Inputs
Enter your best estimates. Leave optional fields at zero if unknown.
Example data table
Use these sample values to validate your setup and exports.
| Scenario | Salary | Taxes % | Benefits/mo | Admin % | Total annual | Loaded hourly |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Analyst | 60,000 | 8.5 | 450 | 6 | 80,900 | 40.05 |
| Engineer | 95,000 | 9.2 | 600 | 8 | 132,800 | 65.74 |
| Manager | 130,000 | 10.0 | 750 | 10 | 190,600 | 94.31 |
Formula used
Payroll taxes = Salary × (Payroll Tax % ÷ 100)
Retirement match = Salary × (Match % ÷ 100)
Bonus = Salary × (Bonus % ÷ 100)
PTO cost = Salary × (PTO Days ÷ Working Days)
Benefits annual = Benefits per month × 12
Subtotal = Salary + Taxes + Match + Bonus + PTO Cost + Direct Overheads
Admin overhead = Subtotal × (Admin % ÷ 100)
Total annual cost = Subtotal + Admin overhead
Overhead rate = (Total annual − Salary) ÷ Salary
Loaded hourly rate = Total annual ÷ (Productive Days × Hours/Day)
How to use this calculator
- Enter base salary and your employer payroll tax rate.
- Add benefits, insurance, tools, facilities, and other recurring costs.
- Set PTO days and working days to estimate productive time.
- Use admin overhead to capture shared services and management load.
- Press Calculate, then export results as CSV or PDF.
What this tool helps you answer
- What is the full cost of one employee per year?
- How much overhead sits on top of salary?
- What loaded hourly rate should we use for costing?
- How do benefits or PTO changes affect budgets?
Export notes
CSV includes inputs and outputs. PDF creates a printable summary of your latest results section.
Data privacy
Calculations run locally. Exports are generated in your browser.
Salary is only the starting baseline
A 60,000 salary rarely costs 60,000. If employer payroll taxes are 8.5% and target bonus is 5%, those two lines add 8,100. Add a 3% retirement match and direct compensation cost rises by another 1,800. This calculator keeps each driver separate so you can defend assumptions in headcount reviews and finance checkpoints.
Benefits and allowances behave like subscriptions
Convert monthly benefits into annual budget for clean comparisons. For example, 450 per month equals 5,400 per year. Add insurance at 1,200, training at 800, and standard equipment at 1,500 to reflect a realistic support package. Licenses and tool stacks vary by role, so capturing them explicitly prevents underpricing technical positions.
Paid time off changes the productive denominator
PTO is paid time that reduces working capacity. With 260 working days and 18 PTO days, productive days fall to 242. At 8 hours per day, that becomes 1,936 productive hours. The loaded hourly rate is total annual cost divided by productive hours, which helps you compare internal labor to vendor quotes on equal terms.
Shared overhead captures support capacity
Admin overhead represents shared services that scale with headcount: HR operations, payroll processing, IT support, security, management coordination, and internal tooling. Applying a single percentage to the subtotal produces a transparent allocation without building a complex cost model. Use 4–7% for lean support, or 8–15% when compliance and supervision demands are higher.
Scenario testing improves hiring decisions
Run at least three cases per role: conservative, expected, and premium. A premium case may raise benefits to 750 per month, increase facilities share, and include higher training spend for specialized skills. Compare overhead rate and loaded hourly outcomes to decide whether the role should be full-time, hybrid, contractor-based, or split across locations.
Standardized inputs improve reporting quality
Define a default equipment cycle, facilities allocation, and benefit baseline so departments do not “game” costs. Review assumptions quarterly, not per request. Export CSV snapshots for audit trails, and attach the PDF summary to approvals so leaders can see which inputs changed. Consistent inputs turn this calculator into a repeatable budgeting control. When numbers are aligned, variance becomes visible, and you can focus discussion on tradeoffs instead of debating definitions during hiring cycles.