If you are running a 10-person team and searching for a “leave tracking app” rather than “leave management software,” you already know what you want: something you can set up on your phone in five minutes, not a six-week HRIS implementation. The problem is that most tools marketed to Australian businesses are built for mid-market HR departments, not small business owners who approve leave requests between client calls.
We tested six leave tracking apps against the needs of Australian small businesses with 5 to 25 employees. The evaluation focused on three things: how quickly your team can start using it, how it works on mobile, and whether it handles Fair Work Act obligations without extra configuration. Here is what we found.
What Small Australian Businesses Actually Need from a Leave Tracking App
Enterprise feature lists are irrelevant when you have 12 employees. Small businesses need a leave app that does five things well:
- Fast setup — you should be tracking leave within 15 minutes, not 15 days
- Mobile-first experience — your team already lives in Slack or Teams on their phones; the leave app should work there too
- Fair Work compliance — the National Employment Standards guarantee 4 weeks of annual leave, 10 days of personal/carer’s leave, and 2 days of compassionate leave as minimums; your app must handle these correctly
- Transparent pricing — no sales calls, no “contact us for a quote,” no per-user charges that blow out as you hire
- Team visibility — a shared calendar showing who is off this week, accessible to everyone
If a tool requires a demo call before you can see the price, it was not built for small business.
The 6 Best Leave Tracking Apps for Australian Small Businesses
1. Leave Balance
Best for: Small teams (5-200 employees) that use Slack or Microsoft Teams and want leave tracking inside the tools they already use.
Pricing: AUD $29/month flat rate. Unlimited employees, unlimited leave policies. 14-day free trial, no credit card required.
The mobile experience: Leave Balance works inside Slack and Teams — the apps your team already has on their phones. There is no separate app to download, no new login to remember, no onboarding friction. Employees request leave with a quick command in Slack. Managers approve it with a single tap. The entire workflow happens in the conversation tool your team opens 50 times a day.
This is a genuine advantage for small businesses. Every additional app you ask employees to install is another source of friction. With Leave Balance, the “app” is Slack or Teams — and your team is already using it.
Fair Work compliance:
- Configurable leave policies for all NES entitlements (annual leave, personal leave, compassionate leave, long service leave)
- Leave loading support via custom policy configuration
- State-specific long service leave rules configurable per policy
- Unlimited custom leave types for any additional entitlements under your Modern Award or enterprise agreement
What stands out: At AUD $29/month for unlimited employees, Leave Balance costs the same whether you have 5 employees or 25. A 25-person team on Deputy would pay AUD $125-225/month for the same core leave tracking. That is money a small business can put toward something more useful.
Trade-offs: No direct Xero or MYOB payroll integration — leave data needs to be exported. No automated award interpretation engine. If you need shift rostering alongside leave tracking, this is not the right tool.
2. Deputy
Best for: Small hospitality, retail, or healthcare businesses that need shift scheduling and leave tracking in one app.
Pricing: AUD $5-9/user/month. A 15-person team pays approximately AUD $75-135/month.
The mobile experience: Deputy has a strong standalone mobile app designed for deskless workers. Employees can request leave, view their balances, and check the team roster from their phone. The app includes geolocation for clock-in, which is useful for businesses with employees in the field.
Fair Work compliance:
- Award-aware scheduling that accounts for leave
- Fair Work-compliant timesheets
- Configurable leave types
- Integration with Xero and MYOB for payroll
What stands out: If your small business runs on shifts — a cafe, a medical practice, a retail store — Deputy combines scheduling with leave management in one app. The mobile experience for deskless workers is polished.
Trade-offs: Leave management is a secondary feature behind scheduling. Per-user pricing adds up as you hire. No meaningful Slack or Teams integration for leave workflows. Office-based teams will find the scheduling features unnecessary.
3. Tanda
Best for: Award-heavy small businesses that need automated compliance with specific Modern Awards.
Pricing: Modular, starting from approximately AUD $1.60/user/module. A typical leave + time bundle for 15 employees runs AUD $150-240/month. Pricing requires a sales conversation.
The mobile experience: Tanda has a mobile app focused on time tracking and clock-in/out. Leave requests can be submitted via the app, but the experience is more functional than elegant. The app is designed for shift workers, not office-based teams.
