Full time equivalent, which is also referred to as "FTE," is a business calculation that helps business owners and managers to assess the total amount of hours being put in by their workforce. According to the Sloan Work and Family Research Network of Boston College, "full time equivalent" is defined as, "...the number of full-time equivalent jobs, defined as total hours worked divided by average annual hours worked in full-time jobs."

Calculate the amount of hours that would constitute full-time employment for a particular period. For instance, the standard number of yearly hours for full-time employment is 2.080. If you are dealing with a period of time that is less than a year, divide that time into the total hours. For instance, if you are examining a quarter, you would divide 2,080 by 4 to get 520 hours.

Multiply an employee's number of weeks worked by the hours worked each week. For example, if an employee worked 10 weeks over a quarter and worked 35 hours per week, multiply 10 times 35 to get a total of 350 hours.

Divide your answer from step two by your answer from step one. In this example you would divide 350 by 520 to get an FTE of 0.673.

Multiply your answer from step three by the number of employees affected if necessary. For instance, if you have 10 employees at 0.673 FTE, multiply 10 times 0.673 to get an annual FTE count of 6.73.