Fixed and variable pay
Separate annual base salary and guaranteed bonus from a variable award. Compare the recurring package with the first-year effect of a joining payment.
Salary & Bonus Package Comparison Tool
Look Beyond the Headline Salary
Understand what a package offers the individual and commits your business to.
Two remuneration packages can look similar at headline level and behave very differently in practice. The balance between base salary, guaranteed payments and variable incentives changes both the opportunity for the individual and the cost to the employer.
Use this free salary and bonus comparison tool to explore alternative packages for the same role. Compare target awards, salary-linked bonuses and P&L participation under different assumptions, including capped and uncapped structures. It is particularly useful for HR teams and leaders reviewing trader, broker and other commercially incentivised roles.
Compare compensation structures
Build a package comparison
- Enter your company, role and currency. Compare alternatives for the same role on the same basis.
- Review the three scenario assumptions. P&L drives participation; achievement drives target-amount and percent-of-base bonuses.
- Add a package. Fixed cash, variable pay and employer costs remain separate. Add to plan clears the form; select Edit to change a saved alternative.
- Choose Lower, Target or Higher, select a baseline and switch between employer cost and employee cash.
- Download the two-sheet Excel report, or save the comparison file to reopen later. There is no automatic saving.
Tab moves directly between inputs. Alt + H opens field help; Escape closes it. Hover or tap a small question mark for guidance.
Shared scenario assumptions Adjust these to test the packages below
Illustrative starting assumptions, not market findings. The P&L pool applies to participation packages; bonus achievement applies to target-amount and percent-of-base bonuses.
Lower
Target
Higher
0 packages · up to 4 alternativesOne currency throughout · gross annual figures
Add a package
Build alternatives for the same role. Guaranteed annual cash, variable assumptions and employer costs stay separate.
Compare the alternatives
Fixed annual amountVariable scenario
Annual figures exclude joining bonuses. Employer cost includes your entered on-costs and other employer costs; employee cash excludes them. These are alternatives, not amounts to add together.
Add a package to start. Compare up to four alternatives, or load the fictional example to explore different bonus structures.
Package detail
How the comparison works
Annual full-time base is multiplied by FTE. Guaranteed annual bonus is added to fixed cash. A target-amount bonus or percentage-of-base bonus is multiplied by the selected achievement assumption. A P&L share uses the eligible pool above the package’s hurdle, multiplied by its share; the achievement percentage does not multiply that result. The variable bonus cap is then applied. Zero cap means uncapped.
Annual employer cost adds your flat on-cost percentage on base and bonuses, plus other annual employer costs. First-year employer cost adds the joining bonus and its on-costs. Bonuses and other annual costs are already per-position amounts and are not automatically reduced for FTE. Do not count a benefit twice.
The tool does not calculate net pay, country payroll thresholds, pension rules, deferral, clawbacks, cost allocations or the effect of an incentive on future performance. P&L should be a consistently defined eligible pool before the modelled bonus. Figures are user assumptions, not market salary benchmarks or a recommendation to adopt a particular pay structure.
What Can You Plan
Bonus structures
Test target amounts, percentages of base salary and P&L participation. Explore the effect of a hurdle or cap without treating the resulting payout as a guaranteed outcome.
Employer commitments
Compare employee cash with the annual employer cost, including your entered on-costs and other annual expenses. Export the alternatives to Excel for review.
Frequently Asked Questions
Which salary and bonus structures can I compare?
The tool supports a target bonus amount, a bonus linked to a percentage of base salary, P&L participation or no variable award. You can add a guaranteed annual bonus separately, enter a variable-pay cap and include a joining bonus when reviewing first-year employer cost.
How is a P&L-linked bonus calculated?
The model takes the shared eligible P&L pool, deducts the package hurdle and applies the participation percentage to the positive balance. A variable-pay cap is then applied if entered. Define the eligible pool consistently before comparing packages; the tool does not infer desk allocations, business costs or contractual terms.
Can it model discretionary, desk or company performance bonuses?
You can use a target amount or salary-linked bonus with your chosen achievement assumptions. A P&L share can use a consistently defined desk or company pool. The tool does not predict discretionary decisions, combine several performance metrics automatically or interpret a real bonus contract.
Does an uncapped structure mean a guaranteed payment?
No. Zero in the variable-pay cap field means uncapped in the model, rather than a guaranteed or unlimited award. The amount still depends on the inputs and the selected scenario. The model does not predict performance or whether a different incentive structure will improve it.
What is the difference between employee cash and employer cost?
Employee cash includes base salary, guaranteed bonus and the variable award under the selected scenario. Employer cost also includes your entered employer on-costs and other annual expenses. First-year employer cost adds the joining bonus and its on-costs. These figures are not take-home pay or a tax calculation.
Can I save and share the comparison?
Yes. Download an Excel comparison or save a JSON comparison file to reopen in this tool. The alternatives must be expressed in one common currency; changing the currency label does not convert amounts. There is no automatic saving.
Can Imperium establish what competitors are offering?
That requires commissioned research rather than this calculator. Imperium can scope salary and bonus benchmarking around an agreed peer group, product, geography and seniority, including incentive bases and package terms where the research supports a meaningful comparison.
The strongest offer is one both sides can understand.
Put Market Evidence Behind Your Package Decisions
Understand the structures you are competing with before setting your own.
The calculator shows how your assumptions behave. Bespoke research can help establish whether those assumptions reflect the businesses and professionals you are competing with.
Through Imperium Edge, we can investigate relevant salary levels, bonus structures and wider package terms across commodity and financial markets. Where an appointment follows, that research can help frame the offer and inform a retained search.
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