{{ summaryTitle }}{{ summaryValue }}{{ summaryLine }}{{ badge.label }} {{ badge.value }}
Use one currency consistently for every cost input.
{{ currencySymbol }}
{{ percent(params.burden_rate) }}
The tool does not look up statutory rates.
%
{{ currencySymbol }}/year
Zero months counts the full equipment cost in year one.
{{ currencySymbol }}upfront
months
{{ currencySymbol }}/month
{{ currencySymbol }}/month
Used only for the loaded hourly planning figure.
hours/year
{{ workflowFeedback }}
{{ currencySymbol }}/year
Enable this only when utilization should replace the direct productive-hours input.
{{ params.derive_productive_hours ? 'Enabled' : 'Disabled' }}
{{ percent(params.utilization_percent) }}
Applied to weekly paid hours and paid weeks to derive productive annual hours.
%
CategoryAnnual costShareCosting basisCopy
{{ row.label }}{{ money(row.annual) }}{{ percent(row.share) }}{{ row.detail }}

What the estimate says

{{ reviewHeadline }}

Checks before using it

  • {{ item }}

Model boundary

This planning estimate uses your assumptions. Verify payroll rates, benefit costs, allocation policy, and productive hours before a hiring, pricing, accounting, or classification decision.

Salary Raise Budget Calculator Plan salary raises by employee row or pooled salary base, with fiscal-day proration, employer burden, budget fit, and scenario comparisons.
Payroll Proration Calculator Calculate partial-period gross pay by calendar or workday policy, then compare fixed and custom denominators with final rounding.
Paycheck Calculator Estimate 2026 U.S. take-home pay for hourly or salaried work with federal income tax, FICA and deductions plus user-entered local withholding.
Meeting Cost Calculator Estimate the labor cost of one meeting and its yearly recurrence, then compare a shorter or smaller scenario using loaded hourly rates.

Headcount budgets become misleading when annual pay, monthly subscriptions, one-time equipment, and shared overhead are compared without putting them on the same time basis. Loaded employee cost annualizes those amounts and adds them to cash compensation, producing a planning total that is broader than salary alone.

The categories should reflect the employer's own accounting and payroll definitions. Employer burden may include payroll taxes, social insurance, unemployment insurance, workers' compensation, or statutory contributions. Benefits can include health coverage, retirement, paid leave programs, and insurance. Equipment, software, workspace, HR, IT, management, and administration may sit in separate budgets but still support the role.

  • Direct cash compensation is annualized base pay plus additional pay such as bonus, commission, overtime, or allowances.
  • Employer additions combine the entered burden, benefits, annualized equipment, software, and overhead.
  • Loaded cost is the sum used for annual and monthly budget views.

A loaded hourly cost divides the annual total by productive hours, not simply paid hours. Leave, holidays, training, meetings, administration, downtime, and non-billable work can reduce productive hours even though the employer continues paying the annual costs. An optimistic denominator can therefore make a role look cheaper per useful hour than it is.

Currency choice does not convert money. Every amount must already use the same currency and price basis. Payroll burden also needs a current rate from payroll, finance, or an authoritative jurisdictional source; a generic percentage is only a scenario assumption.

Loaded cost supports budgeting, hiring scenarios, pricing, and cost allocation, but it does not decide whether an employee or contractor is appropriate. Worker classification, tax treatment, labor law, benefits eligibility, and accounting policy require separate professional review.

How to Use This Tool:

Bring every amount to one currency and use assumptions that apply to the same role, location, and planning year.

  1. Choose Pay basis and enter base pay. Hourly pay also needs weekly paid hours and paid weeks so it can be annualized.
  2. Enter Employer burden rate from the applicable payroll or finance estimate, then choose whether it applies to base pay alone or to base pay plus additional cash.
  3. Add annual benefits, upfront equipment and setup, monthly software, and monthly workspace or overhead allocations.
  4. Enter Productive annual hours for the loaded-hour calculation. If utilization is the better planning basis, enable Derive productive hours and set the percentage.
  5. Open Advanced for additional annual pay, then review the Cost ledger and test the assumptions that contribute the largest share.

Interpreting Results:

Loaded annual cost is the full modeled employer spend for the year. The monthly value is exactly one-twelfth of that total; it is a planning allocation and does not describe payroll timing or cash flow.

  • Salary multiple compares loaded annual cost with annualized base pay. It is useful for scenario comparison, not as a universal benchmark.
  • Loaded hourly cost rises when productive hours fall, even if annual spend is unchanged.
  • Cost mix identifies which assumptions deserve the closest review. A large burden or overhead share is not automatically wrong, but it should be traceable.

Compare roles only when currency, year, burden coverage, benefit scope, allocation policy, and productive-hour definitions are consistent. Otherwise the difference may come from assumptions rather than the roles themselves.

Technical Details:

The model first converts pay and support items to annual amounts. Employer burden is then applied to the selected cash-pay base, and productive hours are either entered directly or derived from the paid schedule and utilization.

Formula Core:

The annual cost identity keeps cash compensation, employer additions, and the productive-hour denominator separate.

Pannual = {Pannual inputannual basis12Pmonthlymonthly basisPhourlyhwhourly basis B = Pburden base×b100 Eannual = {Ewhen amortization months = 0E×12motherwise C = Pannual+A+B+G+Eannual+12S+12O Chour = CHproductive

h is weekly paid hours, w is paid weeks per year, b is burden percent, A is additional annual pay, G is annual benefits, E is upfront equipment cost, m is equipment months, S is monthly software, O is monthly overhead, and C is loaded annual cost.

Calculation choiceRuleEffect
Burden on base payBase annual pay × burden rateAdditional cash does not increase burden
Burden on cash compensation(Base annual pay + additional pay) × burden rateAdditional cash increases burden
Direct productive hoursUse entered annual hoursPaid schedule does not set the denominator
Derived productive hoursWeekly paid hours × paid weeks × utilizationUtilization replaces the direct-hours input
CurrencyFormatting onlyNo foreign-exchange conversion occurs

With 90,000 annual base pay, 20% burden on base pay, 14,700 benefits, 2,500 of equipment spread over 24 months, 195 monthly software, 850 monthly overhead, and 1,800 productive hours, loaded annual cost is 136,490. That is 11,374.17 per month, 75.83 per productive hour, and about 1.52 times base pay in the selected currency.

Intermediate values remain unrounded. The annual total is divided by 12 for the monthly view and by productive hours for the hourly view; displayed currency and ratios are rounded only when formatted.

Assumption Limits:

The calculation uses entered assumptions and does not look up statutory rates, exchange rates, benefit plans, or accounting allocations.

  • Confirm payroll taxes, statutory contributions, insurance, benefits, and wage bases for the role's jurisdiction and year.
  • Use the organization's approved treatment for equipment amortization, overhead, paid leave, and productive hours.
  • Do not use the result alone for worker classification, compensation, tax, legal, or hiring decisions.

References: