Understand your estimate
From your policy to a checkable balance
Use the accrual rate and eligible hours in your employer’s policy. This calculator applies the numbers you supply; it does not decide which work or leave earns PTO.
Find the rate
For an hourly policy, divide annual PTO hours by annual eligible hours. For a period policy, divide annual PTO hours by the actual number of credits in the policy year. If your policy already gives a rate, enter it directly.
Biweekly usually means 26 periods in a 52-week model; twice monthly means 24. A particular payroll year may have another credit. The selected count is an assumption, not a prediction of pay dates.
Apply each period in order
Begin with the available balance. Subtract the PTO used before that credit, calculate the potential credit, then limit the addition to any room below the balance cap.
A balance cap limits stored hours, not annual earnings or carryover. An existing balance above the cap stays intact; the calculator simply adds no new hours until there is room.
Two details that change the answer
Check rounding and the order of deductions
80 hours over 26 credits
The exact rate is 80 ÷ 26 = 40/13 hours, approximately 3.076923. Rounding each credit to 3.08 gives 80.08 hours after 26 credits. Keeping full precision until the total gives 80.00 hours.
A directly entered policy rate of 3.08 also gives 80.08. The calculator never replaces a rate you supplied with an inferred annual allowance. For hourly policies, the rounded total also depends on how eligible hours are grouped into credits.
38 hours available, a 40-hour cap
Use 4, then earn 3: the balance becomes 37. Earn 5 next: only 3 fit, so the balance becomes 40 and 2 are limited. Use 8, then earn 3: the final balance is 35 hours.
The bridge is 38 − 12 used + 9 added = 35. Applying one cap only to the final total would miss the 2 hours limited in the middle.
What counts as a credit?
Each planner row is one credit event, after that row’s deductions. In hourly mode, enter the eligible hours for that event. In period mode, select whether the period earns one credit.
To record a deduction after a credit, use the following row and set its eligible hours to zero or turn off its credit. The planner does not borrow against future credits: usage cannot exceed that row’s opening balance.
Why might displayed rows not add up?
The full-precision option keeps the exact rate throughout the calculation. Totals display to two decimal places; detailed credits and the CSV include six decimal places. Rounded displayed values may not sum exactly. Cap decisions use the underlying exact values.
“Round each credit” rounds the potential credit to the nearest 0.01 hour, with half values upward, before checking cap room. Match this convention to your policy.
Where this estimate stops
This is a constant-rate, hours-only plan for up to 60 credit events. It does not infer dates, work schedules, holidays, tenure tiers, waiting periods, carryover resets, front-loaded grants, entitlement or termination payouts. A rate change needs a new plan.
The input limits are software bounds, not employment rules. Check the policy or payroll record before relying on an estimate.
Your entries stay in this page
Calculations run in your browser. There is no account, automatic saving, history, upload or analytics in this workspace. Entries stay in page memory; Reset clears them. Browser history may restore an open page. Copy and CSV are actions you choose; keep any saved file private.
The Time Card Calculator can check worked hours, and the Salary Calculator can compare gross pay. Neither establishes PTO-eligible hours, and no inputs transfer between tools.
Policy context and sources
- US Department of Labor: vacation leave — explains the federal FLSA boundary and agreement or special-contract considerations. Other rules and the applicable policy still matter.
- US Office of Personnel Management: annual leave — an example of a specific system with pay-status and period rules. Federal employee rules are not applied by this general calculator.
Method reviewed September 29, 2026. No external HR or legal review is claimed. Report a calculation issue.