Vacation Planning Scenario
Step 1: Vacation Schedule
The Microsoft Business Central system allows you to maintain an employee vacation schedule and generate the required printable document forms. The vacation schedule is created for a calendar year.
Path: Vacation Schedule
The vacation schedule is compiled for the year indicated in the form header in the "Year" field. The lines of the form display a list of employees and the planned vacation dates:
Page Vacation Schedule Journal
| Field | Description |
|---|---|
| Employee Code | Employee code. |
| Employee Name | Full name of the employee. This field is filled in automatically after selecting the Employee Code and cannot be edited. |
| Department Code | Department code. This field is filled in automatically after selecting the Employee Code and cannot be edited. |
| Position Code | Position code. This field is filled in automatically after selecting the Employee Code and cannot be edited. |
| Start Date | Planned vacation start date. |
| End Date | Planned vacation end date. |
| Calendar Days | Number of vacation days. This field is filled in automatically after filling in the End Date and cannot be edited. |
| Actual Start Date | Actual vacation start date. This field can be filled in automatically when using the Vacation Request functionality (next step). |
| Reason for Reschedule | Text field indicating the reason for vacation rescheduling. |
| Expected Start Date | Expected start date of the rescheduled vacation. |
| Comments | Text field for any comments. |
| Vacation Code | Vacation code. |
| Vacation Type | Vacation type. |
If an employee plans to split their vacation into parts, the vacation schedule should include as many lines as there are parts of the vacation. To automatically generate a list of company employees, use the Suggest Employees function.
To view the vacation schedule for employees of a specific department, you can use the Department Filter at the top of the page.
To generate the HR accounting form Vacation Schedule, click Actions – Print – Vacation Schedule. The Vacation Notification can also be used.
Step 2: Vacation Request
In the current version of the system, the Vacation Request functionality is not mandatory. Each company can independently decide whether to use it.
This functionality is convenient when the system is integrated with SharePoint Portal. Each employee can be granted the ability to submit a vacation request for further approval.
Path: Vacation Request
The request fields are filled in as follows:
Page Vacation Request, General
| Field | Description |
|---|---|
| No. | Vacation request number. Automatically generated according to the set number series “Vacation Request Number Series” in the HR and Payroll module settings (General Module Setup scenario). |
| Employee Code | This field indicates the code of the employee submitting the vacation request. |
| Employee Name | The employee’s name is filled in automatically after the Employee Code is entered. |
| Time Activity Code | Time activity code that defines the type of vacation. |
| Time Activity Group | Time activity group that determines what type of order must be created – either a vacation order or another type of absence order. Based on the configured activity code priorities, activity lines will be created. |
| Description | Description of the vacation request. Automatically filled in with the name of the time activity code and can be changed manually. |
| Request Date | Date the vacation request is submitted. |
| Start Date | Planned vacation start date. |
| End Date | Planned vacation end date. |
| Calendar Days | Number of vacation days. This field is filled in automatically when the End Date is entered. |
| Status | Vacation request status. Automatically filled in when administrative document functions are run. |
| Scheduled Year | The year from the vacation schedule for which the planned vacation falls. The field value is selected from the vacation schedule list. |
| Planned Start Date | The line from the vacation schedule that defines the planned vacation start date. |
| Order No. | Automatically filled in. |
| Vacation Used | If the option is enabled, it means the employee has used the vacation. This field is automatically activated at the time of registering the vacation order created based on the request. |
| Responsibility Center | Displays the responsibility center. |
| General Order No. | Automatically filled in. |
For a vacation request to be used as the basis for generating a vacation order, the vacation request must be approved.
You can create a Vacation Order directly from the Vacation Request.
To do this, fill in the fields in the Vacation Request and perform Actions – Functions – Approve, then select Process – Create Order:
– the system will automatically navigate to the Vacation Order page with pre-filled fields. If everything is correct, post the document. The Vacation Used checkbox in the Vacation Request will be selected. If the Vacation Order is canceled, the checkbox will be cleared.
