Sentencing Advocacy Group · Preparation resources

First Step Act Calculator: Estimate Earned Time Credits

Estimate credit accrual from completed eligible participation periods. This tool does not calculate or promise your release date.

Calculate a credit-accrual scenario.

Use only days that BOP recognizes as successful participation toward qualifying 30-day periods. Do not enter your entire sentence or all days in custody automatically. If your earning rate changed, calculate each period separately.

Choose 15 only when BOP confirms the additional-credit requirements are met. This form runs in your browser and does not send your entries.

Enter a scenario to see the calculation.

Earning credits and applying them are different.

Eligible individuals generally earn 10 days of FSA time credit per 30 days of successful participation in qualifying programs or productive activities. An additional five days may apply when the required minimum-or-low risk assessment conditions are met. Not every conviction or period of custody qualifies.

Credits may support prerelease custody or an earlier transfer to supervised release when statutory conditions are satisfied. The early supervised-release benefit is limited to 12 months. Earned credits are not an automatic day-for-day reduction of the sentence imposed. BOP determines eligibility, calculations and application.

Keep these mechanisms separate.

  • Good conduct time: a separate sentence-credit mechanism with its own eligibility and calculation.
  • FSA time credits: tied to qualifying participation, eligibility and application requirements.
  • RDAP: treatment admission and any early-release incentive involve separate determinations.
  • Halfway house or home confinement: placement decisions and legal authorities must be identified rather than assumed.

What to review with your unit team

Request the current sentence computation, risk assessments, program participation record and FSA credit calculation. Check the earning start date, excluded periods, earning-rate changes and whether credits are available for application. Keep dated copies of questions and written responses.

If a discrepancy remains, ask about the appropriate administrative review process and consult counsel when legal interpretation is needed. A web estimator cannot override the agency’s records or resolve an eligibility dispute.

Explore the federal sentence calculator · Understand halfway house planning · RDAP guide and preparation check

Official rules and limitations

BOP First Step Act FAQ · BOP First Step Act overview

The estimate rounds down to completed 30-day participation periods. It omits eligibility exclusions, lost credits, risk changes, sentence aggregation, detainers, application restrictions and BOP’s official computation.

Educational information, reviewed October 5, 2026. Sentencing Advocacy Group is not a law firm and does not provide legal advice. Counsel evaluates the law and facts in each case. Individual outcomes vary.