Hiring affordability calculator
The salary is not the cost. See what a hire really costs per month with employer CPF — and how much revenue they need to support at your margin. Nothing you type is stored or sent anywhere.
The mistake this prevents
Most owners budget the salary and discover the rest later. Employer CPF adds up to 17% on wages up to the S$8,000 monthly ceiling; bonuses attract CPF too. The deeper error is anchoring the decision on cost at all — the real question is the revenue side. A hire is affordable when the additional gross profit they enable comfortably exceeds their true cost, with a margin for the months ramping up. That’s why this calculator asks for your gross margin: it converts the hiring decision into the revenue target it actually implies.
Frequently asked questions
Why is the true cost higher than the salary?
On top of gross salary, employers contribute CPF for Singapore Citizens and PRs — 17% for employees aged 55 and below, on wages up to the S$8,000 monthly Ordinary Wage ceiling. A S$4,500 hire actually costs S$5,265 a month before you count bonuses, insurance, equipment, or training.
What does this calculator leave out?
Deliberately: the 13th month / bonus (Additional Wages also attract CPF up to an annual ceiling), Skills Development Levy, foreign worker levies for Work Permit / S Pass holders, insurance, recruitment fees, equipment, and onboarding time. Treat the result as the floor, not the full picture.
How do I know if I can afford the hire?
A useful test: divide the true monthly cost by your gross margin. At a 35% margin, a S$5,265/month hire needs about S$15,000 of additional monthly revenue just to break even. If you cannot see a credible path to that revenue — or the hire does not free up capacity that generates it — the affordability question answers itself.
Do these rates apply to foreigners?
No — CPF applies to Singapore Citizens and PRs only (PR rates are lower in the first two years). Employment Pass holders attract no CPF; Work Permit and S Pass holders attract levies instead. This calculator models the Citizen / third-year-onwards PR case.
Whether you can afford to hire depends on more than one number. See your business’s full financial picture — free.
Six questions, two minutes. Band-level inputs only.
CPF rates and wage ceiling effective 1 January 2026, current as of June 2026 (source). General information, not advice on a specific hiring decision.
The FHS methodology was designed by Joo Leng, CA (Singapore), FCCA — a fractional CFO. Band-level inputs only. PDPA-clean by design.