acalculator

How many FTE employees do I have?

Type the hours your employees worked and the hours of one full-time employee. The FTE calculator shows how many full-time equivalent employees those hours make, or counts them the way the IRS does for the Affordable Care Act.

Your numbers

Method
Full-time equivalents
25

Full-time equivalents: 25.

Full-time equivalents: 25. Full-time equivalents: 25.

The results are estimates for information only. They are not financial, tax, or legal advice. Check the numbers with your lender or a qualified professional before you decide. Terms of use

How to calculate

Converts hours worked into full-time equivalent (FTE) employees, by full-time hours or by the IRS Affordable Care Act monthly method.

Example with the default inputs (Method Hours ÷ full-time hours, Total hours worked 1,000, Hours of one full-time employee 40): Full-time equivalents: 25.

Method: Hours method: FTE = total hours ÷ hours of one full-time employee in the same period. IRS ACA method (one month): FTE = hours of non-full-time employees (at most 120 each) ÷ 120; full-time and equivalent employees = full-time employees + FTE, rounded down.

  • Hours method: the total hours and the full-time hours cover the same period (a week, a month or a year).
  • ACA method: you count at most 120 hours for each employee who is not full-time before you add them up.
  • The ACA count here is for one month; the IRS averages 12 monthly counts to decide whether an employer has 50 or more.

Machine-readable copies: Markdown, JSON.

Worked examples

Each example is checked against the calculator on every build.

  1. Method IRS ACA (monthly), Full-time employees 40, Hours of all other employees 900 gives Full-time equivalents 7.5, Full-time and equivalent employees 47.5, ACA count (rounded down) 47.Source: IRS, Determining if an employer is an applicable large employer (FTE employees: combine the hours of service of all non-full-time employees for the month, at most 120 per employee, and divide by 120). https://www.irs.gov/affordable-care-act/employers/determining-if-an-employer-is-an-applicable-large-employer (Example 1: 15 part-time employees × 60 hours = 900 ÷ 120 = 7.5; with 40 full-time, 47.5, rounded down to 47)
  2. Method IRS ACA (monthly), Full-time employees 40, Hours of all other employees 1,200 gives Full-time equivalents 10, Full-time and equivalent employees 50, ACA count (rounded down) 50.Source: IRS, Determining if an employer is an applicable large employer (FTE employees: combine the hours of service of all non-full-time employees for the month, at most 120 per employee, and divide by 120). https://www.irs.gov/affordable-care-act/employers/determining-if-an-employer-is-an-applicable-large-employer (Example 2: 20 part-time employees × 60 hours = 1,200 ÷ 120 = 10; with 40 full-time, 50)
  3. Method Hours ÷ full-time hours, Total hours worked 100, Hours of one full-time employee 40 gives Full-time equivalents 2.5.
  4. Method Hours ÷ full-time hours, Total hours worked 3,120, Hours of one full-time employee 2,080 gives Full-time equivalents 1.5.

How it works

Hours ÷ full-time hours.

  • FTE = total hours worked ÷ hours of one full-time employee.
  • Both numbers cover the same period: for a week, 40 full-time hours is common; for a year, 2,080 (40 × 52).

IRS ACA method (one month).

  • Count each full-time employee (30 or more hours of service a week, or 130 hours in the month) as 1.
  • Add the month's hours of service of every other employee, counting at most 120 hours for each. This page takes that total as typed; cap each person at 120 before you add.
  • FTE = that total ÷ 120. Fractions count.
  • Full-time and equivalent employees = full-time employees + FTE.
  • ACA count = that total rounded down to a whole number.

Every step is an exact fraction of the numbers you type; FTE and the total show with 2 decimals, rounded half up.

Assumptions

  • Total hours are from 0 to 1,000,000,000; one full-time employee works from 1 to 1,000,000 hours in the period.
  • The IRS averages 12 monthly counts to decide whether an employer has 50 or more full-time and equivalent employees; this page gives one month.

Worked examples by hand

IRS Example 1. 15 part-time employees × 60 hours = 900 hours; 900 ÷ 120 = 7.5 FTE; 40 + 7.5 = 47.5, rounded down to 47.

IRS Example 2. 20 × 60 = 1,200 hours; 1,200 ÷ 120 = 10 FTE; 40 + 10 = 50.

A week. One 40-hour employee and three 20-hour employees: 40 + 3 × 20 = 100 hours; 100 ÷ 40 = 2.5 FTE.

A year. 3,120 hours worked at 2,080 full-time hours: 3,120 ÷ 2,080 = 1.5 FTE.

Other questions people ask

How do I calculate FTE?

Add up the hours all employees worked in a period and divide by the hours one full-time employee works in that period. One 40-hour and three 20-hour employees work 100 hours a week: 100 ÷ 40 = 2.5 FTE.

How many hours is 1 FTE?

It is the full-time schedule your business uses. At 40 hours a week, one FTE is 40 hours a week, about 173 hours a month or 2,080 hours a year (40 × 52). Federal pay uses 2,087 hours as its full-time work year.

How does the IRS count FTE employees for the Affordable Care Act?

For each month, add the hours of service of every employee who is not full-time, counting at most 120 hours for each, and divide by 120. Add the full-time employees (30 or more hours a week, or 130 hours in the month). In the IRS example, 900 part-time hours give 7.5 FTEs, and with 40 full-time employees the total is 47.5.

Why does the ACA count round down?

The IRS rounds the yearly average of the monthly counts down to a whole number. 47.5 counts as 47, so that employer is not an applicable large employer, which needs 50 or more. This page rounds one month’s count the same way.

Does the ACA count use one month or a year?

An employer adds up its full-time and equivalent employees for each of the 12 months of the year before, then divides by 12. Run this page for each month and average the totals.

Can FTE be more than the number of employees?

Yes, with the hours method, when people work overtime. Three people who each work 50 hours a week make 150 ÷ 40 = 3.75 FTE.