PTO Balance Reconciliation Worksheet
A per-employee, per-leave-type sheet for proving that opening balance plus accruals minus time taken equals the closing balance, at year-end, before a system migration, or when someone leaves.
Reviewed for 2026, updated September 8, 2026.
Use this worksheet whenever you need to prove that a balance is right: at year-end before carryover is applied, before loading opening balances into a new tracking system, or when an employee is leaving and the final paycheck may need an exact payout figure. One row per employee per leave type keeps vacation and sick time separate, which matters wherever a state or city sick leave law applies to your team.
Work in hours rather than days so that part-time staff and partial days reconcile cleanly, and convert days to hours using each person's standard workday. The closing balance should equal the opening balance plus accruals minus approved time taken; if it does not, find the missing entry before moving on. The example rows show the situations that most often cause balances to drift, with placeholders where your own figures go. To turn total closing hours into a dollar figure, use our Unused PTO Liability Calculator.
| Employee and situation | Leave type | Opening balance (hours) | Accrued this year (hours) | Approved time taken (hours) | Closing balance (hours) | Year-end action or note |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Employee A: full time, hired before this year | Vacation | Your figure | Your figure | Your figure | Opening plus accrued minus taken | Compare to the carryover cap in the policy |
| Employee A | Sick | Your figure | Your figure | Your figure | Opening plus accrued minus taken | Apply the state sick leave carryover rule |
| Employee B: part time, hourly | Vacation | Your figure | Prorated by hours worked | Your figure | Your figure | Check the proration formula against payroll hours |
| Employee B | Sick | Your figure | Per hours worked where state law requires it | Your figure | Your figure | Confirm the state minimum accrual was met |
| Employee C: hired mid-year | Vacation | 0 | Prorated from hire date | Your figure | Your figure | Confirm the waiting period was applied correctly |
| Employee D: reached the accrual cap | Vacation | Your figure | Paused once the cap was reached | Your figure | Equals the cap if nothing was taken | Accrual resumes after time is taken |
| Employee E: unpaid leave this year | Vacation | Your figure | Paused during unpaid leave if the policy says so | Your figure | Your figure | Check the policy clause on accrual during unpaid leave |
| Employee F: leaving this month | Vacation | Your figure | Through the last day worked | Your figure | Your figure | Payout per state law and the written policy |
| Employee G: floating holiday | Floating holiday | Your figure | Granted on the policy date | Your figure | Your figure | Usually does not carry over; check the policy |
| Totals, all employees | All types | Sum of column | Sum of column | Sum of column | Sum of column | Closing total in hours is your accrued liability; price it with the liability calculator |
https://leaveledgr.com/templates/pto-balance-reconciliation-worksheet/Use it in your business, share it with your team, or link to it from your own site.
Also from LeaveLedgr
- PTO Policy Setup Checklist: A step-by-step checklist of the decisions a small or growing US business needs to write down before it can track leave balances accurately.
- Free calculators