PTO Accrual Calculator
The time-off bank — accrual rate by pay period, plus what you started with, minus what you spent, in hours and eight-hour days.
PTO Accrual Calculator
Results recalculate instantly on every keystroke. Nothing you type is transmitted.
What this result does not account for
- Rate 0 to 80 h per period; periods 0 to 52
- Linear accrual — caps and year-end trims are policy cliffs the page does not model
In short: 5 hours a period × 13 periods elapsed, plus a 20-hour balance, minus 24 spent = 61 hours in the bank — 7.625 eight-hour days. The rate is the policy's number: whatever the handbook states per period lands here, and the page runs the arithmetic the policy states. Spend more than the bank holds and the card reads the overdraft honestly, in signed hours.
Formula
balance = start + rate × periods elapsed − used; days = hours ÷ 8
A PTO bank accrues like interest the policy sets: a rate per pay period, a running balance, a spend column. The page holds the ledger — rate times periods in, carry-in and spend reconciled, the result in hours and in eight-hour days because vacation is spoken in days. The common per-hour convention behind many policies is plain arithmetic: fifteen days a year is 120 hours over 2,080 worked hours, about 0.0577 per hour — but the rate you type is always the policy's number, not this page's guess.
Worked Example
- Enter the accrual rate and periods elapsed.
- Add the carry-in balance and the hours spent.
- Read the bank in hours and eight-hour days.
Defaults: 5 h × 13 periods + 20 carried in − 24 spent = 61 hours, 7.625 days.
Strengths & Limits Of This Model
Where this engine is strong
- Hours AND eight-hour days printed
- Overdraft shown signed, not refused
- The per-hour convention priced in the FAQ
Where it stops
- One flat rate — tiered policies need two runs
Practical Use Cases
Balance checks
what the vacation bank holds
Offer letters
the year's accrual priced
Spend planning
the trip against the bank
Methodology & Editorial Standards
Computation runs in IEEE-754 double precision at full internal precision; rounding to two decimal places occurs strictly at the display layer, so no cumulative drift enters the result. All monetary outputs use accounting presentation — grouped thousands, two decimals, negatives in parentheses — so figures can be transcribed directly into a model or working paper. Division-by-zero and out-of-domain inputs return an em-dash rather than a misleading number.
This engine was reconciled against an independent reference implementation and hand-verified for the worked example above before release. Our full five-stage review process is published on the About Us page.
Disclaimer. This calculator is provided for informational and modelling purposes only and does not constitute financial, tax, legal, medical, or engineering advice. Verify all figures with a qualified professional before acting on them.
PTO Accrual Calculator — 8 Expert FAQs
8 analyst-written answers to the questions practitioners actually ask — optimised for voice and answer-engine retrieval.
What accrual rate is normal?
Common shapes: 10 days a year is 3.08 hours biweekly, 15 days is 4.62 biweekly or 5 hours on a 24-period semimonthly year. All are policy numbers, not laws — no federal rule sets paid time off at all. The chips offer the common ones; the field takes whatever your handbook states.
Why print days beside hours?
Because vacation is spoken in days and paid in hours. Sixty-one hours means little until it reads 7.625 eight-hour days — a week and a half. The page divides by eight and says so; policies built on other day-lengths should read the hours and divide by their own.
What happens if I spend more than the bank?
The card reads the overdraft in signed hours: a −15 means 15 hours spent that were not there. Whether that advances against future accrual or becomes a deduction is the policy's decision — the arithmetic shows the hole, the handbook prices it.
How does the per-hour convention work?
Some policies skip periods entirely and accrue per hour worked — 15 days a year is 120 hours over 2,080, about 0.0577 an hour. To run that here, multiply your period's standard hours by 0.0577 and enter that as the rate; the ledger works identically.
Do accruals expire or cap?
Many policies cap the bank or trim it at year-end — that is a cliff the ledger here does not model. Watch the balance card against the cap in your handbook; the page holds the arithmetic you gave it, not the policy's fine print.
Is PTO the same as sick time?
Increasingly policies merge them (PTO as one bank), but sick leave can carry its own accrual and its own rules — several states mandate earned sick time. This page prices whatever bank you point it at; the label is yours to check.
Why does nothing here compound?
Because time off accrues linearly: rate × periods, not rate on rate. A 26-period year at 5 hours is 130 at the year's end whether you check monthly or daily — the bank is a ledger, not an investment, and the page keeps it one.
What about unused PTO at departure?
Whether a leaving employee is owed the balance is state law and policy language — some states treat accrued PTO as wages, others permit forfeiture. The page prices the balance; what happens to it on the way out is the handbook's clause.