FREE HR CALCULATOR
PTO Accrual Calculator
Calculate PTO earned per pay period, accrued PTO to date and the employee’s available balance using your own organisation’s policy figures.
Free to use. No sign-up required. The calculator runs in your browser and does not need employee names or personal information.
HOW THE CALCULATION WORKS
PTO accrual formula
For a straightforward policy that earns a fixed annual allowance evenly across pay or accrual periods:
Accrual per period = Annual PTO allowance ÷ Accrual periods per year
Accrued PTO to date = Accrual per period × Completed credited periods
Available PTO balance = Starting/carryover balance + Accrued PTO to date − PTO used
Example: biweekly PTO accrual
An employee receives 120 PTO hours per year and accrues PTO across 26 biweekly periods. The accrual rate is 120 ÷ 26 = approximately 4.62 hours per period.
After 20 credited periods, the employee has accrued about 92.31 hours during the year. If 8 hours were carried over and 40 hours have already been used, the calculated balance is about 60.31 hours.
What this PTO calculator does not decide
The arithmetic is intentionally policy-neutral. It does not decide when an accrual becomes available, whether an employee is eligible, whether a waiting period applies, whether unused PTO carries over, whether a cap applies, how a partial year is prorated, or how any statutory leave requirement should be handled.
Enter only figures that match the organisation’s approved policy and payroll/HR process. If the policy front-loads PTO instead of accruing it period by period, use the organisation’s actual front-loaded balance rather than treating this calculator as the source of entitlement.
Frequently asked questions
How do I calculate PTO accrual per pay period?
Divide the annual PTO allowance by the number of accrual periods in the year. For example, 120 hours divided by 26 biweekly periods gives approximately 4.62 hours of PTO per period.
How do I calculate an employee’s current PTO balance?
For a simple period-based policy, add the starting or carryover balance to PTO accrued so far, then subtract PTO already used. Apply policy-specific caps, waiting periods, manual adjustments and other rules separately.
What is the difference between biweekly and semimonthly PTO accrual?
Biweekly schedules normally have 26 periods in a 52-week year, while semimonthly schedules have 24 periods. The annual allowance can therefore be the same even though the amount credited in each period differs.
Can I use this for vacation or annual leave?
You can use the arithmetic for a policy that distributes a known annual hour allowance evenly across periods. The tool does not determine whether a particular vacation, annual-leave or statutory-leave policy should use that method.
Does this calculator store employee data?
No employee identity is requested. The calculation is performed in the browser. If analytics are enabled through the site consent choice, calculator usage events contain only the event name and not the figures entered.