Leave Policies

How Do I Set Up and Configure Accruals?

Last updated on July 2, 2026

How Do I Set Up and Configure Accruals?

By default, employees get their full Yearly Leave Quota at the start of the year. Accruals change that — instead of granting everything upfront, the quota is distributed in smaller portions on a regular schedule (monthly, semimonthly, biweekly, or weekly) so employees earn leave as they work.

Plan
Accruals are available on the Complete plan only. If you're on Core, the Accruals section won't appear in your leave policy editor — Users will receive their full Yearly Leave Quota upfront on the leave-year start date.
Your company gives employees 120 hours of PTO per year. With monthly accruals, each employee earns 10 hours each month instead of getting all 120 hours upfront.

How to Enable Accruals

  1. Sign in at app.vacationtracker.io.
  2. In the left-hand menu, expand Leave Setup and click Locations.
  3. Click Edit Leave Policies on the Location you want to configure.
  4. Click the edit icon next to the leave policy you want to update.
  5. Scroll down to the Accruals section.
  6. Open the Accrual Type drop-down and choose your schedule.
Accrual Type drop-down showing None, Monthly, Semimonthly, Biweekly, and Weekly options

Accrual Type Options

Choose the schedule that matches how your company distributes leave. Click any option below for details.

The full Yearly Leave Quota is available from the start of the year (or the employee's start date). No gradual earning — employees can use their entire balance right away.

Lisa starts with 20 PTO days available on January 1st. She can book all 20 days in February if she wants.

Leave accrues once per month. The yearly quota is divided by 12, and that amount is added to the User's balance once per month — the exact accrual date depends on whether your policy is set to award the accrual at the beginning or the end of each accrual period (configured separately on the policy).

With a 24-day annual quota and monthly accruals, a User earns 2 days per month. After three accrual events have landed, they'll have 6 days available (assuming none used).

Leave accrues twice per month (24 times per year). The yearly quota is divided by 24, and that amount is added on each of the two accrual dates each month. The two accrual dates are configurable by the Admin on the leave policy — common choices are the 1st and 15th, but you can pick any two days that match your payroll cycle.

Note: semimonthly is twice per month, not every two weeks — that's biweekly, which lands 26 times per year (so the per-accrual amount is slightly different).

With 120 hours per year and semimonthly accruals, a User earns 5 hours twice each month — useful for companies running semimonthly payroll.

Additional Accrual Settings

Once you've selected an accrual type, a few more options appear below the schedule:

What's Next?

How Do I Set Up an Accrual Cap? How Do I Create and Configure Leave Policies? How Do I Set a Brought Forward (Rollover) Policy?
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