Actions tab:
Page Vacation Request, Actions tab, Functions section.
| Button | Description |
|---|---|
| Approve | Changes the status of the vacation request to “Approved” and disables editing. |
| Close | Changes the status of the vacation request to “Closed” and prohibits any further changes. A closed request cannot be reopened. The “Closed” status is useful for marking canceled or fully completed (used) vacations. |
| Open | Changes the status of the vacation request to “Open” and allows editing. |
| Mark as Used | Indicates that the vacation has been used. When this function is run, the “Vacation Used” field is marked. |
| Mark as Unused | Indicates that the vacation has not been used. When this function is run, the mark is removed from the “Vacation Used” field. |
Step 3 Control of Annual Paid Vacations
The Microsoft Dynamics system allows you to monitor the use of annual vacations and any other types of absences that are properly documented. Absence types that need to be tracked must have the setting Use Accruals – Yes enabled (Time Tracking scenario).
Vacation accruals should be added when an employee is hired (Labor Contracts scenario). At the time the contract line with the “Hire” type is approved, the contract conditions must include a line with the Vacation Accrual type (Working Conditions scenario).
Once the contract line is approved, a special record with the type “Accrual” is generated in the Employee Absence Transactions ledger. This record defines the initial period used to calculate the timing for granting the employee's mandatory annual vacation – the vacation calculation period. The vacation period is set to one year from the date of hire and is individual for each employee.
The vacation period can be viewed from the Employee Card by selecting History – Vacation Balance.
Page Employee Accrual Transactions
| Button | Description |
|---|---|
| Employee Code | Employee code. |
| Time Activity Code | Time activity code for the vacation. |
| Start Date | Start date of the period for which the vacation is granted. For annual vacations, this is the start date of the working year. For other types of leave (e.g., social leave), this may be the start of the calendar year. |
| End Date | End date of the period for which the vacation is granted. For annual vacations, this is the end date of the working year. For other types of leave (e.g., social leave), this may be the end date within the calendar year. Note that upon termination, the end date is limited to the termination date. |
| Calendar Days as of Date | Number of calendar accrual days for the entire period. |
| Days Used | Number of calendar vacation days used during this accrual period. Used days can be added through a vacation order (Absence Orders scenario). |
| Compensated Calendar Days | Number of compensated calendar vacation days within this accrual period. Compensation days can be added when processing a contract line with the type “Termination” under the contract conditions (Vacation scenario), or through the Vacation Journal. |
| Corrected Calendar Days | Number of adjusted calendar vacation days within this accrual period. Adjustment days can be added via the Vacation Journal. |
| Planned Balance | Planned balance of calendar days. Calculated as: Calendar days – Used calendar days – Compensated calendar days + Adjusted calendar days. Note that the balance reflects the total regardless of time worked. |
| Balance as of Date | Calendar day balance as of a specific date. Calculated as: Calendar days – Used calendar days – Compensated calendar days + Adjusted calendar days. Displays the balance as of the date entered by the user. The default is the current date. |
| Description | Description associated with this record. |
| Description (English) | Description associated with this record in English. |
| Calendar Days as of Date (User Specified) | Number of calendar accrual days as of the specified date. |
| Planned Calendar Days | Planned number of calendar days. |
| Document Type | Type of related document. |
| Vacation Type | Type of vacation (e.g., basic, additional, educational). |
| Position Number | Position from the employee card. |
| Document Date | Date the related document was created. |
| HR Order Date | Date of the HR order. |
| Document No. | Number of the related document. |
| HR Order No. | Number of the HR order. |
To add accruals for another type of vacation (not included in the contract conditions), use the Vacation Journal.
The assignment of an annual vacation to the planned vacation period is done automatically when posting a vacation order with the same activity code using the "apply to the oldest" method. This means the first vacation accrual period will be closed first, then the second, and so on. The number of the related accrual operation for the absence line corresponding to the annual vacation is shown in the Accrual Operation No. field.
