewing allowance across the company.

The Allowance usage by time report gives a detailed view of absence by employee.

It includes filters for:

• department
• location
• leave type
• selected time period

Use this report when you need to review how leave has been used across a team, department, location, or leave type.

This can help you spot patterns, check absence levels, and prepare for allowance reviews.

The Employees leaves report gives a detailed list of employee leave requests.

It can include:

• leave dates
• request status
• leave type
• approvers
• employee comments
• manager or admin comments

Use this report when you need a clear record of leave requests and approvals.

It is useful for checking historical absence, reviewing pending or approved leave, and keeping a clear audit trail.