PTO Accrual Liability Calculator: What You Owe in Unused Vacation

What do your employees' unused vacation balances cost you?

Paste your roster with each person's hourly rate, PTO balance and accrual. The tool prices every balance in dollars (with the employer payroll tax a payout triggers), projects it forward up to each person's cap, shows who is at the cap, and prices the hours above a balance you would be comfortable with.

Arithmetic on the roster you paste. Not legal, payroll or accounting advice. The example roster is made-up placeholder data, not any business's.

Settings

As-of date (for your own record)

State (two letters)

Is unused PTO paid out when someone leaves?

Pay periods per year

52 weekly, 26 biweekly, 24 semi-monthly, 12 monthly.

Months to project

Employer payroll tax on a payout (%)

Social Security and Medicare are 7.65%. Add unemployment tax if relevant.

Comfortable balance per person (hours, optional)

Roster (one employee per line)

Each line: name, hourly rate, balance hours, accrual hours per pay period, optional cap hours. A first line with column titles is ignored. Up to 500 lines.

Employees

Questions employers ask

What is accrued PTO liability?

The cash value of paid time off employees have earned and not used: balance hours times hourly rate. Under accrual accounting many employers record it as a liability, and in some states it is a wage debt that becomes due the day someone leaves. This tool adds the employer payroll tax that a payout would also trigger.

Does my state require paying out unused PTO?

A few states treat earned vacation or PTO as wages: this tool lists California, Colorado, Illinois and Massachusetts. In most other states your written policy decides, and a policy that promises payout creates the obligation. Some states have narrower rules not listed here, so check your state labor department or an employment lawyer before relying on any answer.

Why does a cap matter?

Without a cap, a balance grows for as long as the employee stays, and so does what you owe. A cap stops accrual at a number of hours. Employees at their cap stop earning, which is the usual nudge to take time off. The tool shows who is at the cap and how many months until the rest get there.

What is a sensible target balance?

There is no legal number. Many employers aim for balances under a year or so of accrual. Type your own hours and the tool prices everything above it, which is the cash you would be sitting on if everyone used their time down to that level.

Not decided

Whether your state or local law requires a payout, paid sick leave rules that differ from vacation, collective-bargaining terms, the accounting treatment under your standards, rate of pay used at separation (some states use the final rate), or the tax treatment of cash-outs. Treat the output as arithmetic on your roster and confirm the rules with your state labor department or an employment lawyer.