Final Paycheck Calculator

When Marcus gave notice, he was focused on his new salary and forgot about the money he'd already earned. He had 80 hours of unused PTO banked, three weeks of vacation he never took. At his pay rate of $40 an hour, that was $3,200 sitting in his account, money he almost walked away from because he didn't know to ask. His final paycheck wasn't just his last two weeks of work. It was a settling of accounts, and it was bigger than he expected.

Your final paycheck has more moving parts than a normal one. It includes your regular wages through your last day, any unused PTO payout if your state or employer requires it, plus anything owed for unpaid commissions, bonuses, or expense reimbursements. For an hourly worker at 40/hour finishing a two-week period with 80 hours of work, that's3,200 in wages. Add the $3,200 PTO payout, and the gross final check is $6,400, double a normal paycheck.

But the PTO payout is taxed as supplemental wages, and that catches people off guard. Like a bonus, accrued vacation paid out at separation is often withheld at the flat 22% federal rate rather than your usual rate. On a $3,200 payout, that's $704 to federal withholding alone, plus 7.65% in Social Security and Medicare, plus state tax. The $3,200 you pictured nets closer to $2,200 in hand.

Here's what they don't put in the offboarding email: PTO payout rules depend entirely on your state and employer. Some states require employers to pay out every accrued, unused hour. Others let "use it or lose it" policies stand, meaning that banked vacation can vanish the day you leave. Knowing which rule applies to you, before you give notice, can be worth thousands of dollars and even change the date you choose to resign.

This calculator adds up every piece of your last paycheck. Enter your final wages, your unused PTO hours and rate, and your withholding assumptions, and see the gross and net of your final check, so nothing you earned slips away unclaimed.