If the vacation is granted in parts, or the "apply to the oldest" method is not suitable, you can manually specify the Accrual Operation No. in the vacation order (Absence Orders scenario). In this case, the used days will be linked to the specified accrual operation.
Accruals for the following year can be added manually through the Vacation Journal or automatically during the payroll period closing. An accrual record is created for types of absence with time activity codes listed in the time activity group defined in the "Vacation Period Change by Task" parameter in the HR and Payroll module settings (General Module Setup scenario). When the current payroll period is closed or a payroll document for the previous period is posted, the system will automatically generate an additional accrual record in the Employee Absence Operations ledger. The start date of the generated operation will be the day after the end of the current vacation accrual period, and the end date will be one year after the new start date.
Note that the rule for controlling the duration and limits of the vacation period applies only to absence types defined in the time activity group specified in the Annual Vacation Group Code parameter in the HR and Payroll module settings (General Module Setup scenario).
To view the current vacation balance of employees (as of a specific date), you can enter a date or use the Employee Vacation Balance report, which can be launched from the Accrual Operations by Employee page by selecting History – Vacation Balance – Print:
Employee Vacation Balance report
| Field | Description |
|---|---|
| Time Activity Code | You need to specify the time activity code corresponding to the type of vacation to be analyzed. To use the report for analyzing the balance of mandatory annual vacations, enter V. |
| Report Date | You need to specify the date as of which the vacation balance will be generated. |
The number of remaining days is calculated as: Accrued – Used – Compensated + Adjusted.
The number of accrued (“earned”) days as of the specified date is calculated using the following logic:
- If the activity code has the setting Depends on worked time – No (scenario: Working Time Tracking), then the number of accrued days equals the number of calendar days from the accrual for this absence.
- If the activity code has the setting Depends on worked time – Yes (scenario: Working Time Tracking), then: • A base “daily value” is calculated based on the entire vacation accrual period. The number of calendar days entitled for this type of absence is divided by the total number of calendar days between the accrual start date and end date. When counting calendar days for the accrual period, the setting Include public holidays in calculation (scenario: Working Time Tracking) is analyzed: if set to No, public holidays are excluded; if set to Yes, public holidays are included. Public holidays are determined according to the Official Calendar (scenario: General Module Setup). • The number of calendar days as of the report date is then calculated. This is the number of calendar days from the accrual start date to the report date. Again, the “Include public holidays in calculation” setting is checked: if No, holidays are excluded; if Yes, holidays are included.
Additionally, when calculating the days for this period, the system checks the setting “Used Exclusion Period Group Code” (scenario: Working Time Tracking). If, for any calendar day in the employee’s time sheet during the period, a time activity code from this group is present, that day is excluded from the calculation. • The number of accrued days is then calculated by multiplying the “daily value” by the number of calendar days as of the report date (within the accrual period). The result is rounded to two decimal places.
It is not possible to generate the report for terminated employees, since the end date of all vacation accruals is changed upon termination.
Step 4: Importing Vacation Balance
The system allows for importing employee absence operations.
To ensure correct display, a specific sequence of actions must be followed:
- Use the Vacation Journal to create and post an absence accrual line, specifying the activity code. The Document No. field is required (for example, you can use a combination like employee number + accrual year + activity code for numbering).
After posting the accrual line, the system automatically assigns a unique number to the accrual operation.
-
Use the Vacation Journal to create one or more absence usage lines, also specifying the activity code. For each line, the Document No. field must be filled in and must match the document number used in the corresponding accrual line.
-
Then, use the function Set Accrual Operation No., which will find the unique operation number based on the Document Number and populate the Accrual Operation Number field for all usage-type lines.
After posting the usage line(s), the system will link them in the balance to the correct accrual operation. If the Time Tracking option is enabled in the usage line, the system will also generate timesheet details for the line's active period after posting. If the payroll register is canceled, the timesheet details for the line's period will revert to their previous state.