Most employees never actually run the numbers on their own PTO — they just watch a balance tick up on a pay stub. This calculator turns that arithmetic into something usable: how fast you're really accruing, when a cap starts costing you real days off, and what unused vacation is worth in cash once taxes take their cut.

How the PTO Accrual & Payout Calculator works

Accrual is straightforward multiplication — your per-period rate times the number of pay periods in a year — but the balance projection has one wrinkle: the cap. Each period the calculator adds your accrual to the running balance, then clamps it at your cap if you're close, tracking any hours that would have been forfeited along the way. The payout math treats a PTO cash-out the way the IRS does: as a supplemental wage, subject to a flat 22% federal withholding rate plus the standard 7.65% FICA and your state's income tax rate, rather than your regular paycheck's withholding tables.

Inputs and what they mean

Your accrual rate and pay frequency set your annual accrual — check a recent pay stub if you're not sure of the per-period number, since employers rarely advertise it directly. The accrual cap only matters if your employer has one; leaving it at 0 tells the calculator to project accrual with no ceiling. The hourly rate and state only affect the Payout Value tab, and the state selection also determines whether your state legally requires an employer to pay out unused PTO at all.

Limits and edge cases

This calculator assumes accrual is linear and doesn't model tenure-based rate increases, blackout periods, or policies that grant PTO in an annual lump sum rather than per period. The payout tax estimate uses flat, representative rates rather than your actual marginal tax bracket, so your real take-home from a payout may differ once it's reconciled on your tax return. Most importantly, the state use-it-or-lose-it and payout-required notes are general reference information, not legal advice — always confirm the specifics with your employer's HR team or your state labor office before making a decision based on them.