Time calculators

Leave Accrual Calculator

Updated Sep 24, 2026 By Infinity Calculator
Rate Formulas
Calculator Settings
Point of view
Measure leave in
Every entered value and every result is converted, not just relabelled.
Conversion factor between days and hours.
How Much Do I Earn Per Period?
Employment Type
Per-Period Accrual

Assumes a consistent schedule each period throughout the year.
Step-by-Step Solution
Cumulative Accrual Through One Year

Introduction

The Leave Accrual Calculator shows how fast you earn paid time off and how much you will have on any date. Enter your yearly leave allowance, how often leave is added, and your start date. Results come back in days or hours, whichever your workplace uses.

It has three tabs. Tab 1 tells you how much leave you earn each pay period. Tab 2 shows your leave balance on a date you pick, after rollover leave, days already taken, and any accrual cap. Tab 3 tells you the exact date you will hit a leave goal, like saving 15 days for a trip.

You can set it up to match your real policy. Pick daily, weekly, biweekly, semimonthly, monthly, quarterly, or yearly accrual. Choose incremental accrual (leave added bit by bit) or upfront (all leave given at once each year). Part-time hours are pro-rated, and you can add tiered rates that grow with years of service.

Every result comes with a step-by-step solution and a chart, so you can see exactly how the number was found. Employees can plan vacation time, and HR teams can check balances fast.

How to use our Leave Accrual Calculator

Enter your leave allowance, your work schedule, and your dates. The calculator shows how much leave you earn each pay period, what your balance will be on any date, and when you will hit a leave goal, with a full step-by-step breakdown and chart.

Calculator settings

Point of view: Pick "I am an Employee" or "I am an Employer / HR" to change the wording of the results.

Measure leave in: Choose Days or Hours. All inputs and results switch to that unit.

Hours in one standard workday: Type how many hours are in one full workday, such as 8. This converts days into hours.

Tab 1: Accrual per period

Annual Leave Allowance: Enter the total leave earned in one full year.

Accrual Frequency: Pick how often leave is added, such as monthly or biweekly.

Employment Type: Choose Full-Time or Part-Time.

Hours Worked Per Week: Part-time only. Enter your weekly hours so the allowance is cut down against a 40-hour week.

Tab 2: Balance on a date

Employee Start Date: Enter the first day of work. Accrual counting starts here.

Show Balance On: Enter the date you want the leave balance for.

Annual Leave Allowance: Enter the leave earned in one full year.

Employment Type and Hours Worked Per Week: Choose Full-Time, or pick Part-Time and enter weekly hours to pro-rate the allowance.

Accrual Method: Pick Incremental if leave builds up bit by bit, or Upfront if the full amount is given once a year.

Accrual Frequency: For the incremental method, pick how often leave is added.

Accrual Day of Week or Day of Month: Pick the day leave lands in the account. Days of the month stop at the 28th.

Renewal Day and Renewal Month: For the upfront method, pick the date the new leave year starts.

Years of Service: Optional. Enter years worked so the right tier rate is used.

Starting Balance: Enter any leave rolled over from before.

Leave Already Taken: Enter leave that has been used. It is taken off the total.

Apply a maximum accrual cap: Tick this and enter a cap if leave stops building at a set limit.

Tiered accrual rates: Tick this to set year ranges and the allowance for each one. The tier that matches your years of service replaces the allowance above.

Tab 3: Date you reach a goal

Employee Start Date: Enter the first day of work.

Calculation Start Date ("As Of"): Enter the date you want the count to start from, such as today.

Leave Balance Goal: Enter how much leave you want banked.

Annual Leave Allowance: Enter the leave earned in one full year.

Accrual Method, Frequency, and Accrual Day: Set how and when leave is added, or set the renewal day and month for upfront grants.

Employment Type and Hours Worked Per Week: Choose Full-Time, or pick Part-Time and enter weekly hours.

Years of Service: Optional. Used with tiered rates.

Starting Balance and Leave Already Taken: Enter rolled-over leave and leave used so far.

