You can track staff holidays on a spreadsheet, and lots of businesses start there. But spreadsheets break: people book over each other, a formula goes wrong and the totals are off, and before long there are 15 versions saved in a folder. Book Time Off does the same job in a fraction of the time. Staff request leave, you approve it in a click, and everyone sees who's off on a shared calendar, for a flat €1 per user a month. Here's the difference, and how to switch in an afternoon.
The spreadsheet, and the easy way
Same team, same week, two ways of tracking it. On the left, a holiday spreadsheet: you have to read across rows to see who's off, a formula has broken the total, two people are booked on the same day, and nobody's sure which copy is the real one. On the right, the same leave in Book Time Off: one shared view, colour-coded, always adding up.
Where the spreadsheet goes wrong
- Clashes. Two people book the same week and nobody notices until it's a problem.
- Miscounts. One broken formula and everyone's days-left is wrong.
- Versions. The file gets copied and emailed until no one knows which is right.
- No phone. Nobody wants to edit a spreadsheet from their phone to book a day off.
- Private data. Names, dates and reasons sitting in an open file is a real risk.
How to track holidays without a spreadsheet
It takes about an afternoon with a tool like Book Time Off:
- Add your team. Enter each person and their annual leave allowance. For Malta that's usually the statutory minimum, about 27 days a year for a full-timer, or whatever you offer.
- Set your rules. Choose your leave year and who approves leave. Malta's 14 public holidays load in automatically and never come off anyone's allowance.
- Staff request time off. People book leave from their phone or laptop. You approve or decline in one click, from the app or straight from an email.
- Everyone sees the calendar. The shared calendar and wallchart show who's off, so no one books over anyone else, and each person's balance updates itself.
- Export when you need it. Pull a report for payroll or HR whenever you need one. No formulas, no versions, no chasing.
A quick Malta note
In Malta the statutory minimum works out to about 27 days a year for a full-timer, and that is how most teams plan holidays. Book Time Off tracks leave in days, so you set the allowance in days; our Malta leave calculator converts to hours if you ever need it. Malta's 14 public holidays are built in and never come off anyone's allowance. (General guidance, not legal advice.)
Questions people ask
You can, and for two or three people it's fine. The trouble starts as you grow: a spreadsheet won't warn you when two people book the same week, it miscounts when a formula breaks, and it turns into a pile of versions. A tool like Book Time Off fixes those for a flat €1 per user a month.
About an afternoon. You add your team and allowances, set your leave year and approver, and you're booking leave the same day. Malta's public holidays are already built in, and there's a 30-day free trial with no card.
Yes. Staff request leave and managers approve it from a phone or a laptop, which is where spreadsheets fall down. Everyone sees the same calendar wherever they are.
Malta's 14 public holidays load in automatically as days off, so you don't type them in each year. Book Time Off tracks leave in days and half-days, the way most Maltese teams plan holidays, and our Malta leave calculator converts to hours if you ever need it. This is general guidance, not legal advice.
Want the point-by-point version? See Book Time Off vs a spreadsheet, or the Malta leave software guide for the wider field.
Sources, checked 21 July 2026: Book Time Off from the live product; Malta leave from DIER and S.L. 452.87 under the Employment and Industrial Relations Act (Cap. 452). Not legal advice.