The system subtracted the incorrect carryover amount on our carryover date.

Why was the wrong amount of carryover subtracted from my employee's balance?

Purpose: This resource will help you troubleshoot carryover questions in BambooHR. Each scenario will take you through a tree map of questions to help you find the right solution for your account. Click on number 1 below to begin.


Did you know we have a BambooHR Learning course about Time Off Troubleshooting? Click here to learn more about what is included in this course. 

1. Go to Settings > Time Off and click on the policy. Is the carryover amount correct?

What is the carryover amount? This determines the amount of unused time off an employee can use for the coming time off year. Any amount of time off above the specified carryover amount will get removed on the carryover date.

  • No, the carryover amount is incorrect.
    • If the carryover amount is incorrect, enter the correct carryover amount setting, and then save the changes to the policy. Policy changes are reflected only on future accruals, unless you refresh the accrual history. This help guide walks you through how to do this: “Update Accruals for an Employee’s Time Off Policy.”
  • Yes, the carryover amount is correct. Move to question #2.
2. Go to Settings > Time Off and click on the policy. Is the carryover date correct?

Remember, this is the day that all time off above the carryover amount will get subtracted from the balance.

  • No, the carryover date is incorrect.
    • If the carryover date is incorrect, enter the correct carryover date, and then save the changes to the policy. Policy changes are reflected only on future accruals, unless you refresh the accrual history. This help guide walks you through how to do this: “Update Accruals for an Employee’s Time Off Policy.”
  • Yes, the carryover date is correct. Move to question #3.
3. When you view the time off history > Balance History at the bottom of an employee’s Time Off tab and select All in the year dropdown, is there a carryover loss event that is subtracting the incorrect amount?

When a past time off request is approved or a past manual adjustment is made after a carryover loss event has happened, the carryover loss is not automatically recalculated. This means that the balance could be incorrect because the carryover loss needs to be recalculated.

Example: On December 31, an employee has three days of unused time off. They cannot carry over any days to the next year. So, on January 1, the system subtracts three days, making the balance 0. On January 2, the employee submits a past time off request for three days from December 2931, which gets approved. His balance now shows as -3 because it will not automatically recalculate itself once the carryover loss event has happened.

  • Yes, there is a carryover loss event that is subtracting the incorrect amount.
    • If the system is subtracting the incorrect amount for a carryover event, you will need to refresh the policy for that employee. This help guide walks you through how to refresh the accrual history (including the carryover loss event) for one employee and for your employees in bulk: “Update Accruals for an Employee’s Time Off Policy.” We recommend that you try this with just one employee at first to make sure that the result is what you need. Keep in mind that when you refresh the accruals as of a past date, all accruals from that date forward will get overwritten based on the current policy settings.
  • Yes, there is a carryover event, but it is subtracting the correct amount. Move to question #4.
  • No, the carryover loss event did not occur. Move to question #4.
4. You have done an awesome job troubleshooting so far! At this point, we recommend that you reach out directly to a support hero to look further into your situation.

Please reach out to a support hero here with the following information: 

  • The employee # of at least one employee experiencing this issue
  • What that employee’s time off balance and/or accrual should be (if it’s currently showing incorrectly)
  • A description of the problem you are seeing
  • What you have tested so far