Free calculators for running an Australian business
Running a small business in Australia means making the same handful of money decisions again and again: what to charge, whether a hire is affordable, which structure to trade through, and what the tax system gives back on fuel and equipment. These Australian business calculators cover eight of those decisions, from pricing a product to costing an employee and choosing between trading under your own ABN and running a company, and each one shows the working behind its answer rather than a bare number.
All eight calculators run in your browser and are free to use, with no sign-up. Nothing you enter is uploaded, stored or shared, so you can test your real figures and as many what-if scenarios as you need.
Structure and tax: what the business keeps
The sole trader vs company calculator compares the total tax on one year of profit under both structures, like for like. As a sole trader every dollar is taxed at resident marginal rates plus the Medicare levy; through a company, profit is taxed at the base rate entity or full company rate, any wage you draw is deductible to the company, and whatever you pay out as a franked dividend carries its franking credits. Set the payout to all of the after-tax profit and the two paths land in almost the same place. That is the point most structure debates miss: the real difference comes from profit retained in the company, and it is a deferral rather than an exemption.
Two calculators deal with what the tax system hands back. The instant asset write-off calculator checks an asset against the per-asset cost test and the aggregated turnover test, adjusts for GST registration and business-use percentage, and compares the year-one deduction with depreciating the asset instead. The fuel tax credits calculator splits your litres between heavy vehicles on public roads, which attract a lower rate because of the road user charge, and off-road or auxiliary use, then works out the credit for each BAS period and the blended rate you recover per litre.
Employing people: the true cost of a hire
A salary is only the start of what an employee costs. The payroll on-cost calculator adds the super guarantee, annual leave loading where an award or agreement requires it, the workers compensation premium and state payroll tax, and returns the full annual cost of employment, the on-cost percentage and a cost per productive hour you can price work against. Because payroll tax applies to the employer’s whole wage bill above a state threshold, it asks for your total Australian wages as well as the role you are costing, so it can show whether the next hire attracts payroll tax at all.
The super guarantee calculator works out compulsory super on ordinary time earnings for any pay period, keeps overtime out of the base, applies the maximum contribution base, and shows what reaches the fund after contributions tax. It also tracks salary sacrifice against the concessional cap, since sacrificed amounts sit on top of the guarantee rather than inside it. The WorkCover premium calculator estimates the workers compensation premium for the state where the work is done, starting from the state average rate or the industry rate on your own policy, adding super to the remuneration base and applying any claims experience factor, with the GST-inclusive and monthly figures alongside.
Pricing and planning: will the numbers work?
The break-even calculator takes your fixed costs, the selling price of a unit and its variable cost, and returns the units and revenue you need to cover everything, together with the contribution margin each sale earns. The markup and margin calculator turns a cost and a selling price into gross profit, margin and markup side by side. The two percentages are among the most commonly confused terms in business: margin measures profit against the price and markup measures it against the cost, so a supplier quoting a markup and an accountant reporting a margin can describe the same sale with very different figures. Enter prices and costs excluding GST so the results reflect what the business actually earns.
Why estimate before you commit
Most of these decisions are expensive to reverse. A business structure is costly to change once it is set up, a hire adds on-costs that never appear in the offer letter, and an asset first used or installed a few days either side of 30 June lands in a different income year. Running the numbers first turns a gut feeling into a figure you can test: move the wage and the dividend payout in the structure comparison, try a higher price in the break-even tool, or compare the state average WorkCover rate with the one on your renewal.
The rates and thresholds these tools depend on, such as company tax rates, the super guarantee, fuel tax credit rates and state payroll tax settings, are stored as dated values and change over time; fuel tax credit rates, for example, are indexed twice a year. The calculators produce estimates for planning, not tax advice: your own position depends on facts they cannot see, so confirm anything material with a registered tax agent, the ATO or the relevant state revenue office.
Getting a reliable answer
- Use figures for the same period throughout, so annual fixed costs give an annual break-even target.
- Take the workers compensation rate from your policy schedule, and base payroll tax on your whole wage bill rather than a single role.
- Test the structure comparison at today’s profit and at the profit you expect in two years, because a structure is chosen for where the business is heading.
- Keep GST out of prices and costs in the pricing tools, and let the write-off calculator handle GST according to your registration.
How the tools fit together
Many owners use several of these in sequence. Break-even and margin set the price, the payroll and super tools show what a new team member really costs, WorkCover and fuel tax credits tidy up the recurring costs and refunds, and the structure comparison and write-off calculator shape the tax bill at the end of the year. Start with the question in front of you and follow the numbers from there.
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