Introduction
This Vacation Accrual Calculator shows how much paid time off you have earned. Enter your yearly leave allowance, how often you earn it, and the days you already used. You get your current vacation balance in both days and hours.
You can set it up to match almost any leave policy. Pick an incremental plan, where leave builds up each day, week, two weeks, month, or quarter. Or pick an upfront plan, where you get all your leave on one date each year. You can also add carry-over time from last year and a maximum accrual cap.
After you fill in the boxes, you get your accrual rate per pay period, your balance on any date you choose, and the date of your next accrual. A 12-month chart and table show how your balance will grow. A step-by-step section shows the math, so you can check every number yourself.
How to use our Vacation Accrual Calculator
Enter your vacation policy details: your yearly leave allowance, how often it builds up, your work hours, and any leave you already used. The calculator then shows your accrual rate per period, your current vacation balance, and a 12-month projection with a chart and step-by-step math.
Annual Leave Allowance: Type the total vacation you earn in one full year. You can also tap a preset button for 10, 15, 20, or 25 days.
Leave Unit: Pick Days or Hours. Every leave box and result switches to that unit, and your numbers convert on their own.
Hours Per Workday: Enter how many hours you work in one day, like 8. This turns days into hours and back.
Hours Per Workweek: Enter your weekly hours, like 40. Use a smaller number for part-time work, such as 20 or 37.5.
Accrual Method: Choose Incremental if your leave builds up bit by bit. Choose Upfront if your boss gives you the full amount once a year.
Accrual Frequency: For the incremental method, pick how often you earn leave: daily, weekly, bi-weekly, semi-monthly, monthly, quarterly, or yearly.
Annual Renewal Date: For the upfront method, pick the month and day your full leave grant lands each year.
Accrual Start Date: Enter your hire date or the first day of your policy year. This is where the 12-month projection begins.
Show Balance On: Pick the date you want your balance for. It must be on or after the start date.
Carry-Over Balance: Enter any unused leave you brought in from last year. Put 0 if you have none.
Leave Already Used: Enter the vacation you have taken so far this period. This is taken away from your balance.
Maximum Accrual Cap: Enter the most leave your policy lets you hold at one time. Leave it blank if there is no limit. The calculator applies the cap before it subtracts the leave you have already used, as if that leave were taken at the end of the period. If you took it earlier, you may have kept earning after reaching the cap, so your real balance can be higher.
Calculate and Reset: Results update as you type, but you can press Calculate any time. Press Reset to clear everything and start over.
What Is Vacation Accrual?
Vacation accrual is the way you earn paid time off little by little as you work. Instead of getting all your vacation days at once, you build up a small amount each pay period. Over a full year, those small pieces add up to your full leave allowance.
How Vacation Accrual Works
Your employer picks a yearly leave amount, like 15 days. That number is split across the year based on how often you get paid or how often the company adds leave. For example, 15 days split over 26 bi-weekly pay periods gives about 0.577 days (around 4.6 hours) each period.
Two Main Methods
- Incremental accrual: You earn leave in small pieces all year, either daily, weekly, bi-weekly, twice a month, monthly, or quarterly. Most hourly and salaried jobs use this.
- Upfront (lump sum) grant: You get the whole year's leave on one date, like January 1 or your work anniversary. You can use it right away, but you may owe it back if you leave early.
Days vs. Hours
Some companies track leave in days, others in hours. To switch between them, you multiply or divide by the hours in your workday. If you work 8 hours a day, 15 days equals 120 hours. Part-time workers usually track hours, since their days are shorter.
Carry-Over and Accrual Caps
Carry-over is unused leave you bring into the new year. An accrual cap is the highest balance you are allowed to hold. Once you hit the cap, you stop earning new leave until you use some. A cap is not the same as a "use it or lose it" rule: a cap only limits how much leave can build up, while a use-it-or-lose-it rule takes away leave already earned if it is not used by a set date.1 Caps push workers to take time off instead of stacking up huge balances.
Pro-Rating New Hires
If you start in the middle of a pay period or year, you usually earn only part of that period's leave. This is called pro-rating. It matches your leave to the days you actually worked.
Why Your Leave Balance Matters
Your balance is simple math: leave earned, plus carry-over, minus leave already used. Knowing this number helps you plan trips, avoid going negative, and make sure your pay stub matches your real time off. Some states require unused vacation to be paid out when you leave a job. In California, all earned and unused vacation must be paid at your final rate of pay.1 Tracking your balance protects that money.