These figures are estimates for planning purposes and are not tax, accounting or legal advice. Confirm the numbers for your own situation with your accountant or counsel.
Five inputs, and the result updates as you change them. The two assumptions that move the answer most are labeled where you can edit them: the benefits and payroll tax load, and how you would fill the role. The ramp-time comparison sits alongside the dollar figure, because for most founders under pressure it is the more useful half of the answer.
Common questions
How much does a fractional executive cost compared to a full-time hire?
Compare loaded cost against loaded cost, not salary against retainer. A full-time hire costs base salary plus benefits and employer taxes plus a one-time cost to fill the role, so a $120,000 base at a 25 percent load with a recruiter contingency fee lands near $174,000 in year one. A Vedra Retainer runs $6,000 to $10,000 a month, which is $72,000 to $120,000 a year, and a fixed-scope Sprint runs $6,000 to $12,000 once. On those numbers the year-one difference is roughly $54,000 to $102,000. Your own figures will move that, which is what the calculator is for.
Why does the benefits and payroll tax load default to 25 percent?
Because it is a deliberately conservative assumption for a salaried role rather than a published figure, and overstating it would flatter the comparison. The Bureau of Labor Statistics puts benefits and employer taxes at about 30 percent of total compensation, roughly 43 percent on top of wages, but that average is hourly-weighted and its largest components are closer to flat dollars than percentages: health premiums and Social Security up to the wage cap do not scale with a senior salary. The field is editable, and every output moves with whatever you enter.
Why is the recruiter fee 20 percent rather than 25 or 33?
Twenty percent is the low end of the usual 20 to 25 percent contingency range, chosen so the tool does not overstate the cost of the option it is competing against. Retained search runs closer to 33 percent of first-year salary. If your search is retained, the full-time figure here is understated.
Why is the Sprint price not annualized?
A Sprint is scoped to a fixed deliverable, not to replacing a headcount, so multiplying it by twelve would invent a recurring cost that does not exist. It is shown as a one-time figure against the full-time year-one cost, and the comparison is labeled as such.
Does the calculator save or send what I enter?
No. It runs entirely in your browser, with no account and no request that carries your numbers off the page. Reloading clears everything because nothing was written down. If you follow the link at the end, the figures travel in the link so a conversation can start from them, and you can read exactly what that link contains before you click it.
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Want to pressure-test these numbers?
Bring your own base salary and load. We'll tell you where the comparison breaks down for your situation.