Vacationers and business travelers have long been a source of revenue for many service-based industries. However, running a small business with employees working independently in various locations can create a number of problems like: no centralized vacation tracking, having to rely on manual recordkeeping, and limited management visibility into their employees’ daily activities which can negatively impact productivity. In order to overcome these challenges and maximize revenues from your workforce, the best vacation software for small business will provide you with an automated way to record employee time off, as well as manage and track their itineraries.
Vacation tracking software can be useful for looking up, editing, and generating reports on past vacations. It’s also a great way to visualize the total amount of time your employees have spent working on each project throughout the year.
For businesses that manage multi-unit properties, vacation tracking software can help automate extra tasks, like monitoring staff vacations and reporting on the availability of vacant units. When a visitor/tenant checks in/out of your business, they will input their personal data into an online form, which is then sent to a central reservation system. From there, it can automatically be input into an internal schedule management program and calendar. This is how businesses track their occupancy rates and decide how many employees they need at any given time of year.
Vacation Software for Small Business is an easy-to-use and comprehensive system that manages vacation requests, tracking employees’ vacations and sick days. This software allows you to automate vacation approvals and ensures complete coverage of all shifts and departments. Set up employee details, track vacations and sick days, manage different shifts, handle schedule conflicts and easily enforce authorization limits and approvals. Vacation Software for Small Business automates workflow so you can spend less time on administration and more time on what matters most: running your small business.
Did you know there are several leave management strategies?
And that didn’t happen by accident. Companies abandoned the ordinary vacation days + sick leave policy and opted for a whole bunch of paid free days. All that to retain their best workers! Turns out, policies like unlimited PTO policy really work. In fact, many companies have a hard time making their employees take their well-deserved vacation.
Variations on leave management strategies depend on weather conditions, a country you’re working and its holidays. That’s why most companies are using three, most common, types of leave: sick leave, vacation and time off not counting remote work, family leaves and time off we use to catch up on our studies.
All that because they don’t want to complicate their already jammed sheets. However, if they did track all types of leave, they would have some interesting data on how their employees are functioning, their behavior and they would be able to improve their business by reaching out to their workers first.
Vacation Tracker
If you’re thinking about implementing a time tracking software Vacation Tracker can be the right solution for you. It is super easy to use and adding it to your Slack account makes the process look neater and cleaner. You don’t really need 5 different programs to manage your business! Use the integrations with the ones you’re using already!
And that’s especially true for small to mid-sized businesses. What’s more important we know the importance of staying on budget when you’re just starting with your company. That’s why we offer a free trial for our new customers. You don’t have to pay us a dime for 30 days, and if you don’t like it (which we sincerely doubt), there’s no money to lose.
We love Vacation Tracker not only because it’s our baby, but because it offers so many options for leave tracking. Vacation days, sick day, remote work and paternity leave are just a few among many leave types Vacation Tracker offers you!
And the process for asking your day off in it was never easier. You just need to type “/vacation” in any channel and our chatbot will take you from there. Does this sound neat?
Workforce
Kronos Workforce Absence Management offers a one size fits all solution. This cloud-based leave management software is optimised for almost any business type no matter which type of industry they are in.
What we like about it is its accessibility and the level of security that offers to its users. On top of that, it’s mobile friendly, and users can access it when they are in a hurry to check. This leave management software enables its users to track and manage leaves, track time as well as to measure the productivity of their workers.
However, if you are one of those businesses that like keep the pace with the time they’re living in and implemented a PTO policy, we’re sorry to tell you that Workforce is not the best solution for you! Given that the PTO balance is not displayed, businesses need to keep their own in a separate excel sheet. And we want to avoid any extra fuss, so just skip it until they decide to make some adjustments.
ADP
ADP is yet another cloud-based leave management software for your business. We love it because it offers various possibilities on tracking time off and it’s adjusted to track days off for the ones who implemented PTO policy as well as for the ones who stick to traditional leave management systems.
What’s more amazing about it is a fact it integrates with all the HR solutions via API integration, and its homepage offers the possibility for organisers to share leave policies and updates to everyone.
