Budgeteer Payroll LabEmployer cost estimates

Tool · several roles

Annual Payroll Budget Calculator

Enter two to eight roles. For each role you can type a salary, so the calculator adds 2026 employer FICA and the unemployment rates you enter once, or you can paste a loaded cost you already trust. Blank roles are ignored. A zero headcount is a message, not a broken total.

Tax-year assumptions: 2026. Employer FICA from IRS Publication 15. FUTA and SUTA are user-entered.

Shared unemployment and extras

These entries apply when a role uses “salary, then add employer taxes.” They are ignored for a role whose pay is already a loaded cost.

Roles

A five-seat HVAC shop: one office manager at $58,000, one bookkeeper at $46,000, two technicians at $54,000, and one dispatcher at $41,000, plus 0.6% FUTA, 2.1% SUTA, and $6,000 employer health per person.

When this estimate fits

The budget fits a small U.S. shop that wants a year total before software is opened. It fits a mix of salaries that still need employer FICA and a couple of roles whose loaded cost you already calculated elsewhere.

The budget does not replace a general ledger, a 50-state unemployment file, or a benefits office. It does not estimate take-home pay for anyone on the list.

If you leave a role blank, that row is ignored. If you type a name but leave headcount at zero, the calculator asks for a count instead of printing NaN.

Three sample roles

One office manager at $52,000, one bookkeeper at $48,000, and two technicians at $45,000, each as salary plus 0.6% FUTA and 2% SUTA, totals $208,503.00.

Loaded-cost row

If you already know a role costs $70,000 loaded, choose “Already a loaded cost.” That $70,000 is multiplied by headcount and is not run through FICA again.

Empty rows

Roles 4 through 8 start blank. They do not change the total until you enter both a headcount and a pay figure.

On this tool

Is the average a mean of salaries or of loaded cost?

The average is the annual budget divided by the headcount or FTE you entered. It is an employer-cost average, not an average take-home wage.

Can I enter a half FTE?

Yes. A count of 0.5 is allowed. A count of 0 on a started row is treated as an error.

More questions?

See the home FAQ for employer versus employee FICA, FUTA versus SUTA, and why this is not a payroll service.