Labor Burden Calculator

When to use this calculator

Use to understand payroll taxes, benefits, insurance, and other user-entered employment costs. It is designed for owner-operators and small labor-based service businesses in the United States and Canada. It does not insert tax, payroll, insurance, wage, or statutory rates; enter values from your own records.

Formula and methodology

Burden percentage = non-wage employment costs ÷ base compensation.

All calculations retain full precision internally and round only for display. Owner compensation is a labor cost, not profit. Sales tax is not included as revenue or profit. Any overhead value is treated as the fixed allocation or cost identified by the field label.

Worked example

$12,000 of burden on $48,000 wages is a 25% labor burden. Replace every example value with figures that reflect your business.

Common mistakes

• Using a generic statutory rate.
• including business profit..

Limitations

This result is a planning estimate, not a market quote, forecast, tax calculation, or guarantee of profitability. It does not model demand, seasonality, competitors, collections, sales tax, or jurisdiction-specific obligations. Compare the output with actual bookkeeping records and consult qualified advisers when needed.

Frequently asked questions

Does switching USD and CAD convert my figures?

No. It changes the currency label only. Service Rate Lab does not use exchange-rate feeds and never changes assumptions when currency changes.

Are my entries uploaded?

No. Calculations run in your browser. Shared links include only nonpersonal calculator inputs in the URL.

Why is the result different from adding a profit percentage?

A target margin is a share of revenue. To preserve that share, divide cost by one minus the margin; multiplying cost by the percentage produces markup instead.

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