Tiered accrual rates: Tick this to use different allowances for different years of service.

Press the calculate button on the tab you are using, or press Reset to go back to the default values.

What Is Leave Accrual?

Leave accrual is the way paid time off builds up over time. Instead of getting all your vacation days at once, you earn a small piece of them each pay period. If your job gives you 20 days a year and you get paid every month, you earn about 1.67 days each month. That slow build-up is called accrual.

How Leave Accrual Works

Most leave accrual plans use one simple idea: take the yearly leave allowance and split it across the number of pay or accrual periods in the year. Common accrual frequencies are:

  • Daily, about 260 working days a year
  • Weekly, 52 times a year
  • Biweekly, 26 times a year
  • Semimonthly, 24 times a year (often the 1st and 15th)
  • Monthly, 12 times a year
  • Quarterly, 4 times a year
  • Annually, 1 time a year

Incremental vs. Upfront Leave

There are two main ways employers hand out leave. With incremental accrual, you earn leave bit by bit each period. With upfront (or lump sum) leave, your whole yearly allowance lands in your account on one date, like January 1 or your work anniversary. Upfront is simple, but it means workers can use leave they have not "earned" yet.

Part-Time and Pro-Rated Leave

Part-time workers usually get less leave than full-time workers, based on the hours they work. This is called pro-rating. If full time is 40 hours a week and you work 24 hours, you get 24 ÷ 40 = 60% of the full-time allowance. So a 20-day plan becomes 12 days a year.

Rollover, Leave Taken, and Accrual Caps

Your real balance is not just what you earn this year. It also includes:

  • Rollover (carryover): leave left over from last year that moves into this year.
  • Leave taken: days you already used, which come off your balance.
  • Accrual cap: a top limit on how much leave you can hold. Once you hit the cap, you stop earning more until you use some leave. Many companies use caps instead of "use it or lose it" rules.

Tiered Accrual by Years of Service

Lots of employers reward loyalty. New staff may start with 10 days a year, then move to 15 days after 3 years, and 20 or more days after 6 years. These steps are called tiers. Your years of service decide which tier you are in, and that tier sets your yearly allowance.

Days or Hours?

Some workplaces track leave in days, others in hours. To switch between them, you need to know how many hours are in one standard workday. Most use 8 hours. So 20 days of leave equals 160 hours, and 1.67 days a month equals about 13.33 hours a month.

Why Leave Accrual Matters

Knowing your accrual rate helps you plan trips, time off for family, and long breaks without going into a negative balance. For employers and HR teams, tracking accrual keeps payroll correct, shows the value of unused leave the company owes, and helps meet local leave laws. Always check your own staff handbook or contract, since rules for accrual start dates, caps, and carryover change from place to place.

Formulas used

Pro-rated annual allowance (part-time)
A_{pro} = A \times \frac{H_{week}}{40}
Accrual per period (incremental)
r = \frac{A_{pro}}{n}
Days–hours unit conversion
Q_{hours} = Q_{days} \times h_{day} \qquad Q_{days} = \frac{Q_{hours}}{h_{day}}
Leave accrued over a date window
L_{accrued} = N \times r
Projected leave balance on a target date (with cap)
B = \min\left(R + N \times r,\; C\right) - T
Accrual periods required to reach a goal
k = \left\lceil \frac{G - B_0}{r} \right\rceil
Balance at the as-of date
B_0 = R + N_0 \times r - T
Cumulative accrual by month m (chart)
L_m = \left\lfloor \frac{n \times m}{12} \right\rfloor \times r

Frequently asked questions

How much PTO do you earn per pay period with 2 weeks of vacation?

Two weeks is usually 10 days, or 80 hours at an 8-hour day. Divide by how often you get paid:

  • Biweekly (26 pay periods): 80 ÷ 26 = about 3.08 hours per period
  • Semimonthly (24 pay periods): 80 ÷ 24 = about 3.33 hours per period
  • Monthly (12 pay periods): 80 ÷ 12 = about 6.67 hours per period

What is the accrual rate for 3 weeks of vacation per year?

