PTO Accrual Calculator

PTO earned per paycheck or per hour worked, and your balance by a future date

Work out how much paid time off you earn each pay period or per hour worked, project your balance a number of pay periods ahead, and see when an accrual cap stops it growing.

Financial MathUpdated October 21, 2026Checked against 5 reference values

You earn PTO

A set amount per yearPer hours worked

PTO per year

15 days of 8 hours = 120 hours

Hours worked per week

Pay frequency

Current balance

Accrual cap (optional)

Pay periods ahead

Time off planned in that period

Examples

Balance after 13 pay periods

80.00 h

about 10.0 days of 8 hours

Chart data as a table

Pay period	Balance
0	20 h
1	25 h
2	29 h
3	34 h
4	38 h
5	43 h
6	48 h
7	52 h
8	57 h
9	62 h
10	66 h
11	71 h
12	75 h
13	80 h

Earned per pay period: 4.62 h
Earned per year: 120.00 h; 15.0 days

What this calculator does

Most employers that offer paid time off let it build up gradually rather than granting it all at once. This calculator works out how many hours you earn each pay period, whether your plan gives a set number of hours a year or a rate per hour worked, and projects your balance a chosen number of pay periods ahead. It accounts for time off you plan to take and for an accrual cap, the maximum balance after which you stop earning more. A chart shows the balance growing period by period.

How accrual is calculated

per pay period = annual PTO hours ÷ pay periods per year

per year (hourly accrual) = hours earned ÷ hours worked × hours per week × 52

future balance = current balance + periods × per-period accrual, up to the cap, minus planned time off

Pay periods per year are 52 for weekly, 26 for every two weeks, 24 for twice a month and 12 for monthly. Some payroll years have 27 biweekly or 53 weekly paydays; employers handle this differently, so check your pay stub.

Worked examples

Fifteen days a year, paid every two weeks. 120 hours ÷ 26 = 4.62 hours per paycheck. Starting from 20 hours, ten paychecks later the balance is 66.15 hours.

One hour of sick leave per 30 hours worked. At 40 hours a week this earns 69.33 hours a year, about 8.7 days. Several states and cities require at least this rate of paid sick leave.

With a 60-hour cap. The first example reaches the cap after 9 pay periods and then stops growing until some time is used.

120 hours a year by pay frequency

Pay frequency	Paychecks a year	Hours per paycheck
Weekly	52	2.31
Every two weeks	26	4.62
Twice a month	24	5.00
Monthly	12	10.00

What the law requires

In the United States, the Fair Labor Standards Act does not require paid vacation; it is a matter of agreement between employer and employee. Paid sick leave is different: a growing number of states and cities require it, often at one hour for every 30 hours worked, with caps on how much can be carried over. Some states, such as California, do not allow "use it or lose it" vacation policies and require earned vacation to be paid out when employment ends. Check your employee handbook and your state labor department for the rules that apply to you.

Converting hours to days

PTO is usually tracked in hours. The calculator converts to days assuming 8-hour days, so 120 hours is 15 days. If your normal workday is different, such as 7.5 or 10 hours, divide the hours by your own day length instead. When planning a week off, multiply your daily hours by the number of workdays you will miss, not by seven.

Planning time off

Enter the number of pay periods until your trip and the hours it needs to see whether you will have enough.
If you are near the cap, take time off before your balance stops growing, or you lose accrual you would otherwise have earned.
Part-time and hourly workers on per-hour accrual earn more in weeks with more hours; use your average weekly hours.
Some plans front-load PTO at the start of the year or after a probation period. In that case the balance does not grow per paycheck, so this calculator applies only after the front-loaded grant.