To track PTO, keep one record per employee that shows what leave they are entitled to, every request with its dates and decision, and the balance left. Use a single request and approval flow, show leave on the same calendar as attendance and holidays, and reconcile balances every month. US federal law does not require paid vacation, so the rules come from your own policy and from state law.
Key takeaways
- Three things to record: entitlement, requests with decisions, and balance.
- One way to ask, one person who decides, one calendar everyone can see.
- Accrual per pay period is the annual allowance divided by the number of pay periods.
- Disputes come from unwritten rules and balances nobody reconciled.
Does the law require paid time off?
Not at the federal level in the United States. The Department of Labor says the Fair Labor Standards Act does not require payment for time not worked, such as vacations, sick leave or holidays. These benefits are a matter of agreement between employer and employee.
State and local law fills part of the gap, above all for paid sick leave. Check each place where you have staff.
Paid vacation is common all the same, and more so at larger employers.
- 500 or more workers91%
- 1 to 49 workers71%
Source: US Bureau of Labor Statistics, paid vacations fact sheet, estimates for 2026. After one year of service, 32% of private industry workers received 10 to 14 days.
What kinds of leave should you track?
| Type | Usually paid? | Track separately because |
|---|---|---|
| Vacation | Yes, by policy | It accrues and may carry over |
| Sick leave | Often required by state or local law | Legal minimums apply |
| Personal days | By policy | Often a fixed number a year |
| Company holidays | By policy | They are the same for everyone |
| Other leave | Varies | Bereavement, jury duty, parental and unpaid leave have their own rules |
Which PTO model do you use?
Accrual
Leave builds up each pay period.
Balance changes every paydayLump sum
The year's allowance arrives on one day.
Simple, with a risk when people leave earlyPTO bank
Vacation, sick and personal days in one pot.
One balance to trackFlexible
No fixed number. Requests still need approval.
Track days taken, not a balance
Even a flexible policy needs tracking. Without it you cannot see who has taken no time off at all.
How do you calculate accrual?
Accrual per pay period = annual PTO hours ÷ pay periods in the year
Example: 15 days a year is 120 hours. With 26 pay periods, 120 ÷ 26 = 4.62 hours each period
Balance = opening balance + accrued − taken
Example: 16 hours carried over + 55.4 accrued by June − 40 taken = 31.4 hours
What does a good request flow look like?
The employee asks in one place
One form or one screen. Not chat, not email, not a note on a desk.
The request names dates and type
Start date, end date and the kind of leave.
One person decides
Usually the line manager, within a set number of days.
The decision is recorded
Approved or denied, by whom and when.
The calendar updates
The team sees who is out. Attendance shows leave, not absence.
The balance changes
Taken leave comes off the balance at once.
A simple PTO tracker to copy
Paste this into a spreadsheet as a starting point.
Employee,Leave type,Start date,End date,Days,Status,Decided by,Decided on,Notes Megan R.,Vacation,2027-03-08,2027-03-12,5,Approved,Tom B.,2027-02-10, Daniel K.,Sick,2027-03-03,2027-03-03,1,Approved,Tom B.,2027-03-03, Paige S.,Personal,2027-03-19,2027-03-19,1,Pending,,, Employee,Annual allowance (days),Carried over,Accrued to date,Taken,Balance Megan R.,15,2,3.75,5,0.75
A spreadsheet works for a handful of people. Its weak points are requests that never reach it and balances that drift from payroll.
What goes wrong?
Do
- Write the policy down, including carryover and payout
- Keep every request, even the denied ones
- Reconcile balances with payroll each month
- Show the team calendar to everyone
Do not
- Approve leave in chat and record it later
- Let balances live in one person's head
- Mark approved leave as absence
- Ignore people who never take time off
The last point is easy to miss. A balance that only grows is a warning sign of overwork. See signs of overwork.
How does BirdsEye track leave?
Leave in BirdsEye sits next to attendance, so a day off never looks like a missing person.
- Leave requests. Employees request vacation, sick, personal or other leave for a date range.
- Approvals. Each request is pending, approved or denied, with a record of who decided and when.
- Holiday calendar. Company holidays are defined once and reflected in attendance.
- Attendance. Each person's day is marked present, absent, late, on leave, on holiday or weekend.
- On a phone. Managers can approve leave in the Android admin app, on the Team plan and above.
BirdsEye records requests, decisions and leave days. Entitlements and accrual balances are best kept in your HR or payroll system. See attendance and leave.
Frequently asked questions
How do I calculate PTO accrual?
Divide the annual allowance in hours by the number of pay periods. For 120 hours a year and 26 pay periods, that is 4.62 hours each period.
Is unused PTO paid out when someone leaves?
It depends on state law and your written policy. Some states treat accrued vacation as earned wages. Check the rule where the employee works.
What is the difference between PTO and vacation?
Vacation is one kind of leave. PTO usually means a single pool that covers vacation, sick and personal days.
Do I need software to track PTO?
Not for a very small team. A spreadsheet works until requests start arriving through several channels or balances stop matching payroll.