salary + employer super + bonus + benefits● Australia · AUD · Before tax · Browser-onlyContract vs permanent
Contract vs permanent
pay calculator
Estimate the contractor day rate needed to match a permanent salary package, then compare it with an offered rate.
✓ No sign-up✓ Browser-based✓ Instant results
A transparent pre-tax comparison
The result is based only on the figures and assumptions you enter. It does not calculate personal tax, Medicare levy, HELP/TSL, deductions, PSI, GST obligations or contractor super rules, and it is not legal, tax, financial, insurance or employment advice.
Model assumptions
- Salary, bonus, benefits and contractor rates are gross AUD amounts.
- Contractor rates exclude GST where GST applies.
- Paid employee leave is already reflected in annual salary and is not counted twice.
- Billable days, costs and any risk premium are your planning assumptions.
01 · Your assumptions
Build the comparison
Permanent employment package
Contractor scenario
Refine contractor operating costs
Your figures stay in this browser. The calculation runs locally and no salary, rate or expense amount is submitted to Utilaroo.
Australian contextPermanent package Economic break-even Risk-adjusted target
What this comparison measures—and what it leaves out
The economic break-even rate spreads the quantified permanent package and entered contractor costs across the days you expect to bill. Paid employee leave is not added to annual salary again; contractor downtime instead reduces billable capacity.
(permanent package + costs) ÷ billable days(package × (1 + selected premium) + costs) ÷ billable daysImportant limits
This tool deliberately stops before personal tax and does not determine whether you are an employee or independent contractor. Structure, PSI, GST, super, leave, insurance and contract terms can materially change a real decision.
Questions answered
Contract vs permanent calculator FAQ
Does this tell me whether I should become a contractor?
No. It compares numerical scenarios. Legal, tax, commercial, insurance, employment and personal considerations remain outside the calculation.
Does the contractor day rate include GST?
No. Enter the contractor rate excluding GST where GST applies. GST collected for the ATO is not treated as contractor income.
Does this calculate tax or take-home pay?
No. The result is pre-tax. Residency, business structure, deductions, Medicare levy, HELP/TSL, other income and PSI can change tax outcomes.
Why is annual leave not added as extra salary?
Permanent salary already continues during eligible paid annual leave. Contractor downtime is modelled by reducing billable days instead of counting leave twice.
Is the risk premium a recommended percentage?
No. It is an optional assumption selected by you. Utilaroo does not prescribe a contractor risk premium.
Are my salary and contractor figures uploaded?
No. The calculation runs locally in your browser and the page does not submit your financial inputs to Utilaroo.
Method, example and limitations
Understand the result before using it
Compare an Australian permanent package with a contractor-rate scenario before personal tax. The tool does not determine employment status, tax, super obligations or whether an offer is suitable.
What the tool does
The package benchmark adds salary, entered employer super, bonus and benefits. Break-even adds contractor costs and divides by billable days. Any selected risk percentage applies only to the package benchmark.
$150,000 salary and 220 billable days
- At 12%, entered employer super is $18,000 and the package is $168,000.
- Add $6,000 costs and divide by 220 days: about $791 per day.
- A selected 10% risk assumption produces about $867 per day.
How to read it: A $950 offer is about $83 per day above that scenario target. This is pre-tax arithmetic, not a suitability conclusion.
- Rates exclude GST where applicable.
- Paid employee leave remains inside annual salary.
- Costs, billable days and risk are user inputs.
- Comparing GST-inclusive and excluding-GST values.
- Ignoring non-billable days.
- Treating pre-tax equivalence as take-home pay or advice.
Use current primary information for decisions affected by laws, tariffs, product specifications or professional standards.