PTO accrual calculator

How it is calculated

• Accrual per period = annual PTO in hours ÷ periods per year.
• Hours accrued = accrual per period × periods completed as of the date.
• Balance after time taken = hours accrued − hours taken, then limited to the cap if you set one.
• Days = hours ÷ hours per workday. Annual PTO in days is multiplied by hours per workday first.

The rules

• One accrual per completed period. Nothing is prorated inside a period: a period that has not finished adds nothing, and a period you join part-way through is credited in full when it ends.
• Each accrual is the annual PTO divided by the periods in a year: 52 for weekly, 26 for every two weeks, 24 for twice a month, 12 for monthly and 1 for all at once.
• Weekly and every two weeks count from the accrual start date. The first accrual is 7 or 14 days after it, and then every 7 or 14 days.
• Twice a month accrues on the 1st and the 15th, and monthly accrues on the 1st. The first accrual is the first of those dates after the start date.
• All at once credits the full annual amount on the start date and again on each anniversary of it. A start date of February 29 has its anniversary on February 28 in other years.
• An accrual dated on the as-of date counts. One dated the day after does not.
• A year holds slightly more than 52 weeks, so a weekly or every-two-weeks schedule credits 53 or 27 times in some years, a little over the annual amount.
• Balance after time taken is hours accrued minus hours taken. It is negative if more time was taken than has accrued.
• A cap is applied once, to that balance: the lower of the balance and the cap. Because the calculator does not know when time was taken, it cannot replay a cap that stops accrual part-way through the year.
• Dates are calendar dates in UTC, and weekends and holidays are not adjusted. Hours and days are rounded to two decimals; totals use the unrounded accrual per period.

Schedules

• Weekly: Every 7 days, counted from the start date. 52 accruals a year.
• Every two weeks: Every 14 days, counted from the start date. 26 accruals a year.
• Twice a month: On the 1st and the 15th of each month. 24 accruals a year.
• Monthly: On the 1st of each month. 12 accruals a year.
• All at once on the start date and each anniversary: On the start date and on each anniversary of it. 1 accrual a year.

Worked example

15 days of PTO at 8 hours a day is 120 hours a year. Accrued every two weeks starting Monday, January 5, 2026, that is 120 ÷ 26 = 4.62 hours an accrual. As of Tuesday, June 30, 2026, 12 periods are complete, so 12 × 120 ÷ 26 = 55.38 hours (6.92 days) have accrued. After 16 hours taken, the balance is 39.38 hours (4.92 days). The next accrual is on Monday, July 6, 2026.