PTO Accrual Calculator
Free PTO accrual calculator: enter PTO days per year, hours worked, and hours used to see your accrual rate, hours accrued, and hours available right now.
Built by Toolsque Team · last updated October 2, 2026 · checked against our testing process
Your accrual setup
Accrued PTO
This is the standard hours-worked accrual method (accrue PTO per hour actually worked, common for hourly and part-time staff). A flat per-pay-period accrual, common for salaried staff, simply credits a fixed number of hours each period regardless of hours worked: check your specific policy for which method applies.
Related: overtime pay calculator · all finance calculators
How to use the PTO accrual calculator
- Enter your annual PTO days: the number of paid time off days your employer grants per year, per your offer letter or handbook.
- Enter hours per work day: usually 8, but use your actual scheduled shift length if it's different.
- Enter hours worked so far this year: your total hours clocked since January 1 (or your anniversary date, if your plan resets there). Check recent pay stubs if you're not sure.
- Enter hours already used: any PTO hours you've already taken and had paid out this year.
- Add an accrual cap if your employer has one: this is optional. Leave it blank if you don't know or your plan doesn't cap accrual.
- Read your results: accrual rate (hours of PTO earned per hour worked), total hours accrued to date, and hours available to use right now.
PTO accrual calculator: how your balance actually builds
Most PTO trackers just show a number on a pay stub and expect you to trust it. This PTO accrual calculator shows the math instead. Enter your PTO days per year, hours per work day, hours you've worked so far this year, and hours already used, and it returns your accrual rate, hours accrued, and hours available today. It uses the hours-worked method: the same approach most employers apply to hourly and part-time staff, where PTO builds in proportion to time actually worked rather than showing up as a flat number every payday.
Hours-worked accrual vs. flat per-pay-period accrual
There are two common ways employers hand out PTO, and they behave very differently. The hours-worked method, which this calculator uses, ties accrual to hours actually clocked: for every hour you work, you earn a small fraction of an hour in PTO. Work fewer hours in a pay period, whether from a slow week, unpaid leave, or a part-time schedule, and you accrue less PTO that period. It's common for hourly and part-time employees because it scales with real hours on the job.
The flat per-pay-period method is more common for salaried employees. A fixed chunk of PTO, say a set number of hours, lands on the same schedule every pay period regardless of how many hours were actually worked. A salaried employee who took a week of unpaid leave still gets the same PTO credit as one who worked the full period. If your employer uses this flat method instead, this calculator's hours-based output won't match your pay stub, so check your handbook or ask HR which method applies to you before relying on the numbers here.
Caps, vesting, and what "available" really means
Many employers cap how much PTO an employee can bank at once. Once your accrued balance hits the cap, accrual pauses: you stop earning more PTO until you use some of what you've got and drop back below the ceiling. Caps exist mainly to limit the employer's payout liability, since unused PTO often has to be paid out in cash under certain state laws or company policy when someone leaves. Enter your cap if you know it and this calculator will flag when you're bumping against it.
It's also worth separating "accrued" from "available." Accrued PTO is what you've earned so far under a gradual, paycheck-by-paycheck build-up. Some employers skip that and front-load PTO instead: crediting the full annual allotment on day one of the year or on your hire anniversary, rather than doling it out gradually. If your employer front-loads, your real available balance may not match what this hours-worked calculation produces, since you're not accruing gradually at all. Check your specific policy or handbook to see which model you're actually on.
State law on PTO payout at termination
In most states, unused PTO simply expires or resets, and there's no legal requirement for an employer to pay it out when you leave. A handful of states treat accrued, unused PTO as earned wages, which changes the rules around forfeiture and requires payout at termination regardless of what the company handbook says. Which category your state falls into varies, and this isn't legal advice: it's a flag to look up your specific state's labor law or ask HR directly if a payout matters to your situation.
Worked example: a new hourly employee's first few months
Say you're a new hourly employee with 10 PTO days per year, 8 hours per work day: 80 hours of PTO annually. Against a standard full-time schedule of roughly 2,080 hours a year, that works out to an accrual rate near 0.0385 hours of PTO for every hour worked. Thirteen weeks into the job you've logged 520 hours, so you've accrued about 20 hours of PTO. You already took one day off and used 8 of those hours. That leaves 12 hours available right now. This example didn't set a cap, so nothing is capped yet: enter your own cap if your employer sets one, and the calculator will flag it once you're bumping against it. Change any of those inputs and the balance updates the same way.
Related tools
Comparing your PTO hours to what you're actually paid for overtime weeks? Use the overtime pay calculator alongside this one to see the full picture of hours worked versus hours paid. For more payroll and scheduling math, browse all finance calculators.
How the accrual is calculated
Annual PTO hours = PTO days/year × hours per work dayAccrual rate = annual PTO hours ÷ standard annual work hoursHours accrued = hours worked so far this year × accrual rateHours available = min(hours accrued, cap) − hours already usedFrequently Asked Questions
What's the difference between hours-worked accrual and flat accrual?
Hours-worked accrual ties your PTO to actual hours clocked, so fewer hours worked means less PTO earned that period. Flat per-pay-period accrual credits a fixed amount every payday regardless of hours worked, which is more common for salaried employees. Check your handbook to know which one applies to you.
Why does my PTO stop accruing sometimes?
Your employer likely has an accrual cap. Once your banked balance hits that ceiling, you stop earning new PTO until you use some and drop back below it. Caps exist mainly to limit how much unused, potentially payable PTO an employer carries on the books.
Is "accrued" PTO the same as "available" PTO?
Not always. Accrued usually means PTO earned gradually through hours worked, while available is what you can actually use or cash out right now. Some employers front-load the full year's PTO on day one instead of accruing it gradually, so check your specific policy.
Do I get paid for unused PTO if I quit or get fired?
It depends on your state. Some states treat accrued PTO as earned wages that must be paid out at termination, while others let employers set their own forfeiture rules. This varies by state and isn't legal advice, so confirm with your state's labor department or HR.
Does this calculator work for part-time employees?
Yes. The hours-worked method used here is actually the standard approach for part-time and hourly staff, since it scales PTO to the hours you actually worked rather than assuming a full-time schedule.
What if my employer gives PTO all at once instead of building it up?
That's front-loading, and it's different from the gradual accrual this calculator models. If your plan front-loads your annual PTO on your start date or anniversary, your real balance is simply your grant minus what you've used, not the hours-based accrual shown here.
What counts as "hours worked" for accrual purposes?
Generally, paid hours you actually clocked working, not PTO hours you took off. Check recent pay stubs or your timesheet system for the exact year-to-date total your employer uses.