PTO Accrual Calculator
Turn an annual PTO allowance into hours per pay period, hours per hour worked, a current balance, and what that balance is worth in dollars.
PTO accrual per pay period = annual PTO hours ÷ pay periods per year. An employee with 80 hours of PTO paid biweekly accrues 80 ÷ 26 = 3.08 hours per paycheck. Per hour worked, the same allowance accrues at 80 ÷ 2,080 = 0.0385 hours for every hour on the clock.
Gross figure only. A payout is supplemental wages and is subject to income and payroll tax withholding, so the net amount on a final paycheck will be lower.
The three accrual methods, and which one you have
Almost every PTO policy uses one of three methods. Which one you are on changes the answer, so check the policy document before trusting any calculator, including this one.
| Method | Formula | Typical use |
|---|---|---|
| Per pay period | Annual hours ÷ pay periods | Salaried staff on fixed schedules |
| Per hour worked | Annual hours ÷ 2,080 | Hourly and part-time staff, variable schedules |
| Annual lump grant | Full balance on day one of the year | Simple policies — but creates clawback problems mid-year |
How to calculate PTO accrual, step by step
- Find the annual allowance in hours. Convert weeks to hours first. Two weeks of PTO for a full-time employee is 80 hours.
- Count the pay periods. Weekly is 52, biweekly is 26, semi-monthly is 24 and monthly is 12 pay periods a year.
- Divide allowance by pay periods. Annual PTO hours divided by pay periods gives the hours that accrue each paycheck. 80 ÷ 26 = 3.08 hours.
- Subtract time already taken. Accrued hours to date minus PTO hours used gives the current available balance.
- Multiply by the hourly rate for a dollar value. The remaining balance multiplied by the current rate of pay is what a payout would be worth gross.
Common PTO allowances converted to hours
| Allowance | Hours/year | Weekly | Biweekly | Semi-monthly | Monthly |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 week | 40 | 0.77 | 1.54 | 1.67 | 3.33 |
| 2 weeks | 80 | 1.54 | 3.08 | 3.33 | 6.67 |
| 3 weeks | 120 | 2.31 | 4.62 | 5.00 | 10.00 |
| 4 weeks | 160 | 3.08 | 6.15 | 6.67 | 13.33 |
| 5 weeks | 200 | 3.85 | 7.69 | 8.33 | 16.67 |
Where manual accrual tracking goes wrong
The arithmetic is easy. Keeping it correct across a real company is not. The failures we see most often are carryover caps applied at the wrong point in the year, mid-year rate changes that silently revalue an entire balance, and accrual that keeps running for employees on unpaid leave. In the states where PTO is legally treated as wages, each of those is an unpaid wage claim waiting to happen.
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If you want the payout to land in the final paycheck without a manual step, a payroll-integrated option like Gusto fits better for US teams. We compare both, and the case for staying on a spreadsheet, in the leave management software guide.
Common questions
How do you calculate PTO accrual per pay period?
Divide the annual PTO allowance in hours by the number of pay periods in the year. With 80 hours of PTO and 26 biweekly pay periods, that is 80 ÷ 26 = 3.08 hours of PTO per paycheck.
How much PTO do you accrue per hour worked?
Divide the annual PTO hours by 2,080, the number of hours in a full-time work year. An 80-hour allowance accrues at 80 ÷ 2,080 = 0.0385 hours of PTO for every hour worked.
How many hours is two weeks of PTO?
For a full-time employee working 40 hours a week, two weeks of PTO is 80 hours. Three weeks is 120 hours and four weeks is 160 hours. Part-time allowances are usually prorated against the same 2,080-hour year.
How do you work out what a PTO balance is worth in dollars?
Multiply the accrued hours by the employee’s current hourly rate. A 56-hour balance at $30 an hour is worth $1,680 gross, before supplemental wage withholding is applied.
Does PTO accrue while an employee is on PTO?
Under a per-pay-period accrual it usually does, because the employee is still paid for that period. Under a per-hour-worked accrual it usually does not, because no hours were worked. The policy document should state which method applies.