SOURCE:    Vacation Tracker
TITLE:     How Can I Apply the Brought Forward Policy to the Previous Year?
URL:       https://vacationtracker.io/knowledge-base/how-can-i-apply-the-brought-forwardrollover-policy-to-the-previous-year-the-past/
LANG:      en
PUBLISHED: 2023-12-19
UPDATED:   2025-10-10
READING:   2 min
SUMMARY:   Forgot to turn on Brought Forward at year-end? Apply it retroactively per leave policy so last year's unused days still carry into this year.
How Can I Apply the Brought Forward Policy to the Previous Year?
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Last updated on October 10, 2025

How Can I Apply the Brought Forward Policy to the Previous Year?

Forgot to turn on Brought Forward at year-end? Changed your mind about the rollover policy? Vacation Tracker lets you apply the setting retroactively so last year's unused days can still be carried into this year — no manual adjustments per user.

How to Apply Brought Forward to the Previous Year

The setting lives on each leave policy — per Location, per Leave Type. If you need to apply it across multiple Locations or multiple leave types, you'll edit each policy one at a time.

  1. Sign in at app.vacationtracker.io.
  2. In the left-hand menu, expand Leave Setup and click Locations.
  3. On the Location you want to configure, click Edit Leave Policies.
  4. Find the leave policy you want to update and click the edit (pencil) icon on its row.
  5. Scroll to the Brought Forward Settings section and set Brought Forward to either Limited or All (the retroactive field doesn't appear while the dropdown is on Disabled).
  6. A new required field appears: When Would You Like To Apply These Changes? Pick the option that matches what you want.
  7. Click Update at the bottom of the page to save.
Brought Forward Settings with the field asking when you would like to apply brought forward, visible after switching it on for all leave types
Direct from the app
The in-app tooltip next to this field reads: "Select the time frame for applying your leave changes. Choose 'Future brought forward' to adjust upcoming leave dates only, or 'Previous brought forward and future ones' to modify both past and future leave dates."

The Two Options

Future brought forward (default)

Only affects the upcoming year-end rollover and every year after. Last year's closed balance is left untouched. Pick this when you're setting up Brought Forward going forward — e.g., deciding mid-year that next January you want unused days to roll over.

It's April 2026 and you set Brought Forward to All with this option. At the end of 2026, users' unused 2026 days will roll into 2027. Any unused 2025 days stay gone.

Previous brought forward and future ones

Retroactively applies the rule to the most recent closed year and every future year. Each user's unused days from last year are added as Brought Forward to their current-year balance. Pick this when you forgot to configure rollover at year-end and want to make employees whole.

Same April 2026 scenario with this option: users' unused 2025 days are now brought forward into their 2026 balance. From 2026 onwards, the rollover happens automatically at each year-end.
One year back only
Retroactive application is limited to the most recent completed leave year. You can't reach back two or more years. Example: if it's April 2026, "Previous brought forward and future ones" covers 2025 → 2026 transfers. You can't bring forward unused days from 2024.

Common Questions

Two usual reasons: your Brought Forward dropdown is still on Disabled (switch it to Limited or All and the field will appear), or the Location's leave year reset is based on User Employment Date. The retroactive option is only available when a Location resets on an Accounting Year, because that's the only setup where "previous year" has a consistent meaning for everyone.

No — the setting sits on a single leave policy (one Leave Type at one Location). To apply retroactive Brought Forward to multiple leave types or multiple Locations, edit each policy individually.

No. The system only reaches back to the most recent completed leave year. If you need to bring forward days from further back, reach out to Support — it's not self-serve.

What's Next?

How Do I Set a Brought Forward (Rollover) Policy? Can I Set an Expiry Date for Brought Forward (Transferred) Days? How to Enable the Negative Brought Forward
Need help?
Regular Users: If you have any questions, email us anytime at hello@vacationtracker.io.
Admins and Approvers: You can reach us via live chat Monday to Friday, 9 AM – 5 PM EST, or email us anytime at hello@vacationtracker.io.

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