Overview
Time in Lieu (TIL) allows employees to convert approved overtime into future time off instead of receiving overtime pay. This page shows an employee's TIL balance, accrual history, and any leave taken against their TIL entitlement.
The page displays:
- TIL Balance widget — showing total accrued hours/days, used hours/days, and the remaining balance.
- TIL Leaves card — leave records where TIL was used as the leave type.
- TIL Cash-Outs card — records of accrued time paid out as cash instead of taken as time off.
- TIL Entries table — all overtime entries with dates, hours worked, entitlement hours, approval status, and notes.
- Out-of-hours timeline — a chronological view of approved overtime and TIL leave usage.
How Time in Lieu Works
- An employee works overtime beyond their standard hours.
- A Super Admin or Owner creates a TIL entry recording the overtime hours and the corresponding off-hours entitlement.
- Once approved, the entitlement hours are added to the employee's TIL balance.
- The employee can then take time off against their TIL balance by creating a leave entry with the TIL leave type.
- Alternatively, an Owner, Super Admin, or Accountant can cash out some or all of the balance, paying the employee for the time instead of giving it back as time off.
TIL Balance
The balance widget shows:
| Metric | Description |
|---|---|
| Accrued | Total approved overtime hours/days converted to TIL entitlement. |
| Used | Hours/days of TIL leave already taken, plus any hours cashed out. |
| Available | Remaining balance (Accrued minus Used). |
The conversion from hours to days uses your account's business working hours (set in Account Settings). For example, if your working day is 8 hours and an employee has 16 hours of TIL, that equals 2 days.
Creating a TIL Entry
Click the action button to open the TIL entry form.
Fields
| Field | Required | Description |
|---|---|---|
| Date | Yes | The date the overtime was worked. |
| Hours Worked | Yes | The number of overtime hours. |
| Off-Hours Entitlement | Yes | The number of hours credited to the TIL balance. This may differ from hours worked depending on your overtime policy (e.g. 1:1 or 1.5:1 ratio). |
| Notes | No | Description of the work performed or reason for the overtime. |
Approval
TIL entries require approval before they contribute to the employee's balance:
- Approved entries are counted towards the available TIL balance.
- Pending entries are visible but do not affect the balance until approved.
Taking TIL Leave
To use TIL balance, create a leave entry from the Leave tab and select the TIL leave type. The leave days are deducted from the employee's TIL balance rather than their annual leave entitlement.
The leave form includes guided options for common TIL requests:
| Option | Use for |
|---|---|
| Half day | A morning or afternoon away from work. |
| Full day | One complete working day. |
| Multiple days | Leave that starts and returns on specific morning or afternoon sessions. |
Beeswax calculates the requested hours from the employee's working pattern, company holidays, weekends, account time zone, and any unpaid break minutes configured for the account. Approved TIL leave is deducted from the available balance.
Cashing Out Time in Lieu
Instead of taking the time off, an employee can be paid for accrued Time in Lieu. Only an Owner, Super Admin, or Accountant can record a cash-out.
Open the employee's Time in Lieu page and click Cash Out Hours on the TIL Cash-Outs card.
Fields
| Field | Required | Description |
|---|---|---|
| Hours to cash out | Yes | Any amount up to the available balance. You do not have to cash out a whole entry — partial amounts are fine. |
| Hourly rate | No | An indicative rate used to show a cash value. Pre-filled from the employee's salary details where available, and always editable. |
| Payout date | Yes | The date the cash-out is being recorded. |
| Reference | No | Where the payment is actually being made — for example the pay run date or a Xero pay item. |
| Note | No | Any additional context. |
Important: Beeswax does not pay the money
Recording a cash-out does not pay anything. It reduces the employee's Time in Lieu balance and records that the hours are owed as cash. You must still pay the amount through your payroll system — as a line item in the next pay run, or in an external system such as Xero or your payroll platform.
The balance is reduced immediately
Hours are deducted from the available balance as soon as the cash-out is saved, before the money is paid. This prevents the same hours being booked as leave while the payment is being prepared. Cancelling a cash-out restores the hours to the balance.
Status
| Status | Meaning |
|---|---|
| Pending | Recorded and deducted from the balance, but not yet paid through payroll. |
| Processed | The payment has been made. Click Mark Processed once the amount has been paid. |
About the indicative rate
The rate shown is a guide only — it is not a payroll calculation and Beeswax does not use it to pay anyone.
- Where salary details exist for the employee, the rate is pre-filled at their ordinary hourly rate (an annual salary is converted to a per-pay-period amount, then divided by the hours per pay period).
- Many overtime and cash-out arrangements are paid at an enhanced rate (for example time-and-a-half). Where that applies, overwrite the pre-filled rate with the correct one.
- If the employee has no salary details recorded, no rate appears. You can type one in, or leave it blank and record the hours only.
- The rate you enter is stored on the cash-out record, so later salary changes do not alter historical cash-outs.
Always confirm the rate and the amount against your payroll system or an accountant before paying. Employment agreements and, in some regions, awards or statutory rules govern whether time in lieu can be cashed out and at what rate.
TIL Entries Total
The TIL Entries table shows a total of listed entitlement hours so you can quickly compare the entries in view with the balance widget. Use the date filters to review a specific period.
Permissions
| Action | Owner | Super Admin | Manager | Accountant | Basic |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| View TIL records | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | Own only |
| Create TIL entry | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ ‡ | ✓ | ✗ |
| Approve TIL entry | ✓ | ✓ | ✗ | ✓ | ✗ |
| Delete TIL entry | ✓ | ✓ | ✗ | ✓ | ✗ |
| Cash out TIL balance | ✓ | ✓ | ✗ | ✓ | ✗ |
| Cancel a cash-out | ✓ | ✓ | ✗ | ✓ | ✗ |
‡ Manager limits. A Manager can submit a Time in Lieu entry, but it stays pending: approving, editing and deleting entries are restricted to Owner, Super Admin and Accounts.
About the Accounts role. The role picker calls this role Accounts; it is shown here as Accountant. It has full access to payroll, employee and Time in Lieu features. It cannot manage account settings or API tokens, approve payments, or change an account owner's role.
Tips
- Record overtime promptly. Create TIL entries soon after the overtime is worked so records stay accurate and employees know their balance.
- Clarify your overtime ratio. Decide whether overtime converts 1:1 (one hour worked = one hour off) or at a higher ratio (e.g. 1.5:1). Set the off-hours entitlement accordingly when creating entries.
- Review balances regularly. Large TIL balances can indicate employees are consistently working overtime. Consider whether workload adjustments are needed.
- Record the pay run in the cash-out reference. Adding the pay run date or Xero pay item to a cash-out makes it far easier to reconcile the payment later.
- Mark cash-outs as processed. Leaving them pending makes it hard to tell which payments have actually gone through payroll.