Free calculator · 2 minutes
Before you hire, automate
A $70,000 admin hire costs closer to $100,000 once super, payroll tax, recruitment and ramp-up are in. Work out what your next hire really costs, and how much of the job is repeatable work that could be automated instead.
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Your result
This hire really costs $107,074 in year one
That is $64 for every hour they are actually at work, once leave and public holidays come out.
Automate before you hire
Most of this role is repeatable work. Automate that first, and you may not need the hire at all, or you need a part-timer instead.
How we worked this out
| Salary | $70,000 |
| Super (12%) | $8,400 |
| Payroll tax (QLD, 4.75%) | $3,724 |
| Workers' comp insurance | $700 |
| Recruitment (about 15% of salary) | $10,500 |
| Desk, laptop and software | $5,000 |
| Ramp-up: first 3 months at half pace | $8,750 |
| Year-one cost | $107,074 |
Productive hours assume a 38-hour week less four weeks’ annual leave, ten days’ personal leave and about ten public holidays (1,672 hours a year). Payroll tax uses 2025–26 base rates and only applies once your total wages pass your state’s threshold. Repeatable work counts 80% of “mostly automatable” tasks and 40% of “partly automatable” ones. These are typical figures, not a quote. Your Automation Review checks them against how your business actually runs.
