# How many FTE employees do I have?

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

- Page: https://www.acalculator.org/finance/fte-calculator
- JSON spec: https://www.acalculator.org/finance/fte-calculator.json
- Version: e9a5b9a699b9

## Default answer

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.

## Inputs

| Key | Label | Description |
| --- | --- | --- |
| method | Method | Total hours ÷ full-time hours, or the IRS Affordable Care Act monthly count. |
| hrs | Total hours worked | The hours all employees worked in the period, added up. |
| fth | Hours of one full-time employee | The hours one full-time employee works in the same period: 40 a week, or 2,080 a year. |
| ft | Full-time employees | Employees who averaged at least 30 hours of service a week (130 hours) in the month. |
| pth | Hours of all other employees | The month’s hours of service of every employee who is not full-time, counting at most 120 each. |

## Outputs

| Key | Label | Description |
| --- | --- | --- |
| fte | Full-time equivalents | Hours ÷ full-time hours (or, for the ACA, the other employees’ hours ÷ 120). |
| total | Full-time and equivalent employees | Full-time employees + full-time equivalents (ACA method). |
| totalWhole | ACA count (rounded down) | The full-time and equivalent employees rounded down to a whole number, as the IRS counts. |

## 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.

## Assumptions

- 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.

## Worked examples

1. method = aca, ft = 40, pth = 900 gives fte = 7.5, total = 47.5, totalWhole = 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 = aca, ft = 40, pth = 1,200 gives fte = 10, total = 50, totalWhole = 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, hrs = 100, fth = 40 gives fte = 2.5.
4. method = hours, hrs = 3,120, fth = 2,080 gives fte = 1.5.

## FAQ

### 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.

## Sources

- IRS, Determining if an employer is an applicable large employer (FTE employees: hours of service of non-full-time employees, at most 120 each, ÷ 120; full-time means 30 hours a week or 130 hours a month; Examples 1 and 2). https://www.irs.gov/affordable-care-act/employers/determining-if-an-employer-is-an-applicable-large-employer (retrieved 2026-10-05)
- U.S. Office of Personnel Management, Pay and leave: computing hourly rates of pay using the 2,087-hour divisor (hourly rate = annual pay ÷ 2,087 hours, a full-time federal work year). https://www.opm.gov/policy-data-oversight/pay-leave/pay-administration/fact-sheets/computing-hourly-rates-of-pay-using-the-2087-hour-divisor/ (retrieved 2026-10-05)