---
title: Leave balances and counters
description: Read a leave balance, understand its calculation and carryover, adjust an entitlement or change policy.
url: "https://illizeo.com/en/centre-aide/absences-balances-and-counters/"
updated: "2026-11-01"
category: Absence Management
---

# Leave balances and counters

This article explains how to read a leave balance, how it is calculated, what happens when a new period starts, and how HR adjusts a balance or changes an employee's policy. The first part is for everyone; the second is for HR and payroll managers.

## Before you start

- Viewing your balances: "View own counters (balance, accrued, taken, planned)", **Access** level (all roles by default). Opening the detail of a balance: "View balance details (sidebar breakdown)", Access level.
- Adjusting a balance or changing an employee's policy: "Adjust a time counter", **Execute** level. By default: Administrator, Payroll Manager and HR Manager.
- Balance payout: "Request a leave balance payout", "Approve a leave balance payout" and "Execute a leave balance payout without approval", Execute level.
- The reason for an absence is sensitive data: without the "View the reason for absences across the role's population" permission, a colleague's balances by type are not shown (**Balances not visible** card).

## Reading your balances

Open **My Profile** › **Absences**, **Balances & history** tab.

### The "Balances as of" date

The **Balances as of** field sets the date at which balances are calculated: today by default. Choose another date to see what will be accrued on a future date, or what was accrued on a past one; the **Today** button returns to the current date. The period shown follows this date.

### The top banner

The five tiles **Total granted**, **Used**, **Planned**, **Pending** and **Remaining** cover the main **paid leave** counter only. If you have several contracts, a **Leave — all contracts** box adds the consolidated available balance and that of each contract.

![The Absences tab of a profile: Balances & history, Monthly schedule and Yearly schedule tabs, Balances as of date, paid leave banner and leave balances](https://i0.wp.com/illizeo.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/11/absences-overview-02.en_.png?resize=800%2C500&quality=80&ssl=1)
The Balances as of date, the paid leave banner and the leave balances.

### Leave balances

The **Leave balances** section shows one row per absence type that is visible in balances, with five columns:

| Column | What it contains |
| --- | --- |
| Granted | The entitlement accrued at the chosen date, adjustments included. |
| Used | Days approved up to the chosen date. |
| Planned | Days approved after the chosen date. |
| Pending | Requests not yet decided. |
| Left | What remains available, carryover included. |

A row in hours (for example holidays accrued on clocked hours) also shows a year-end projection.

### Balance details

Click a row to open its details. The header recalls **Granted**, **Used**, **Planned**, **Pending** and **Balance**, then a calculation line such as "25 + 3 carry-over − 5 used − 2 planned − 1 pending = 20 left". The tabs:

- **Balances**: the balance year by year; for event-based leave, usage by reason;
- **History**: the **Balance movements** of the period (Accrual, Carry-over, Exceptional adjustment, Leave taken, Planned leave, Pending request) with the balance after each movement;
- **Policy**: the policy applied to the employee;
- **Adjust**: for HR only (see below).

## How the balance is calculated

- **The entitlement** comes from the assigned policy. For paid leave it accrues month by month: annual entitlement (with any seniority bonus) × the month's work rate ÷ 12. The rate in force on the 1st of the month applies to the whole month. A hire in the middle of a month does not accrue that month; on leaving, the policy decides whether the month of departure counts.
- **When the entitlement is granted** depends on the policy: all at once at the start of the period, or in monthly instalments (the entitlement grows each month).
- **Days used** follow the type's day count (calendar, working, business or scheduled days). For a part-timer's paid leave, each day booked is counted pro rata to the work rate: at 80%, one day booked deducts 0.8 day.
- **Pending requests** reserve their days for paid leave and for types with a limited entitlement: the remaining balance takes them into account. For other types they are shown without affecting the balance.
- **Left** = entitlement + carryover − used − planned (− pending when the request reserves its days).

## Period rollover and carryover

Every night, Illizeo automatically opens the new period for employees whose period has ended: the entitlement is recalculated and the unused balance follows the carryover rule. That rule is looked up in this order: the employee's policy, otherwise the absence type, otherwise the company default (**Settings › Time Management › Company Rules**, **Balance carryover (leave)** section). There are four behaviours:

- **No carryover**: the unused balance is lost;
- **Carryover with expiry**: the carried-over days must be used before a fixed date or within a delay after the period ends; once expired, they no longer count;
- **Capped carryover**: carryover is limited to a number of days;
- **Unlimited carryover**: the whole balance is carried over.

Carryover has no column of its own: it is included in **Left** and appears in the balance details (calculation line and "Carry-over" movement). Main paid leave follows the calendar year; other types follow their policy's period.

## HR actions on a balance

### Editing the entitlement

1. Click the **Edit balance** pencil on the row (or open the **Adjust** tab of the details).
2. In **Edit entitlement**, choose **Add**, **Subtract** or **Set**, then the number of days.
3. Enter the **Value date**: the adjustment only counts in the period of that date.
4. Add a note if needed and click **Save adjustment**.

The adjustment applies immediately, without approval, and remains traceable in the balance movements. The employee's policy is not changed. A subtraction that would make the entitlement negative is refused.

### Changing an employee's policy

1. In the balance details, **Policy** tab, click **Change policy**.
2. In **Choose a policy**, select the new policy, or **No policy** (no entitlement for this type on this contract, for example an external worker paid by the day).
3. Answer **Effective from which date?**: **Hire date** (accruals and carryovers are rebuilt from the hire date, manual adjustments are kept), **January 1st** (the policy's current period) or **Custom date**.
4. Click **Apply this policy**.

A future custom date is scheduled: the change applies on the night of that date. The **Remove the policy** button deletes the type's counter for this contract, with all its movements: use it with care.

### Paying out or converting a balance

If the organisation allows counter payouts and the policy makes the balance payable, the **Request payout** button appears on the row. Choose **Payout in salary** or **Conversion to another balance**, the number of **Days** and a reason. The request goes for approval (an **Approve** button on the row for those entitled); a person allowed to execute without approval sees it applied at once. Statutory holidays are not paid out during the contract: only the part above the legal minimum can be, except on leaving.

### Buying holidays and rest days

- With a holiday purchase policy, the **Buy holidays** button lets employees buy weeks, within the annual cap; the purchase is subject to approval, then credited. The salary deduction is entered in payroll.
- For a rest-day policy, the **Month by month** button shows each month's quota, increase, days booked and reduction; HR can **Raise** a month.

## Other counters on the tab

- **Hour counters** (overtime, night, Saturday hours): visible if the Attendance module is active; the **Convert to days** arrow turns hours into leave days, depending on permissions.
- **Paid leave after sick leave**: the entitlement recalculated after sick leave and the date by which to take it.
- **Pregnancy hours**: the week's entitlement, what has been used and what is left; HR enters the dates with **Enter dates**.

## Good to know

- The top banner only concerns paid leave: for other types, read their row.
- "Granted − Used − Planned − Pending" does not always equal "Left": the difference is the carryover, visible in the details.
- The dashboard widgets show balances as of today, without a "Balances as of" date.
- Policy assignments, scheduled ones included, are recorded in the user log; entitlement adjustments remain visible in the balance movements.

### *Similaire*