Question 1

How is Year-1 total comp calculated?

Accepted Answer

Year 1 adds base salary, the annual bonus (base x bonus %), the full signing bonus, and the first year of your RSU or ESOP grant based on the vesting schedule you pick: Even 25/25/25/25, Amazon-style 5/15/40/40, front-loaded 40/30/20/10, or a custom split. Later years drop the signing bonus but keep base, bonus, and whatever share of equity vests that year, scaled by the stock growth assumption.

Question 2

What does the stock growth assumption do?

Accepted Answer

It compounds the value of each future equity tranche by the percentage you set on the shared slider, applied once per year that batch vests, so a Year-3 tranche is multiplied by (1 + growth)^2. Leave it at 0% to value every future vest at today's grant price, or move it to model a rising or falling stock price. Only the equity segment of the bars responds to this slider, base and bonus never change.

Question 3

What does the 1-year cliff toggle change?

Accepted Answer

Nothing in the totals shown here. The bars already report year-end totals, and most grants with a 1-year cliff still vest their full first-year percentage at the 12-month mark, so the annual numbers are the same either way. The toggle is a reminder, useful if you are timing a resignation or comparing offers with different cliff structures.

Question 4

What does the cost-of-living adjustment do?

Accepted Answer

It divides each total by (1 + your entered percentage) to approximate real purchasing power. Enter how much more expensive an offer's location is relative to your baseline city; a 200k offer in a market that is 20% more expensive shows an adjusted total of about 167k.

Question 5

What does 'Estimate take-home' show?

Accepted Answer

It runs each offer's Year 1 total through the same tax engine as the Salary Calculator for the country you pick (India, US, UK, or Canada), using default settings such as single filing status and no extra deductions, and shows the resulting net figure next to the gross Year 1 total. This is a rough estimate: bonus and vested equity are treated as ordinary income here even though many payroll systems withhold them differently, so use it to compare offers directionally, not to predict an exact paycheck.

Question 6

Can I compare offers in different currencies?

Accepted Answer

Enter all offers in one currency first. The currency selector changes only the symbol and digit grouping, INR shows Indian-style 1,04,000 grouping, and no exchange rate is applied anywhere. For offers from different countries, convert to a common currency yourself, then use the cost-of-living field for location differences.

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