An online holiday booking system that does one job brilliantly

Most HR tools bolt leave onto a dozen features you will never use. Book Time Off is a dedicated staff holiday booking system: request, approve and track annual leave in one place, so nothing slips through email and no two people are accidentally off at once.

Book leave in seconds

Staff pick their dates and submit. Days remaining update automatically, including custom pro-rata allowances for part-time and irregular-hours workers.

Approve in a click

Managers get the request, see who else is off that week, and approve or decline, including one-click approve or decline straight from the email.

See who's off at a glance

Calendar and team views show every booked day with today highlighted, so you can plan cover before you commit and set a maximum-absent limit per team.

Bank holidays and part-timers handled

UK bank holidays load automatically from the GOV.UK feed and are never deducted, and you can pro-rate allowances for any working pattern.

Get off spreadsheets and email threads

Set allowances, load UK bank holidays automatically, approve a request and see the whole team's leave in one place. 30 days free, no card required.

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Why UK small businesses choose Book Time Off over a spreadsheet

Spreadsheets don't stop clashes, don't count down allowances, and get out of date the moment someone forgets to fill them in. A proper employee holiday booking system keeps one source of truth that everyone trusts.

What you get Book Time Off Spreadsheet
Automatic days used and days remainingYesNo
Clash and capacity control (who's off when)YesNo
One-click manager approvalYesNo
Part-time allowances and UK bank holidaysYesManual
Works on mobileYesBarely
Cost for a 10-person team£10 / monthFree but risky

Weighing up specific tools? See our honest write-ups of Leave Dates vs Timetastic vs Book Time Off, CharlieHR alternatives for leave tracking, and the full best staff holiday booking system ranking.

Simple pricing, one plan, everything included

£1 per user / month

No tiers, no Pro plan, no paywalls. Bank holidays, Microsoft 365 sign-on, Outlook sync, Slack, Teams, calendar feeds and reporting are all included from day one. Start with a 30-day free trial, no card required.

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£1 per user / month · 30 days free · No card required

Frequently asked questions

What is a staff holiday booking system?

A staff holiday booking system is an online tool that replaces spreadsheets and email chains for annual leave. Employees request time off, a manager approves it in a click, and everyone can see who is off, with days used and days remaining tracked automatically.

How much does Book Time Off cost?

A flat £1 per user per month, with a 30-day free trial and no card required to start. There are no tiers and no separate Pro plan: bank holidays, Microsoft 365 sign-on, Outlook sync, Slack, Teams, calendar feeds and reporting are all included in the one price.

Is there a free staff holiday booking system?

Book Time Off is free for 30 days with no card required, then £1 per user per month. It is a paid product, not a free tier. For a small UK team that flat £1 often works out cheaper than a free tool once you hit its user caps or feature limits.

Does it handle part-time staff and bank holidays?

Yes. You can set a custom annual allowance for every person, including pro-rata allowances for part-time staff, and UK bank holidays load automatically from the GOV.UK feed for England and Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland and are never deducted from anyone's allowance. See our part-time holiday entitlement guide for the detail.

How long does it take to set up?

Minutes. Add your team, set each person's allowance and start booking, with nothing to install. If you are moving from Timetastic you can import its full-organisation export in one upload.