About the FTE Calculator
This FTE (full-time equivalent) calculator turns working hours into a count of full-time positions. Enter your organisation's standard full-time hours and the hours each person works. The calculator gives every person's FTE, the team total, the average FTE per head and the split between full-time and part-time staff.
FTE is the usual unit for headcount budgets, staffing ratios, grant applications, government returns and comparisons between teams that use part-timers differently. A team of ten with several part-timers might be only 6.75 FTE, and that is the figure that drives salary cost and capacity planning. To convert one person, enter a single number: 30 hours against a 37.5-hour week is 0.8 FTE.
Hours can be for any period, such as a week, a fortnight or a month, as long as the full-time figure covers the same period. By default each person is capped at 1.0 FTE, so overtime doesn't inflate the count. Turn the cap off if you want to measure total labour hours. The US Affordable Care Act uses its own FTE rules (130 hours a month counts as full time) and is not modelled here.
With the default inputs, the total fte is 6.75. Change any value above to recalculate instantly.
How to use the fte calculator
- 1Enter your standard full-time hours, for example 40 or 37.5 a week.
- 2List each person's hours for the same period, separated by commas or new lines.
- 3Leave the 1.0 cap on to ignore overtime, or turn it off to count total labour.
- 4Read the total FTE and compare it with headcount.
Formula and method
A full-time equivalent compares the hours someone works with the hours of one full-time employee over the same period. Dividing each person's hours by the full-time standard gives their FTE: 1.0 for full time, 0.5 for half time, and so on. Adding the individual figures, or dividing total hours by the full-time standard, gives the team's FTE.
With the cap turned on, anyone above the standard counts as 1.0, which is how most workforce and budget reports treat overtime. Without the cap the result measures total labour input in full-time units. Use the same period throughout. If you enter monthly hours, the full-time figure must be monthly too, for example 40 × 52 ÷ 12 ≈ 173.3 hours.
- hoursᵢ
- Hours worked by person i in the period
- full-time hours
- Standard hours of one full-time employee in the same period
Worked examples
Ten-person team with part-timers
The ten people work 270 hours between them. Divided by a 40-hour week, that is 6.75 FTE. Three are full time and seven part time, so the team has 3.25 fewer full-time positions than people.
One part-timer on a 37.5-hour standard
Thirty hours divided by a 37.5-hour full-time week is 30 ÷ 37.5 = 0.8 FTE. On a pro-rata basis the employee earns 80% of the full-time salary.
Overtime with and without the cap
With the cap on, the people working 45 and 50 hours each count as 1.0 FTE (40 hours). Adding the 20-hour person gives 100 ÷ 40 = 2.5 FTE. With the cap off, all 115 hours count, which is 2.875 FTE.
Same team measured as total labour
Without the cap the overtime counts: (45 + 50 + 20) ÷ 40 = 2.875 FTE. That shows the real labour input and suggests the team may be understaffed by roughly the 15 hours of overtime.
Frequently asked questions
How do you calculate FTE?+
Divide the hours an employee works by the hours of a full-time employee over the same period. For a team, add up everyone's hours and divide by the full-time standard. For example, 270 hours against a 40-hour week is 6.75 FTE.
What is 0.8 FTE in hours?+
Multiply 0.8 by your full-time hours. On a 40-hour week 0.8 FTE is 32 hours, on 37.5 hours it is 30 hours, and on 35 hours it is 28 hours. Pay and leave are usually pro-rated in the same proportion.
What is the difference between headcount and FTE?+
Headcount is the number of people employed, whatever hours they work. FTE converts those people into full-time positions. Two half-time employees are a headcount of 2 but 1.0 FTE. Budgets and capacity plans normally use FTE.
Should overtime count towards FTE?+
Most organisations cap each person at 1.0 FTE so overtime does not inflate staffing numbers. If you want to measure the total labour a team is putting in, for example to justify a new hire, turn the cap off and compare the two figures.
Is ACA full-time equivalent the same?+
No. Under the US Affordable Care Act, anyone averaging 30 hours a week or 130 hours a month counts as full time. Part-time hours, capped at 120 per person per month, are added up and divided by 120. That is a different method from this general calculator.