PTO Accrual Calculator
Enter your annual paid-time-off allotment and how often you get paid, and this calculator works out how many PTO hours and days you earn each pay period, then projects your balance forward after any time you have already used. Accrual policies vary widely by employer, so treat this as a planning estimate — always confirm the numbers against your own pay stub and employee handbook.
Accrual policy
Projection
Accrued per pay period
4.62 hrs
0.58 days/period · 120.00 hrs/yr
Projected balance
120.00 hrs
In days
15.00 days
Per-period breakdown
Balance over pay periods
Compare scenarios
Run the same calculation with two or three input sets side by side. Differences are highlighted; every number comes from the same tested formula as the calculator above.
| Input | Scenario A | Scenario B |
|---|---|---|
| Annual Days | ||
| Hours Per Day | ||
| Periods Per Year | ||
| Current Balance Hours | ||
| Used Hours | ||
| Periods Elapsed |
How it works
Per-period accrual is your annual allotment spread evenly across your pay periods: hours earned each period equal annual PTO days × hours per workday ÷ pay periods per year, and days earned each period equal annual days ÷ pay periods per year. With a standard 8-hour day, 15 days a year on a biweekly schedule (26 periods) works out to (15 × 8) ÷ 26 ≈ 4.62 hours, or about 0.58 days, added to your balance each pay date.
Your projected balance starts from the hours you have banked today, adds the per-period accrual for every pay period that elapses over the window you choose, and subtracts any hours you plan to use: projected balance = current balance + (accrual per period × periods elapsed) − hours used. The calculation accumulates the exact unrounded accrual internally and only rounds the figures it shows you, so a full year of biweekly accrual lands squarely on your annual total instead of drifting from rounding.
Switch the pay periods per year to match how you are paid — 52 for weekly, 26 for biweekly, 24 for semi-monthly, or 12 for monthly — and the per-period amount rescales automatically while the annual total stays the same. The table breaks down the running balance pay date by pay date, and the chart shows that balance climbing over the periods you project, which is handy for timing a vacation around when you will have earned enough.
Frequently asked questions
Does this match how my employer actually grants PTO?+
Only if your employer uses per-period accrual, which is the most common model but not the only one. This tool assumes you earn a fixed slice of your yearly allotment every pay period. Many employers instead grant the full year of PTO up front on January 1 or your work anniversary (a lump-sum grant), and some use tenure-based tiers where your accrual rate rises with years of service. If your policy is a lump grant, your balance would jump to the full amount at once rather than climbing gradually as shown here. Check your handbook to confirm which model applies.
Why doesn't the projection cap my balance or handle rollover?+
Because caps, accrual ceilings, and year-end rollover rules are set by each employer (and sometimes by state law) and vary too much to model generically. Many policies stop accrual once you hit a maximum balance, or let you carry over only a limited number of hours into the next year and forfeit the rest — a use-it-or-lose-it policy. This calculator projects uncapped linear accrual, so if your real plan has a ceiling or a rollover limit, your actual balance may be lower than the figure shown. Treat the projection as an upper-bound estimate and apply your own plan's limits.
Should I enter my PTO in hours or in days?+
Enter your annual allotment in days and your standard workday length in hours, and the calculator handles the conversion both ways. Payroll systems almost always track PTO balances in hours, because that is the unit accrual and usage are recorded in, while employees tend to think in days off. The hours-per-day setting (default 8) is what links the two — if you work 10-hour shifts over four days, set it to 10 so a "day" of PTO reflects a full shift. The results panel shows the projected balance in both hours and days.