Understanding your leave balance
Managing employee leave starts with understanding how balances are calculated. Officaid uses an accrual system for Annual Leave, where employees earn leave progressively throughout the year. This guide breaks down the calculations so you can confidently manage leave for your team.
What is the Accrual System
The accrual system means employees earn leave gradually as they work, rather than receiving their full year's entitlement on day one. Each completed month of service adds to their available balance.
This is the standard approach used by many businesses in Singapore. It keeps leave balances aligned with actual time worked and simplifies calculations when employees join or leave mid-year.
The Basic Calculation
The formula is straightforward:
Monthly Accrual = Annual Entitlement ÷ 12
If an employee is entitled to 14 days of Annual Leave per year:
- Per month: 14 ÷ 12 = 1.17 days
- After 3 months: 1.17 × 3 = 3.5 days
- After 6 months: 1.17 × 6 = 7 days
- After 12 months: 1.17 × 12 = 14 days
Reading the Leave Balance Display
In Officaid, leave balances appear in this format:
Entitled: 7.0 / 14.0
- First number (7.0): Current balance available to use
- Second number (14.0): Total entitlement for the year (may include carry forward)
The Used column shows days already taken. The Balance column shows what remains available.
New Employees: First Year Leave
When someone joins mid-year, their entitlement is prorated based on the remaining months in the calendar year.
Example: Emma joins on 1 July with 14 days annual entitlement.
- Months remaining in the year: July to December = 6 months
- Monthly accrual: 14 ÷ 12 = 1.17 days
- Total she can earn this year: 1.17 × 6 = 7 days
Emma's leave balance will grow each month until she reaches 7 days by year end. The following year, she receives the full 14-day entitlement.
Year-End: How Carry Forward Works
At year end, unused leave can roll over to the next year, subject to a cap set by your company policy.
Example: Your company has a 5-day carry forward limit.
If an employee has 10 unused days at year end:
- Carry forward limit: 5 days
- Days carried to next year: 5 days
- Days that expire: 10 - 5 = 5 days
The carried days are added to their new year's entitlement automatically.
Continuing Employees: Second Year Onwards
From the second year, employees start with:
- Any days carried forward from the previous year
- Their new annual entitlement (accrued monthly)
Example: Starting a new year with carry forward.
- Carry forward from last year: 5 days (available immediately)
- New annual entitlement: 14 days (accrues monthly)
- After completing January: 5 + 1.17 = 6.17 days available
- After completing June: 5 + 7 = 12 days available
Adjusting Leave Balances
Sometimes you need to manually adjust an employee's balance. Common scenarios include:
- Setting up existing employees who are new to Officaid
- Accounting for leave earned before using the system
- Making corrections or special arrangements
To make an adjustment:
- 1 Go to Team → Directory
- 2 Select the employee
- 3 Open their Leaves section
- 4 Find the leave type to adjust
- 5 Click + to add days or - to subtract days in the Adjustments column
Changes apply immediately to the employee's balance.
Alternative: Upfront Entitlement
Some companies prefer to give employees their full annual entitlement at the start of each year instead of accruing monthly. If this suits your business, you can create a custom leave type with different settings.
The default Annual Leave in Officaid uses the accrual system. For upfront entitlement, create a new leave type configured to your policy.
Frequently Asked Questions
Under the accrual system, leave is earned progressively. If it's mid-year, the balance reflects what's been earned so far. For example, by June an employee with 14 days entitlement will have earned approximately 7 days.
Create a custom leave type configured for upfront entitlement. Go to Team → Leaves → Leave Types and click + Add Leave Type. The default Annual Leave uses accrual, but custom types can be set up differently.
The first number is the current available balance. The second number is the total entitlement for the year, which may include any carry forward. If the employee is mid-year and hasn't taken leave, the first number shows how much they've accrued so far.
Use the Adjustments feature. Navigate to Team → Directory, select the employee, go to their Leaves section, and use the + button to add the appropriate number of days to their balance.
Days up to your carry forward limit roll over to the next year. Any days beyond the limit expire. For example, with a 5-day limit, an employee with 12 unused days keeps 5 and loses 7.
What's Next
Learn more about managing leave in Officaid:
- What are Leave Entitlements - Overview of how entitlements work
- What is Leave Carry Over - Setting up carry forward policies
- Adding a Leave Type - Create custom leave types for your company