Digital Vacation Planning with Approval Workflow – Efficient, Transparent, and License-Free

If vacation planning in your company still happens in Excel or on paper, now is the perfect time to switch to a modern, digital solution.
In this post, I’ll show you step by step how to build a complete vacation planning and approval workflow using SharePoint, Power Apps, and Power Automate.

The best part:
You’ll be able to download the finished solution from my blog later (under Downloads).

This solution is particularly suitable for IT departments, HR teams, and managers who need a structured, traceable, and scalable vacation management system.

Components of the Solution

The solution consists of three core components:

1. SharePoint lists as the data model
2. Power App as the user interface
3. Power Automate flow for calculation and approval process

SharePoint Lists

1. List “Vacation” (Employee Overview)

This list manages:

• Employees
• Contractual vacation days
• Planned vacation
• Approved vacation

Fields:

• Employee (Person – unique values recommended)
• Workdays (Number)

2. List “Vacation Planning” (Requests)

This list stores individual vacation requests.

Fields:

• Title
• Start Date
• End Date
• Optional: Status

Create the Power App

The app is generated directly from the SharePoint list.

Menu:
Integrate → Power Apps → Create an app

Customizing the Power App

1. Default Status “Requested”

In the Status dropdown control, set the DefaultSelectedItems property to:

[ { Value: "beantragt" } ]

2. Automatically Fill the Employee Field

Set a user object as the default for the Employee field:

{
  '@odata.type': "#Microsoft.Azure.Connectors.SharePoint.SPListExpandedUser",
  Claims: "i:0#.f|membership|" & User().Email,
  DisplayName: User().FullName,
  Email: User().Email
}

3. Automatic Title

Example:

"Vacation " & User().FullName

4. Remove Attachments

The “Attachments” field is removed entirely from the form.

5. Hide Unnecessary Fields

Use the Visible property to hide fields that are not needed for submitting a vacation request.

6. Display Status in Browse Screen

Add a text field in the gallery that displays:

ThisItem.Status.Value

Power Automate Flow

The flow handles:

1. Calculating vacation days
2. Manager approval process
3. Updating the vacation list

Trigger

The flow is triggered when an item is created in the Vacation Planning list.

Step 1: Retrieve Employee Data

The matching row from the Vacation list is filtered using an OData query:

Mitarbeiter/Email eq '@{triggerOutputs()?['body/Author/Email']}'

Step 2: Store Employee Object in Variable

The retrieved row is stored in an object variable for easier access later.

Step 3: Calculate Number of Vacation Days

Formula for calculating vacation days:

div( sub( ticks(outputs('Begin')), ticks(outputs('Ende')) ), 864000000000 )

Step 4: Update Planned Vacation

New planned vacation value:

add( variables('MitarbeiterObjekt')?['geplanterUrlaub'], outputs('Compose_Urlaubstage') )

Step 5: Determine Manager

Use the “Get Manager (V2)” action to retrieve the requester’s manager.

Step 6: Send Approval Request

Use “Start and wait for an approval” to notify the supervisor.

Approval check:

@if(equals(outputs('Approval')?['outcome'], 'Approve'), true, false)

Step 7: Update SharePoint (on Approval)

Depending on the approval result:

If approved:

• Status → approved
• Planned vacation decreases
• Approved vacation increases
• Remaining vacation recalculated

If rejected:

• Status → rejected

SharePoint Calendar View

For the best overview, set up a calendar view.

Settings:

• Start date: Start
• End date: End
• Subtitle: Status

Conditional Formatting

Under “Format current view,” you can add visual formatting:

• Requested → Yellow
• Approved → Green
• Rejected → Red

Testing & Useful Extensions

Additional optimization options:

• Secure SharePoint list permissions
• Automatically exclude weekends and holidays
• Integrate with HR/payroll systems
• Support individual work schedules

⬇ Download the Finished Solution

The complete import package can be found at:
jonaskufner.com → Downloads → Vacation Planner

The download links to the corresponding GitHub repository.

Thanks for Reading!

If you have any questions about the implementation or need support for Power Platform projects, feel free to get in touch.

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