Fair Work compliance:
- Best-in-class award interpretation engine covering all 122 Modern Awards
- Automatic penalty rate and leave loading calculations
- Fair Work compliant timesheets and leave records
- STP reporting support
What stands out: If your small business operates under a complex Modern Award — particularly in hospitality or retail — Tanda’s automated award interpretation is genuinely valuable. It removes the manual calculation burden that trips up small businesses during Fair Work audits.
Trade-offs: Opaque pricing that requires a sales conversation. Significant overkill for office-based teams that just need annual leave tracking. The cost is 5 to 8 times higher than flat-rate alternatives for a 15-person team. No Slack or Teams leave workflow.
leave emails? Track your employee's leave with Leave Balance
4. Employment Hero
Best for: Small businesses that want HR, payroll, and leave management in a single platform and have the budget for it.
Pricing: From approximately AUD $20/employee/month. Minimum monthly spend of AUD $200-600 depending on the plan. A 15-person team pays approximately AUD $300-900/month.
The mobile experience: Employment Hero has a mobile app called Swag that employees use for leave requests, payslips, and benefits. The app is feature-rich but can feel overwhelming for employees who only need to request leave. Setup and configuration are not mobile-friendly — an admin needs to configure the platform on desktop first.
Fair Work compliance:
- Comprehensive payroll with STP Phase 2
- Superannuation management (relevant with payday super changes coming in 2026)
- Award interpretation via KeyPay
- Leave loading calculations
- Full NES entitlement tracking
What stands out: If your small business has outgrown spreadsheets for everything — not just leave, but payroll, onboarding, and compliance — Employment Hero consolidates it all. The payroll integration means leave calculations flow directly into pay runs.
Trade-offs: The most expensive option on this list by a wide margin. A 15-person business paying AUD $300-900/month for leave tracking is overspending unless they genuinely use the full HR and payroll suite. Complex setup. The platform feels heavy for small teams that just want simple leave tracking.
5. Xero (Leave Features)
Best for: Very small businesses (under 10 employees) already using Xero for accounting and payroll that want basic leave tracking without another tool.
Pricing: Included with Xero payroll. Xero costs AUD $35-130/month plus a payroll add-on from approximately AUD $10/month plus AUD $4/employee/month. A 10-person team pays roughly AUD $85-180/month total for accounting, payroll, and basic leave.
The mobile experience: Limited. Xero has a mobile app for accounting, but the leave management experience on mobile is basic. Employees need to log into the Xero platform to submit leave requests — there is no dedicated leave workflow on the mobile app, and no Slack or Teams integration.
Fair Work compliance:
- Leave calculations integrated with payroll
- STP Phase 2 reporting
- Basic leave types (annual, personal, long service)
- Leave loading within payroll runs
What stands out: If you already use Xero for accounting and payroll, the built-in leave features add zero extra cost. Leave calculations connect directly to pay runs, eliminating double data entry.
Trade-offs: No team calendar. No approval workflows in Slack or Teams. No analytics or reporting beyond basic payroll summaries. The mobile experience for leave is poor. Once your team grows past 10 to 15 employees, the limitations become significant.
6. Vacation Tracker
Best for: Very small, globally distributed teams that want a simple Slack leave bot and do not need Australian compliance features.
Pricing: From USD $2/user/month with a USD $50/month minimum on paid plans. In Australian dollars, the minimum is approximately AUD $75/month. A 15-person team pays approximately AUD $75/month.
The mobile experience: Vacation Tracker works through Slack and Teams, similar to Leave Balance. The workflow is simple — request leave via a bot command, and managers approve via a notification. It also has a web dashboard for calendar views and reporting.
Fair Work compliance:
- Minimal. No NES awareness, no leave loading support, no Modern Award understanding
- No awareness of Australian state-specific long service leave
- No Fair Work compliance reporting
- Basic leave type configuration only
What stands out: Simple setup and a clean Slack experience. If your small business has employees across multiple countries and Australian compliance is handled separately (through payroll software, for example), Vacation Tracker is straightforward to use.
Trade-offs: The lack of Australian compliance features is a dealbreaker for most local businesses. Pricing is in USD, and the AUD $75/month minimum means it costs more than Leave Balance despite offering fewer features. No leave loading, no NES tracking, no understanding of Australian leave law.
