Free tool
Full-time equivalent (FTE) calculator
Full-time and part-time people in, and out comes the total full-time equivalents behind them. You set the full-time week that counts as one FTE.
The link carries your figures in the address itself. Nothing is stored on our side.
The working
| Measure | Value | How it is worked out |
|---|---|---|
| The working appears here once your figures are in. | ||
How the answer is worked out
Every step, in the open, so you can rebuild it in a few spreadsheet cells and disagree with it if you want to. A calculator you cannot check is an ad.
What one FTE means
A full-time equivalent is measured against the full-time week you enter. That week, whatever hours it is, counts as 1.0 FTE, and every full-time employee is one of them. The tool bakes in no figure of its own, because a full-time week of 35, 38 or 40 hours is a matter of your contracts and of local rules, not something a web page should assert.
Turning part-time hours into FTE
Part-time people are measured by their hours, not their headcount. The tool takes the combined weekly hours you enter for all part-time staff and divides by the full-time week: sixty combined hours on a forty-hour week is 1.5 FTE. Combining the hours keeps the input short; if you would rather model each person, enter them one at a time and add the results.
Headcount alongside FTE
The total FTE is the full-time count plus the part-time FTE. Headcount, shown next to it, is simply the number of people. The two answer different questions: FTE sizes capacity and cost, while headcount drives anything that applies once per person, so reading them together says more than either on its own.
What this tool does not know
What full-time means where you are. It asserts no statutory full-time week, because that differs by country and by contract and changes over time. You set the hours that count as one FTE, and every figure follows from that number, so a result is only as right as the week you entered.
It works on the combined hours you give it, not on individual contracts, so it does not know leave, overtime or a person who splits a week across two roles. To read the cost behind the headcount, use the employee cost estimator and the revenue per employee calculator, and for the wider picture see the guide to HR metrics for small teams.
Questions with complete answers
What counts as one full-time equivalent?
Whatever weekly hours you enter as the full-time week. One person working that week is 1.0 FTE, and everyone else is measured against it. There is no universal full-time figure, so the tool asks you for yours rather than assuming a 35, 38 or 40 hour week that may not match your contracts.
How do I handle part-time staff?
Enter how many part-time people there are and their combined weekly hours, and the tool divides those hours by the full-time week to get their FTE. Four people on ten hours each is forty combined hours, which on a forty-hour full-time week is 1.0 FTE across the four of them. Every line is shown in the working.
What is the difference between headcount and FTE?
Headcount counts people; FTE counts full-time-equivalent hours. A team of ten with several part-timers has a headcount of ten but an FTE below ten. Planning cost and capacity usually wants FTE, while a headcount cap or a policy that applies per person wants the head count, so the tool shows both.
Does this use a legal definition of full-time?
No. What counts as full-time is set by your own contracts and by local rules that differ by country and change over time, so the tool states none and does not treat any hours as statutory. You enter the full-time week, and the FTE figures follow from that number and nothing else.
Is anything I type saved or sent anywhere?
No. It computes in your browser and nothing is sent anywhere. There is no email wall, no account and no storage. The link button carries your figures in the address itself if you want to send them to someone.
An FTE figure is a snapshot. The headcount behind it is a record worth keeping.