Price calculator assumptions
Practical comparison
Our price calculator is not intended to be a formal payroll calculation, employment quote or financial advice. Instead, it gives a realistic estimate of the costs that often sit behind an employed admin or PA-style role.
Those costs can include salary, holiday, Employer National Insurance, pension contributions, sickness, equipment, software, training, management time and recruitment.
The figures are based on a mixture of publicly available UK employment guidance, current statutory rates and practical business assumptions.
More than salary
When a business hires an employee, the cost is not limited to their hourly wage or salary.
An employer may also need to account for:
That is why our calculator compares VA support against the broader cost of employing a comparable admin or PA-level employee, rather than against basic pay alone.
Current assumptions
| Cost area | Calculator assumption |
|---|---|
| Comparable admin/PA hourly rate | £16 per hour |
| Weeks per month | 4.33 |
| Holiday uplift | 12.07% |
| Employer National Insurance | 15% above the secondary threshold |
| Employer NI secondary threshold | £5,000 per year |
| Employer pension contribution | 3% |
| Pension qualifying earnings range | £6,240 to £50,270 |
| Sick leave allowance | 4% |
| Equipment allowance | £100 per month |
| Software allowance | £100 per month |
| Office/remote working allowance | £100 per month |
| Training, mandatory training and employment admin | 18% |
| Management/recruitment allowance | 12% |
Cost breakdown
We currently use £16 per hour as the comparison rate for a comparable admin or PA-level employee. This is intentionally higher than the National Living Wage because the comparison is not based on entry-level minimum wage work.
Almost all UK workers are legally entitled to 5.6 weeks’ paid holiday per year. Our calculator uses a 12.07% holiday uplift to reflect the additional cost of paid leave.
The calculator uses 15% Employer National Insurance above the annual secondary threshold. We do not add employee income tax as an extra employer cost.
The calculator includes a 3% employer pension contribution, based on qualifying earnings between £6,240 and £50,270 per year.
The calculator uses a 4% sick leave allowance. This is a practical allowance for the business impact of sickness absence, not a precise Statutory Sick Pay calculation.
We include £100 per month each for equipment, software and office or remote working costs. These are practical business assumptions rather than statutory figures.
Training and management
The calculator includes an 18% allowance for training, mandatory training and employment admin. This may include onboarding, systems training, process training, data protection training, health and safety awareness, policy updates, payroll administration, employment record keeping, performance check-ins and internal management time.
The calculator includes a 12% allowance for management and recruitment. This reflects the practical time and cost involved in writing job descriptions, advertising roles, reviewing applications, interviewing, onboarding, managing workload, supervising work, handling performance conversations and replacing staff if someone leaves.
VA calculation
Our calculator looks at the number of hours entered and recommends the best-value Langham VA support option.
It does not simply push someone into the next largest package. If a smaller package plus a few additional hours is better value, the calculator will use that.
Example: 5 hours per week × 4.33 weeks = 21.65 hours per month.
Instead of automatically recommending a 30-hour package, the calculator can recommend a 20-hour package plus the additional time needed. This keeps the estimate more realistic and avoids inflating the VA support cost.
What is not included
The calculator does not include every possible employment cost. This keeps the calculator conservative and easier to understand.
Important note
Actual employment costs vary depending on role, salary, hours, contract terms, location, benefits, pension scheme, sickness policy, equipment requirements and the amount of management support needed.
The purpose of the calculator is to help business owners make a clearer comparison between flexible VA support and the broader cost of employing someone directly.
Source links
These links are provided so you can review the public guidance behind the statutory elements of the calculator.
Use the pricing page or book a discovery call to talk through the type of support that would make the biggest difference.
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