Pricing Comparison for Small Teams (5-25 Employees)
Here is what each app actually costs per month for a typical small business:
| App | 5 employees | 10 employees | 15 employees | 25 employees |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Leave Balance | AUD $29/mo | AUD $29/mo | AUD $29/mo | AUD $29/mo |
| Deputy | ~AUD $25-45/mo | ~AUD $50-90/mo | ~AUD $75-135/mo | ~AUD $125-225/mo |
| Tanda | ~AUD $50-80/mo | ~AUD $100-160/mo | ~AUD $150-240/mo | ~AUD $250-400/mo |
| Employment Hero | ~AUD $200-600/mo | ~AUD $200-600/mo | ~AUD $300-900/mo | ~AUD $500-1,500/mo |
| Xero (leave) | ~AUD $55-150/mo | ~AUD $75-170/mo | ~AUD $95-190/mo | ~AUD $135-230/mo |
| Vacation Tracker | ~AUD $75/mo | ~AUD $75/mo | ~AUD $75/mo | ~AUD $75/mo |
Prices are approximate and converted to AUD where applicable. Employment Hero minimums apply regardless of team size. Xero pricing includes the payroll add-on.
At every team size from 5 to 25 employees, Leave Balance is the most affordable option. The gap widens as your team grows — at 25 employees, you are saving between AUD $46/month (versus Vacation Tracker) and AUD $1,471/month (versus Employment Hero) by choosing flat-rate pricing.
How to Choose: A Decision Framework for Small Businesses
Choosing a leave tracking app comes down to three questions:
Does your team use Slack or Microsoft Teams?
If yes, choose a tool that works inside those platforms. Your team will actually use it. Leave Balance and Vacation Tracker both offer native Slack/Teams workflows, but Leave Balance adds Fair Work compliance and costs less for Australian businesses.
Does your business run on shifts?
If you roster employees across shifts — in a cafe, clinic, warehouse, or retail store — you need scheduling alongside leave management. Deputy or Tanda are better fits. If your team is office-based with standard hours, you do not need (or want to pay for) scheduling features.
Is Fair Work compliance a priority?
For every Australian business, it should be. The Fair Work Act 2009 sets minimum leave entitlements, and getting them wrong can result in penalties of up to AUD $1.65 million for individuals. Leave Balance, Tanda, and Employment Hero all handle NES entitlements. Vacation Tracker and basic Xero leave features do not.
Frequently Asked Questions
Do I need a separate leave tracking app if I already use Xero?
Xero handles basic leave calculations within payroll, but it lacks a team calendar, Slack or Teams approval workflows, and meaningful reporting. If your team is under 10 employees and your leave needs are simple, Xero’s built-in features may be sufficient. Once you grow beyond that, a dedicated leave app saves time and gives you better visibility. You can use both — a dedicated leave tracking app for day-to-day workflows and Xero for payroll calculations.
Can I use Leave Balance alongside my existing payroll software?
Yes. Leave Balance handles the tracking, requests, and approvals. You export leave data for payroll processing in Xero, MYOB, or whichever payroll tool you use. This separation actually suits most small businesses — you get a better leave experience for employees without disrupting your existing payroll setup.
What leave entitlements must Australian small businesses provide?
Under the National Employment Standards, all permanent employees are entitled to at least 4 weeks of paid annual leave per year (5 weeks for shift workers), 10 days of paid personal/carer’s leave, 2 days of compassionate leave per occasion, and unpaid parental leave. Your Modern Award or enterprise agreement may provide additional entitlements, including leave loading at 17.5%.
Is flat-rate pricing really cheaper for a small team?
At 5 employees, the difference between AUD $29/month (Leave Balance) and AUD $25-45/month (Deputy) is marginal. The savings become substantial from about 8-10 employees onwards. At 25 employees, Leave Balance saves you AUD $96-196/month compared to Deputy, and AUD $121-371/month compared to Tanda. Over a year, that is AUD $1,152-4,452 in savings — meaningful money for a small business.
The Bottom Line
For Australian small businesses searching for a leave tracking app in 2026, the decision often comes down to how your team works. If your team is office-based and uses Slack or Microsoft Teams, Leave Balance gives you the fastest setup, the best daily experience, and the lowest cost at AUD $29/month flat. If your team is shift-based, Deputy or Tanda make more sense despite the higher cost.
What matters most is that you move beyond spreadsheets. Manual leave tracking in a country with the Fair Work Act, 122 Modern Awards, and state-specific long service leave laws is a compliance risk your small business does not need to carry. Pick an app, set it up this week, and get back to running your business.