What we don’t like about this leave management software is the vague pricing policy. They only offer a quote after their analysts do a complete analysis of the business. So, we cannot really say how affordable they are, and this can be quite unnerving while searching for the best leave management software for your business.
Lodgify
Based in Barcelona, Spain, Lodgify offers a beautiful property management system that’s user-friendly and functional. The multi-calendar works well for multiple units, and it’s easy to input reservations manually. The customer service team is always friendly and quick to respond (you can even take advantage of personalized onboarding support), and the company maintains a robust library of resources and blog articles.
Unique features: Lodgify’s website builder is one of the best in the market. The tool includes several templates so you can quickly drag and drop widgets and add your own custom text. You can even add videos, maps, and custom code.
Integrations: Lodgify connects directly to Airbnb, Booking.com, and Expedia for rate and availability synchronization. A direct Vrbo is also available if you manage at least 5 properties. For all other channels, Lodgify uses an iCal connection that syncs availability and reservations, but not rates. The system also has free integrations with Mailchimp, Google Analytics, Zapier, and PriceLabs. Some integrations, like Stripe, come with an additional monthly fee.
Pricing: After a 7-day free trial, Lodgify’s annual subscriptions for one property start at $12 per month with a 1.9% booking fee, or you can opt for the Professional version ($32 per month) which has no booking fee. For 25 properties, the Professional version costs $220 per month. Monthly subscriptions without an annual commitment cost slightly more.
Disadvantages: Lodgify’s automated messaging tool falls short; it does not allow for much customization, especially with trigger timing and contact assignments.
Bottom Line: Lodgify is an excellent choice for property managers who want a solid property management system and an eye-catching website without needing to hire a website designer. However, Lodgify doesn’t offer many integrations with third-party services, like keyless locks and dynamic pricing software (only with PriceLabs), so if you use many of these ancillary services, you may want to opt for a different system.
FantasticStay
FantasticStay recently acquired Vreasy, a popular short-term rental property management system, but luckily FantasticStay is retaining much of Vreasy’s functionality. The system offers the standard package of calendar management, booking management, and a channel manager, plus a website builder and automated messaging. The user experience is smooth, and the system has a clean, modern look.
Unique features: One of FantasticStay’s add-ons is a 24/7 guest response service, so your guests can receive quick responses to inquiries and messages even during the middle of the night or when you’re busy with other things. You can also purchase a revenue management add-on that provides pricing guidance and a customer support add-on that gives you phone support around the clock.
Integrations: Direct connections to Airbnb, Vrbo, and Booking.com allow you to update rates and availability from FantasticStay rather than on each site individually. For all other sites, you can sync reservations and availability with an iCal connection. Through Vreasy, integrations to PriceLabs and Quickbooks are available.
Pricing: FantasticStay’s basic plan has no monthly subscription fee, just an 0.8% booking fee, for an unlimited number of listings. This plan does not include integrations or any add-ons, like customer support. Higher-tier plans include all integrations, no payment processing fees, and personalized support. The annual Pro plan costs $214 per year for 20-29 listings.
Disadvantages: FantasticStay does not offer a direct connection to Expedia (yet), and since the software was originally built for the European market, some tax settings may not work properly for other markets.
Bottom Line: FantasticStay is a fantastic choice for Europe-based property managers. It’s also great for property managers who want a low-cost, basic software to manage listings on Airbnb, Vrbo, and Booking.com with no additional integrations via the free plan.
Hostfully
In 2018 Hostfully acquired Orbirental, and today Hostfully’s property management system still looks and feels a lot like Orbirental. The system offers a multi-calendar, automated messaging, a booking engine, and channel management for Airbnb, Booking.com, Vrbo, and Tripadvisor. Hostfully also connects to a couple other channel managers, like Rentals United and myBookingPal, which allows you to distribute rates and availability to additional sites.
Unique features: When many property management systems are shifting toward self-service customer support, Hostfully offers plenty of phone support. Even the most basic plan includes two setup calls with a support rep. Hostfully also offers its Digital Guidebooks feature, which is actually separate from the property management system. Even if you don’t use the property management system, you can still purchase a guidebook-only subscription.
