PTO Accrual Calculator
Turn your annual PTO entitlement into an accrual rate, or work out how much paid time off you have earned from the hours you have worked so far.
Accrual policies vary widely by employer and country — some grant PTO up front, others accrue it per hour, pay period, or month. Use this as a general guide and check your own policy for exact rules.
New to this? Read: how to calculate PTO accrual →
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How to calculate PTO accrual
Paid time off (PTO) accrual is the rate at which you earn vacation as you work. Instead of receiving all your days at once, an accrual policy adds a small amount of PTO for every hour, week, or pay period you put in. The calculator above turns your annual entitlement into a clear rate and running total.
The core idea is a simple ratio:
- Annual PTO hours = PTO days × hours per workday
- Annual hours worked = hours per week × 52
- Accrual rate = annual PTO hours ÷ annual hours worked
A worked example
Say you get 20 days of PTO, work an 8-hour day and a 40-hour week. That is 20 × 8 = 160 PTO hours a year against 40 × 52 = 2,080 hours worked. Your accrual rate is 160 ÷ 2,080 = 0.0769 hours of PTO per hour worked — about 3.08 hours each week, or roughly 6.15 hours per two-week pay period.
Checking what you have earned so far
To see your balance partway through the year, multiply the accrual rate by the hours you have already worked. After 520 hours (about a quarter of the year) at 0.0769, you would have accrued around 40 hours — five full days at an 8-hour day. Switch to the “Accrued so far” tab to run your own numbers.
Policies vary — a lot
Accrual is just one model. Some employers front-load PTO, others cap how much you can bank or carry into the next year, and part-time schedules change the math. Rules also differ sharply between countries. Treat this as a planning estimate and confirm the details in your own policy.
Calcento is for general guidance only. PTO rules vary by employer and country.
Frequently asked questions
Divide your annual PTO hours by the number of hours you work in a year. If you get 20 days off at 8 hours each (160 PTO hours) and work 2,080 hours a year, your accrual rate is 160 ÷ 2,080 = 0.0769 hours of PTO for every hour worked.