PTO / Sick Day Banking Calculator
You don't get paid vacation — so bank it yourself. This is what your desired days off cost, per year and per month, at your day rate.
Your details
Rough figures are fine — you can refine later.
How we calculate this
Simple pricing math.
1. Amount to bank. Desired days off × your day rate — the income those days would have earned.
2. Per month. That annual figure ÷ 12, the steady amount to reserve.
3. Rate uplift. Amount to bank ÷ annual billable revenue — how much to add across your rates so clients cover your time off.
This is a planning tool, not financial advice; your real number depends on your rate and how much you actually bill.
Primary sources
- U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics — Employee Benefits Survey (paid leave averages)
Paid time off doesn't exist unless you build it
When an employee takes a two-week vacation, the paychecks keep coming. When a freelancer takes two weeks off, the income simply stops. That gap is one of the most underpriced costs of self-employment — and the reason so many freelancers never take a real break. This calculator fixes that by putting a number on your time off so you can fund it deliberately.
Enter the paid days off you want each year and your day rate (optionally your annual revenue). You get the amount to bank per year, the monthly reserve, and the rate uplift it implies.
Price the days, then fund them
The core math is simple: the days you want off, multiplied by what a working day earns you, is the income you need to replace. Twenty days at a $500 day rate is $10,000 a year of vacation, sick, and holiday time that no one is going to pay you for unless you plan for it.
There are two ways to fund that number, and they're really the same idea viewed differently:
- Save it. Set aside the monthly amount into a separate "time-off" account, the way you'd set aside for taxes. When you take the days, you draw from it and your income is smooth.
- Price it in. Raise your rates by the implied uplift so your billing covers your time off — exactly how an employer builds PTO into your salary. If you need to bank $6,000 on $120,000 of revenue, that's a 5% uplift across your rates.
Most freelancers do a bit of both. What matters is that the days are funded *somehow*, rather than quietly costing you income every time you rest.
How many days?
Employees typically get 20 to 30 paid days once you add vacation, holidays, and sick leave. Planning for a similar number keeps your effective compensation comparable to a job — and, just as important, gives you permission to actually stop working without feeling each day as a loss. If you consistently skip breaks because they "cost too much," that's a sign your rate hasn't priced them in.
The bigger picture
Unpriced time off is one piece of a larger truth: a freelance rate has to cover everything an employer used to provide — health insurance, retirement, payroll taxes, *and* paid leave. Our Benefits Replacement Cost calculator adds it all up, and this PTO figure feeds directly into it.
What this is
A planning tool, not financial advice. Your real number depends on your rate and how much you bill. Use it to set rates and reserves that let you take time off without dreading the income hit.
Common questions
How do freelancers get paid time off? + −
They don’t — unless they build it in. There is no employer to keep paying you on vacation or sick days, so those days are unpaid unless you reserve money for them in advance or raise your rate to cover them. This tool prices the days you want off so you can do exactly that.
How many days off should I plan for? + −
Employees typically get around 20–30 paid days a year once you add vacation, holidays, and sick leave. Planning for a similar number keeps your effective compensation comparable — and prevents the trap of never taking a real break because every day off costs you income.
Should I save for it or raise my rate? + −
Both work, and they’re two views of the same thing. Saving a monthly amount builds the cushion directly; raising your rate by the implied uplift means clients fund your time off through your billing, just like an employer does. Many freelancers do a bit of each.
How is the rate uplift calculated? + −
It is the amount you need to bank divided by your annual billable revenue — the percentage you’d add across your billing to cover your time off. If you bank $6,000 on $120,000 of revenue, that’s a 5% uplift.
Keep going
Prepared for tax year 2026. Every rate and cap on this page cites a primary IRS or SSA source. Estimates only — not tax or financial advice. — for planning purposes only, not tax, legal, or financial advice.