Understanding your balance
How PTODesk works out a balance
Every balance is the sum of individual entries you can read, not a number in a column you have to trust.
Also on YouTube, where captions are available.
Step by step
-
1
Open the ledger
From any balance, choose See how this was worked out. You get every entry that has moved the number, oldest first, with a running total beside it.
-
2
Read the opening balance
For anyone hired part way through the year, the proration is written out in words — 15 days, times 184 days present, divided by 365 — not just applied.
-
3
Watch time being earned
Accrual entries land as time is earned: monthly, per pay period, or per hours worked, depending on the policy that employee is on.
-
4
See time being taken
Approved leave comes off as its own entry, linked to the request it came from. A pending request is never deducted — only an approved one.
-
5
Year end is entries too
Carryover and expiry appear as dated entries, so a balance that was capped or expired shows exactly when and by how much.
-
6
Corrections are new entries
Nothing is ever edited or deleted. A mistake is fixed by adding an entry, which is what keeps the history honest.
Common questions
Why is my balance not my full annual allowance?
Because most policies earn through the year rather than granting everything on 1 January. The ledger shows what has been earned so far and when each piece landed.
Someone disputes their balance. What do I show them?
The ledger. Every entry has a date and, where a calculation was involved, the arithmetic that produced it. You are showing the working rather than defending a total.
Can an admin just set a balance?
They can adjust it, and the adjustment appears as its own entry with a note. What they cannot do is quietly change history.
What happens to a balance when someone leaves?
Final-year proration applies if the policy has it, and the closing figure carries its own working — which is what you want in a termination conversation.