Employer payroll taxes, insurance, any benefits offered, recruitment and onboarding time, equipment and training all sit on top of salary. Underestimating them makes a staffing plan look affordable when it is not, and the shortfall usually appears in the same months the business is least liquid. Model total employment cost per role, not the headline wage.
Keep wage capital and investment capital distinct
Money reserved to pay future salaries is not the same as capital already committed and at risk in the enterprise, and the two should be shown separately. Legal fees and government charges belong in a third column again. Ask for an itemised scope of professional work covering the eligibility assessment, the staffing evidence and any dependent filings, and verify current official fees when each step is reached.
Model the total employment cost per role rather than the headline wage, since employer payroll taxes, insurance, any benefits offered, recruitment and onboarding time, equipment, and training all sit on top of salary. Underestimating them makes a staffing plan look affordable when it is not, and the shortfall tends to appear in the same months the business is least liquid. Keep three columns distinct: money reserved to pay future salaries, capital already committed and at risk in the enterprise, and professional and government charges.
They answer different questions, and merging them produces a figure that answers none. Ask for an itemised scope of professional work and verify current official fees when each step is reached.