Integrations: Hostfully has a huge “Integration Zone” which includes integrations with dozens of complementary systems. You can connect to dynamic pricing tools, home automation solutions, cleaning management systems, and even HelloSign for digital signatures.
Pricing: Hostfully offers three plans: 1-4 properties pay $79 per month, 5-19 properties pay $189 per month, and 20+ properties pay on a sliding scale depending on the number of listings. 50 listings cost $375 per month. Monthly subscriptions come with a $400 setup fee, but the fee is waived (and you get a small discount!) if you sign an annual contract.
Disadvantages: Some features, like automated text messaging and multiple user access, are not available for accounts with fewer than 5 properties. Hostfully itself doesn’t offer an Expedia connection, but you can connect to Expedia via an integrated channel manager like Rentals United.
Bottom Line: Hostfully is perfect for property owners or managers who want a little extra support in the setup process and on an ongoing basis. Though it’s slightly more expensive than other systems, there are no hidden fees or add-ons.
Hostaway
As noted front and center on their home page, Hostaway truly is an all-in-one vacation rental software offering not just the essential property management features to manage reservations and guests, but they also offer a massive library of integrations, communication tools, analytics, automation and so much more.
Unique features: This list could go on for a while because there are just so many. Features like detailed financial reporting, process automation, revenue management and cross listing optimization all highlight the depth of professionalism and polish to the Hostaway product suite.
Integrations: Like many top tech firms, Hostaway has an open API which means that developers can build right to their product which is a common best practice in the tech world and is typically a leading indicator that a company offers tons of valuable integrations and in Hostaway’s case this is absolutely true. Hostaway’s marketplace boasts integrations ranging from key distribution channels to payment processors all the way to advanced pricing optimization software so you can run your vacation rental with the sophistication of a major hotel chain.
Pricing: Plans start at $100/mo and vary based on which features you add on to your package as well as the scale of your operation.
Disadvantages: While depth of functionality and integrations are ideal for professional owners with multiple properties under management, many of Hostaway’s features may not be needed for a single unit owner partaking in the sharing economy.
Bottom Line: The Hostaway feature set, integrations marketplace and UX make it an outstanding SaaS solution for professional property managers with dozens or even hundreds of units under management empowering managers to run their operation with the sophistication of a major hotel company.
Benefits of Using Software for Vacation & PTO Tracking
In a 2015 Software Advice report, we found that 48 percent of HR software buyers are currently using manual methods such as Excel spreadsheets or pen and paper to handle their HR needs, including employee attendance and vacation tracking. You may even be part of this group.
A system dedicated to employee vacation and PTO tracking offers a number of benefits over manual methods, including:
- Employee self-service. Instead of a single manager or HR employee logging the hours for every worker in the organization, employees can log in to the system and do it themselves. Employees can also keep track of their own PTO accruals.
- Increased transparency. Many vacation tracking systems will automatically flag strange or incompatible entries (e.g., an employee requesting PTO they don’t have etc.) and notify relevant personnel.
- Increased security. Unique login IDs, dual authentication and other security features ensure that time and PTO entries are accurate and uncompromised.
- Payroll integration. Integrating tracking software with your payroll system allows employee hours to be ported over automatically to calculate wages, eliminating tedious double entry.
Conclusion
Vacation tracking is an important part of growing your business. It gives you the power to manage and be in control of all your reservations, so you’re able to plan ahead and ensure that you have enough space to meet everyone’s needs. But as your company grows, so does the number of reservations you receive. Wouldn’t it be nice if there was a vacation management software that allowed you to stay on top of every reservation efficiently. This vacation rental software also comes with different features for making sure you keep up with upcoming reservations, available dates, and much more.
From flights to accommodations and activities, Vacation Software for Small Business helps you manage the travel planning process. You can quickly add travel information to an itinerary, and then let employees create their own accounts, collect approvals from managers, and submit requests all from the app. Employees can book travel on their own or share their itineraries with you to make sure they stay within your corporate policy guidelines.