Should paid leave be added as a separate cost?

Salary generally already covers paid leave. Adjust paid hours for the denominator or add only genuinely incremental costs.

Is allocated overhead a cash payroll cost?

No. It is a planning allocation for resources such as workspace, software, equipment, and management.

Is cost per paid hour a billing rate?

No. A billing rate may also need utilization, profit, risk, and market assumptions.

Employee Salary and Burden Cost Calculator

Build a transparent employer-cost estimate from assumptions you control.

Annual and monthly cost

Cost per paid hour

Salary burden breakdown

CurrencyAnnual base salaryEmployer payroll cost rateEnter your combined employer-side rate; no jurisdictional rate is supplied.Annual benefitsEmployer-paid insurance, retirement contributions, allowances, or similar benefits.Other annual payroll costsBonuses, workers compensation, payroll administration, or other entered items.Allocated annual overheadOptional workspace, equipment, software, training, or management allocation.Paid hours per yearUsed only for the cost-per-paid-hour result.

How to Estimate Employee Cost

Use annual amounts and rates from your own payroll and planning records.

Choose a display currency; no exchange rate is used.

Avoid double counting

If an item is already in benefits or other payroll costs, do not include it again in overhead.

What Total Employee Cost Includes

The result separates base salary, percentage-based employer payroll costs, benefits and other payroll items, and allocated overhead. Monthly and hourly figures divide the same annual total; they are planning averages, not paycheck amounts or billable-hour rates.

Employee Cost Examples

Salary with 50% total burden

Salary and employer assumptions

baseSalary:60000

employerPayrollRate:10

annualBenefits:12000

annualOtherPayrollCosts:2000

annualOverhead:10000

paidHoursPerYear:2080

Annual employer cost

90,000 annually; 43.27 per paid hour

Payroll costs are 6,000 and all non-salary costs total 30,000.

Salary-only scenario

Salary and employer assumptions

baseSalary:50000

employerPayrollRate:0

annualBenefits:0

annualOtherPayrollCosts:0

annualOverhead:0

paidHoursPerYear:2000

Annual employer cost

50,000 annually; 25 per paid hour

All entered burden categories are zero.

Model scenarios

Use separate runs for alternative benefit packages, overhead allocations, or payroll rates.

Frequently Asked Questions

No. Rates vary by jurisdiction, wage base, worker status, and year, so you enter the employer rate.

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Employee Cost Formulas

The model deliberately requires user-entered payroll and overhead assumptions instead of embedding rates.

Formula

payroll costs = base salary × entered payroll rate ÷ 100

Employer payroll costs

payroll costs = base salary × entered payroll rate ÷ 100

Total annual cost

salary + payroll costs + benefits + other payroll costs + overhead

Cost per paid hour

total annual cost ÷ paid hours per year

Scientific Background

Assumptions: all costs are annual, correctly classified, and attributable to one role. Limitations: the model does not infer overtime, leave productivity, hiring and termination costs, jurisdictional mandates, salary changes, utilization, or revenue. SBA hiring guidance is contextual; it does not provide universal rates.