Comparing job offers

Job ads are allowed to quote a base salary, a total package or an hourly rate, and they often do all three in the same week of searching. The result is that two offers which look thousands of dollars apart can be identical, and two that look identical can differ by a car repayment.

This collection converts every quote onto the same three numbers: the base salary tax is calculated on, the employer super paid on top of it, and the amount that actually lands in your account. Only then is a percentage rise or a casual loading worth comparing.

Working through it

1. Step 1

   Put both offers on the same salary basis

   If either ad says “package”, “TRP” or “including super”, strip the 12% superannuation guarantee out first. Comparing a plus-super figure with an inclusive one is how a $10,000 gap appears out of thin air.

   Open the salary package calculator

2. Step 2

   Convert each base salary to take-home pay

   Income tax and the Medicare levy are not a flat percentage, so a higher offer does not keep a higher share. Run both salaries through the same resident calculation before you decide the gap is what it looks like.

   Open the salary calculator

3. Step 3

   Add a study loan if you have one

   A compulsory HELP repayment is assessed on your income, not on the job. Crossing a threshold on the higher offer can swallow a surprising amount of the rise.

   Open the help/hecs calculator

4. Step 4

   Turn a casual or contract rate into an annual figure

   Hourly ads rarely say how many hours they assume. Convert both ways — hourly to annual, and the salaried role back to hourly — using the same week length, then decide whether casual loading is compensating for leave you will not get.

   Open the salary conversion calculator

5. Step 5

   Price the difference as a rise, not a headline

   The extra dollars in the better offer are taxed at your marginal rate. A $8,000 rise on a $90,000 salary is not $8,000 in the bank, and that is the number to weigh against a longer commute or a worse roster.

   Open the pay rise calculator

What these tools do not cover

• Bonuses, allowances, overtime and salary sacrifice are taxed when paid and are not part of a base-salary comparison.
• Casual loading compensates for leave and notice you do not receive — it is not free extra pay on the same hours.
• A final tax position is settled on your return, not by a withholding estimate on an offer letter.

Each calculator lists its own assumptions and sources in full. Results are estimates — see the disclaimer for what that means before you rely on a figure.