About PTO Calculator
A free, browser-based tool that projects your Personal Time Off balance up to 14 months into the future — so you can plan vacations confidently and never lose hours to a carryover cap again.
Why We Built This
Every year, American workers collectively forfeit billions of dollars in unused PTO — not because they don't want to take time off, but because they can't easily see what they'll have available months from now. Most HR portals show your current balance, but none of them project it forward or warn you when you're approaching a carryover cap.
PTO Calculator was built to fill that gap. Enter your current balance, accrual rate, and pay schedule, and you instantly get a clear 30-period projection with cap warnings, a vacation goal predictor, and floating holiday tracking — all without creating an account or sharing a single byte of personal data.
Who This Is For
Set a target trip date and instantly see whether your PTO will be sufficient — or exactly when it will be.
Track how close you are to your carryover cap and plan time off before hours are forfeited on December 31.
Just started a job? See how quickly your PTO builds up and when you'll realistically be able to take your first real vacation.
Help team members understand their accrual trajectory without having to pull reports manually.
How to Get Started
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1
Enter your current PTO balance Find this on your most recent pay stub or HR portal. Enter the value in hours (e.g., 40 hrs = 5 days at 8 hrs/day).
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2
Set your accrual rate This is how many PTO hours you earn per pay period. Check your offer letter or employee handbook. See the rate table below for common values.
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3
Choose your pay period Select weekly, bi-weekly, semi-monthly, or monthly to match how often you receive a paycheck.
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4
Pick your vacation dates Use the date picker to set your departure and return. The Goal Predictor will calculate workdays needed and tell you if you'll have enough PTO by then.
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5
Open Advanced Settings (optional) Add floating days, set your employer's carryover limit (Dec 31 cap), and configure the hard-cap maximum. The projection table highlights rows where you're at risk.
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6
Click Update Projection Your settings are saved automatically to your browser. Bookmark the page and return anytime — your data will be there.
Common Accrual Rates Reference
If you're not sure what to enter for your accrual rate, use the table below as a starting point. Your exact rate may differ based on company policy or tenure — always verify with your HR department or pay stub.
| PTO Days / Year | Weekly (hrs) | Bi-weekly (hrs) | Semi-monthly (hrs) | Monthly (hrs) |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 10 days (2 weeks) | 1.54 | 3.08 | 3.33 | 6.67 |
| 15 days (3 weeks) | 2.31 | 4.62 | 5.00 | 10.00 |
| 20 days (4 weeks) | 3.08 | 6.15 | 6.67 | 13.33 |
| 25 days (5 weeks) | 3.85 | 7.69 | 8.33 | 16.67 |
| 30 days (6 weeks) | 4.62 | 9.23 | 10.00 | 20.00 |
Based on an 8-hour workday, 5-day workweek. Semi-monthly = 24 pay periods/year. Bi-weekly = 26 pay periods/year.
Features
See your PTO balance at every pay date for the next ~14 months. Carryover-cap rows highlight in yellow; hard-cap rows in red.
Enter a departure date and destination. The tool tells you if you'll have enough PTO — or the exact date you will if you're short.
Track floating days separately and see your combined PTO + floating balance in the projection at any point.
Weekly, bi-weekly, semi-monthly (15th & last day), and monthly — with correct date math for each.
No sign-up, no servers, no analytics. Your PTO data lives only in your browser's local storage and never leaves your device.
Add to your home screen or desktop for one-tap access. The calculator works fully offline after the first visit.
Toggle between light and dark themes. Your preference is saved between visits.
Set a year-end carryover limit and a hard maximum cap. The tool enforces both in the projection math.
Log planned or past time-off entries by date and hours. The projection automatically deducts them in the correct pay period.
Tips for Getting the Most Out of It
Bookmark it and check in monthly
Your settings persist in your browser, so returning each month takes seconds. Update your current balance from your latest pay stub and the projection stays accurate. You'll be able to spot cap risks weeks before they become a problem.
Use the "Days Needed" field precisely
When you pick a start and end date, the tool automatically counts only workdays (Monday–Friday) for your trip — it doesn't count weekends. You can also type the number of days directly if you know it. Half-days are supported (e.g., 4.5 days).
Watch the yellow rows
A yellow row means your balance on that date exceeds your carryover limit. If yellow rows fall before December 31 in the projection, you're on track to lose PTO at year-end. Book that time off while you still can.
Add floating days for a realistic picture
Floating holidays supplement your PTO balance and shouldn't go to waste either. Open Advanced Settings, enter your remaining floating days, and the "With Floatings" column in the projection table will show you your true available balance.
Technology
PTO Calculator is a static web app — no framework, no backend, no database. Everything runs in your browser.
The entire app — including offline support — is delivered as a single HTML file, one JavaScript file, and one CSS file. There are no third-party runtime dependencies.
Contact & Feedback
Found a bug? Have a feature request? We'd love to hear from you. Send a note to [email protected] and we'll get back to you as soon as possible.
If you find PTO Calculator useful, sharing it with a coworker or bookmarking it is the best way to support the project — it's free and always will be.