PTO Accrual Calculator

The figure worth watching is the carry-over cap. Many policies stop accrual once you hit it, or wipe the excess at year end, which means leave you have genuinely earned quietly disappears — and it tends to happen to the people least likely to take time off. If the calculator shows you at or near the cap, book something. It is also worth knowing that accrued leave is real money: at a typical salary each day is worth a day’s pay, and in many jurisdictions untaken statutory leave must be paid out when you leave a job, which makes an accrued balance an asset rather than a perk you forgot to use.

Accrual per period = annual days ÷ periods per year. Balance = starting balance + (accrual per period × periods elapsed) − leave taken, capped at any carry-over limit. Hourly accrual = annual days × hours per day ÷ total hours worked in the year.

This models a straightforward accrual plan. Real policies vary widely: some grant the full entitlement up front at the start of the year, some accrue only after a probation period, and rules on carry-over, negative balances and payout on leaving differ by employer and by country. Statutory minimums also apply in many jurisdictions and override company policy, and public holidays may or may not count against your allowance.

25 days accruing monthly is 2.083 days a month, or 16.67 hours. After 7 months with 4 days carried over and 6 days taken, the balance is 12.58 days — about 100 hours.

1. Enter your annual entitlement in days and how often it accrues.
2. Set your working day and week in hours.
3. Enter periods elapsed, any starting balance and leave already taken.
4. Add a carry-over cap and salary if you want those figures too.

• Forgetting that a carry-over cap can stop accrual or wipe the excess.
• Mixing days and hours when your employer tracks only one.
• Assuming public holidays are separate when they come out of your allowance.
• Booking leave you have not yet accrued, creating a negative balance.

The PTO Accrual Calculator works out how much paid leave you earn each pay period, what your current balance is after time already taken, and how close you are to any carry-over cap. Add your salary and it also shows what that balance is worth.

Employees tracking their own leave, and managers or HR staff checking balances.

• Handles weekly, fortnightly, semi-monthly and monthly accrual.
• Shows the balance in both days and hours.
• Warns when a carry-over cap is causing leave to be lost.
• Converts the balance into a cash value.

• Checking whether you have enough leave for a planned holiday.
• Seeing how much leave you will have by a future date.
• Spotting that you are about to lose days to a cap.
• Valuing an accrued balance when changing jobs.