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PTO Accrual Rate Calculator

Reviewed for 2026, updated September 8, 2026.

Turns an annual PTO allowance into an accrual amount per pay period and projects an employee's balance, for HR teams and small business owners setting up leave policies.

Your numbers

Results update as you type.

Your estimate

Accrual per pay period...
Annual PTO in hours...
Projected balance...
Projected balance in days...

Estimates only. Assumptions are listed below, and you can change every input.

Most PTO policies are written in days per year, but payroll runs every week, two weeks or month, and employees want to know what they have earned right now. Converting between the two by hand is where most spreadsheet balances start drifting: someone rounds the accrual, forgets a cap, or applies the wrong number of pay periods.

This calculator multiplies the annual allowance by your hours per workday to get annual PTO hours, divides by the number of pay periods in your schedule, then adds that accrual to the starting balance for each completed pay period. If you enter an accrual cap, the projected balance stops growing once it reaches the cap. It does not model waiting periods, tenure tiers or time taken during the year, so treat the result as the accrued amount before any usage.

How to use this tool

  1. Enter the annual allowance in days and the length of a standard workday in hours.
  2. Choose your payroll frequency, then enter the starting balance and the number of pay periods that have run since then.
  3. Add an accrual cap if the policy has one, then read the per period accrual and the projected balance in hours and days.

What the math assumes

  • Accrual is spread evenly across every pay period in the year: 52 weekly, 26 biweekly, 24 semimonthly or 12 monthly.
  • Annual PTO hours equal the annual day allowance multiplied by the hours you enter for a standard workday.
  • Time taken during the period is not deducted; the projection is accrued hours before usage.
  • When a cap is set, the balance stops at the cap and any accrual above it is forfeited rather than banked.
  • Waiting periods, tenure based tiers and mid year policy changes are not modeled.

Frequently asked questions

How do I convert PTO days into an hourly accrual per paycheck?

Multiply days by the hours in a workday to get annual hours, then divide by the number of pay periods. For 15 days at 8 hours on a biweekly schedule that is 120 hours divided by 26, or about 4.62 hours per paycheck.

Why does the projected balance stop growing?

You entered an accrual cap. Once the balance reaches the cap, the tool assumes new accrual is not banked until some time is used, which is how most capped policies work.

Does this work for part-time employees?

Yes, if you enter their actual daily hours or a prorated annual allowance. Many employers prorate by scheduled hours, so a half-time employee on a 15 day policy would enter 7.5 days.

What about accruing per hour worked instead of per pay period?

That method divides annual PTO hours by expected annual work hours. This tool focuses on per pay period accrual, but you can get a rough per hour rate by dividing the annual hours output by the hours an employee is scheduled to work in a year.

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More free tools from LeaveLedgr

  • Unused PTO Liability Calculator: Estimates the dollar value of accrued, unused PTO sitting on your books today and where it will be in a year, for finance leads and small business owners.
  • Team PTO Coverage Capacity Planner: Shows how many people can be off at once, how many are absent on a typical day and whether your team's leave entitlement actually fits your minimum staffing rule, for managers and team leads.

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