Calculator inputs
Add your pay and benefits. Submit to see results above.
Example data table
Try these sample inputs to see how the calculator behaves.
| Scenario | Salary | Bonus | Health (monthly) | Match rate | Match cap | PTO days | Equity |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Typical | 60,000 | 0 | 400 | 50% | 6% | 10 | 0 |
| Equity heavy | 85,000 | 5,000 | 600 | 50% | 6% | 12 | 15,000 |
| Strong match plan | 110,000 | 10,000 | 500 | 100% | 5% | 12 | 5,000 |
Compensation baseline and inputs
Start with base salary and bonus, because all rates derive from pay. The calculator converts annual pay into hourly, daily, and weekly rates using your hours per week and weeks per year. This supports flexible roles, overtime-heavy schedules, and part‑time work. If your bonus is variable, use the percent mode to model optimistic and conservative outcomes consistently.
Retirement contributions and match mechanics
Employer retirement value is estimated from contribution rules. The model applies your employee contribution percent, then caps eligible contributions by the match cap percent of pay. Employer match equals eligible contributions multiplied by the match rate. If your plan matches only on base salary, enable the base‑only rule; otherwise the match can include bonus. Add any additional employer contribution percent for pension or mandatory programs.
Insurance premiums and coverage valuation
Health, dental, and vision inputs represent employer-paid monthly premiums. The calculator annualizes these by multiplying by twelve and treats them as direct compensation equivalents. If your employer provides a cash allowance instead of premiums, enter it under stipends. For coverage values such as life and disability, enter a reasonable annual value based on your benefit statement to avoid overstating totals.
Time off and leave valuation choices
Paid time off is valued as an imputed benefit using daily rate times total days off. You can include or exclude PTO depending on your comparison goal. Workdays per year controls the daily rate; 260 is a common assumption. Paid leave weeks used is treated as expected annual usage, useful for modeling parental leave or extended sick time. When you set it to zero, the estimate stays conservative.
Interpreting totals, exports, and scenario testing
Total benefits aggregates retirement, insurance, time off, stipends, equity value, severance expected value, and optional tax savings from pre‑tax contributions. Benefits as a percent of pay helps compare offers across roles and locations. Use custom benefit lines for items like tuition repayment, car allowance, or profit sharing. Export CSV for audits and spreadsheets, and export PDF for offer discussions. Run multiple scenarios to see which inputs drive results most. Review charts to spot imbalances and confirm your assumptions with documents.
FAQs
What should I enter for employer insurance costs?
Use the employer-paid monthly premium amounts from your benefits statement. If you only know total monthly employer cost, place it in health and leave dental and vision as zero. Keep values conservative for clean comparisons.
How does the retirement match calculation work?
The calculator caps your employee contribution by the match cap percentage, multiplies eligible pay by that capped percent, then applies the employer match rate. Enable the base-only rule if bonus is excluded from match.
Is PTO counted as extra compensation?
PTO is valued as an imputed benefit using daily rate times days off. This helps compare offers with different time-off packages. If you prefer cash-only comparisons, uncheck the option to exclude PTO from totals.
How do I estimate equity value?
Enter an annualized value you expect to realize, not the headline grant size. Consider vesting, dilution, and probability of payout. If uncertain, run multiple scenarios such as low, mid, and high values.
What does expected severance mean here?
Expected severance equals weekly rate times severance weeks, multiplied by your probability estimate. It does not predict layoffs; it simply converts a contingent benefit into an expected annual value for comparison.
What are custom benefits used for?
Custom lines let you add benefits like tuition support, car allowance, profit sharing, or housing. Add a short label and an annual value. The totals and charts will automatically include these entries.
Formula used
- Bonus = bonus amount, or base × bonus% when enabled.
- Employer match = min(Employee% , Cap%) × Eligible pay × Match%.
- Employer contribution = (Salary + Bonus) × Employer contribution%.
- Insurance value = (Health + Dental + Vision monthly) × 12.
- PTO value = Daily rate × (PTO + Holiday days), Daily rate = Pay ÷ Workdays.
- Paid leave value = Weekly rate × Leave weeks used, Weekly rate = Hourly × Hours/week.
- Expected severance = Weekly rate × Severance weeks × Probability.
- Tax savings = Pre-tax contributions × Marginal tax rate.
- Total benefits = sum of all benefit categories.
- Total compensation = (Salary + Bonus) + Total benefits.
How to use this calculator
- Enter salary, bonus, and work schedule first.
- Add retirement match and employer contribution percent.
- Fill employer-paid premiums for insurance categories.
- Choose whether to include PTO value in totals.
- Enter stipends, equity, and expected severance settings.
- Optional: add pre-tax amount and marginal tax rate.
- Submit to see totals, charts, and downloads.