PTO Accrual Calculator
Calculate how much paid time off you earn each pay period or per hour worked, and project your PTO balance to any future date.
PTO Accrual Calculator
Accrual Method
Annual PTO Allowance
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Hours Worked
Current Balance
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Estimates only. Not tax, legal, or HR advice. Confirm accrual rules with your employer's policy.
Accrual Breakdown
Know Your Paycheck on Every Day Off
Pay44 handles overtime, deductions, and 50-state taxes, so you can see your take-home pay even on a PTO week. Download the app to plan your time off with the numbers in hand.
How PTO Accrual Works
Paid time off rarely lands in your account all at once. Most employers spread it out so you earn it gradually across the year. There are three common accrual models, and the one your company uses decides how fast your balance grows.
Per pay period accrual splits the annual allowance evenly across your paychecks. If you get paid biweekly, you earn a slice of PTO on each of the 26 paychecks. This model fits salaried employees with a steady schedule, since every pay period adds the same amount no matter how many hours you logged.
Per hour worked accrual ties PTO directly to time on the clock. You earn a small fraction of an hour for every hour you work. This suits hourly and part-time staff, because someone who works fewer hours earns proportionally less. It also handles variable schedules well, since overtime weeks build PTO faster.
Annual lump sum accrual grants the full balance on a single date, often your hire anniversary or the start of the calendar year. There is no gradual buildup. The hours appear all at once and you draw them down through the year.
How to Calculate Your PTO Accrual Rate
The math behind each model is short. For per pay period accrual, divide your annual PTO hours by the number of paychecks per year.
80 hours divided by 26 biweekly paychecks is 3.08 hours per pay period. The same 80 hours on a semimonthly schedule (24 paychecks) works out to 3.33 hours per pay period.
For per hour worked accrual, divide your annual PTO hours by the hours you work in a year.
120 hours of PTO divided by 2,080 hours worked is 0.0577 PTO hours earned for every hour on the clock. An 80-hour allowance over the same 2,080 hours comes out to 0.0385. Multiply that rate by the hours in a pay period to see how much PTO each paycheck adds.
To project a balance, count the pay periods (or estimate the hours worked) between your start date and a future target date, multiply by the accrual rate, then add your current balance and subtract any PTO you have already used. The calculator above does each step for you and converts the result into days or weeks.
PTO Accrual Caps and Rollover Policies
Many employers set an accrual cap, a ceiling on how much PTO you can hold at one time. A common cap is 1.5 times the annual allowance, so a 120-hour policy might cap at 180 hours. Once you reach the cap, you stop earning new PTO until you use some of your balance. Hours you would have earned past the cap are not credited.
Rollover rules decide what happens to unused PTO at year-end. Some plans carry the entire balance forward. Some allow a limited carryover and forfeit the rest. Others run on "use-it-or-lose-it" rules that reset the balance to zero. State law varies here: a few states treat earned PTO as wages that an employer cannot take away, while others leave the rules to the employer. Check your employee handbook and your state labor agency before assuming hours will carry over.
PTO vs. Take-Home Pay
Paid time off is part of your total compensation. A job with 15 days of PTO pays you for 15 days you do not work, which is real money on top of your salary. When you compare offers, the size of the PTO allowance matters as much as the headline pay rate. The Job Offer Comparator lets you weigh PTO alongside salary, and the True Hourly Rate Calculator folds paid leave into your real hourly value.
It also helps to know what a PTO day is worth after taxes. Your paycheck on a leave week still has federal, state, and FICA withholding, so the gross value of a day off is not what lands in your account. Run the numbers with the Hourly Paycheck Calculator to see take-home pay for any week, including weeks you spend on PTO.
This tool gives estimates only and is not tax, legal, or HR advice. Accrual rates, caps, and rollover rules are set by your employer and your state, so confirm the details with your policy documents before making decisions.
Frequently Asked Questions
Common questions about pto accrual calculator
How is PTO accrual calculated?
PTO accrual divides an annual paid time off allowance into smaller amounts you earn as you work. The three common models are per pay period (annual hours divided by paychecks per year), per hour worked (annual hours divided by annual hours worked), and annual lump sum (the full balance granted on one date). Pick the method your employer uses, then add it up over time.
How much PTO do I accrue per pay period?
Divide your annual PTO hours by the number of paychecks you get each year. An 80-hour allowance on a biweekly schedule (26 paychecks) accrues 3.08 hours per pay period. The same 80 hours on a semimonthly schedule (24 paychecks) accrues 3.33 hours. Use our pay-period figures alongside the Pay Period Converter at /tools/pay-period-converter/.
What is a PTO accrual rate per hour worked?
An hourly accrual rate is your annual PTO hours divided by the hours you work in a year. A 120-hour allowance over 2,080 hours worked equals 0.0577 PTO hours for every hour on the clock. An 80-hour allowance over 2,080 hours equals 0.0385. This method ties accrual directly to time worked, which suits hourly and part-time staff.
How do I calculate PTO accrual for a biweekly pay schedule?
A biweekly schedule has 26 pay periods per year. Divide your annual PTO hours by 26. For example, 80 hours divided by 26 is about 3.08 hours per paycheck, and 120 hours divided by 26 is about 4.62 hours. Multiply the per-period amount by the number of pay periods elapsed to see your balance grow.
What is a PTO accrual cap and how does it work?
An accrual cap is a ceiling on how much PTO you can hold at once. A common cap is 1.5 times the annual allowance, so a 15-day (120-hour) policy might cap at 180 hours. Once you hit the cap, you stop earning new PTO until you use some. This calculator shows a warning and estimates forfeited hours when a projected balance would pass the cap.
Does unused PTO roll over to the next year?
It depends on your employer's policy and your state. Some plans carry the full balance forward, some allow a limited carryover, and some use "use-it-or-lose-it" rules that zero out unused time. A few states treat earned PTO as wages that cannot be forfeited, while others let employers set the rules. Check your employee handbook and state labor agency.
How do part-time employees accrue PTO differently?
Part-time workers usually accrue PTO at the same rate as full-time staff, but on fewer hours. With the per-hour-worked method, someone working 1,040 hours a year earns half the PTO of a 2,080-hour employee at the same rate. Enter your real annual hours worked and hours per pay period to get an accurate part-time estimate.
How many hours of PTO is one day or one week off?
This calculator uses the common standard of 8 hours per PTO day and 40 hours per PTO week. So 80 hours is 10 days or 2 weeks, and 120 hours is 15 days or 3 weeks. If your full-time schedule differs, divide your balance by your own daily and weekly hours. The True Hourly Rate Calculator at /tools/true-hourly-rate-calculator/ shows what that paid time is worth.