Three weeks is 15 days, or 120 hours. Paid biweekly, that is 120 ÷ 26 = about 4.62 hours each pay period. Paid monthly, it is 10 hours a month, or 1.25 days a month.

How do you calculate a PTO accrual rate per hour worked?

Divide your yearly leave hours by the hours you work in a year. A full-time job is about 2,080 hours a year. So 80 hours of PTO ÷ 2,080 = 0.0385 hours of leave for each hour worked. Work 40 hours in a week and you earn about 1.54 hours of PTO.

How many vacation days do you earn per month?

Divide your yearly allowance by 12.

  • 10 days a year = 0.83 days a month
  • 15 days a year = 1.25 days a month
  • 20 days a year = 1.67 days a month
  • 25 days a year = 2.08 days a month

How many hours is 20 days of leave?

It depends on your workday length. At 8 hours a day, 20 days is 160 hours. At 7.5 hours a day it is 150 hours, and at 7.6 hours a day it is 152 hours. Always use the standard workday your employer uses.

What is an accrual cap on vacation time?

An accrual cap is a ceiling on how much leave you can hold at once. When your balance hits the cap, you stop earning more leave until you use some. It is not the same as "use it or lose it". You do not lose what you already have, you just stop adding to it.

How much vacation do part-time workers get?

Part-time leave is normally pro-rated by hours. Divide your weekly hours by full-time hours, then multiply by the full-time allowance. Working 24 hours against a 40-hour week gives 24 ÷ 40 = 60%. So a 20-day plan becomes 12 days a year.

Is it better to get PTO upfront or accrued?

Upfront gives you the full year of leave on day one, so you can take a long trip early. Accrued builds slowly, so you must wait. Upfront has a catch: if you quit mid-year after using more leave than you earned, many employers take the extra back from your final pay.

When does leave accrual start for a new employee?

Most plans start accrual on the first day of work, but some hold new hires to a waiting period of 30, 60, or 90 days before leave can be used. Leave often still builds during that wait. You just cannot spend it yet. Check your handbook for the exact rule.

What is the difference between accrued leave and available leave?

Accrued leave is everything you have earned so far. Available leave is what you can actually book. Available leave = accrued + rollover − leave taken − leave already booked. It is often lower than the accrued figure.

How many pay periods are in a year for leave accrual?

It depends on the schedule: weekly is 52, biweekly is 26, semimonthly is 24, monthly is 12, and quarterly is 4. Daily accrual usually uses about 260 working days. Biweekly and semimonthly are not the same. Biweekly gives two extra periods a year.

Does leave accrue while you are on vacation?

Yes, in most plans. Paid leave counts as paid time, so accrual keeps running. Unpaid leave is different. Many employers pause accrual during long unpaid absences. Hourly accrual plans that count only hours worked may also stop.

What are typical vacation accrual tiers by years of service?

A common set-up looks like this:

  • Years 0 to 2: 10 days a year
  • Years 3 to 5: 15 days a year
  • Years 6 to 10: 20 days a year
  • Years 11 and up: 25 days or more

The jump usually happens on your work anniversary.

How do you calculate the leave balance owed when an employee leaves?

Count the accrual events from the start of the leave year to the last working day, multiply by the rate per period, add any rollover, then subtract leave taken. Multiply the result by the daily or hourly pay rate. Many places require unused vacation to be paid out.

What is carryover leave and how much can roll over?

Carryover is leave you do not use in one year that moves to the next. Limits vary widely. Some employers let you carry it all, others cap it at 5 days, and some let none carry over. Carried days often expire a few months into the new year.

How long does it take to accrue one week of vacation?

Divide 5 days by your per-period rate. On a 20-day yearly plan with monthly accrual (1.67 days a month), one week takes about 3 months. On a 10-day plan, it takes about 6 months.

Can your leave balance go negative?

Only if your employer allows borrowing against future accrual, which some do for upfront plans or in an emergency. If your balance goes negative and you leave the job, the extra is usually taken out of your last paycheck.

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