Executive Compensation Calculator

Executive compensation is much more than salary. Total: base + target bonus + equity grant + perks + employer pension. C-suite typical mix: 40-60% base, 20-40% bonus, 20-50% equity. The further up the org, the higher equity proportion. This tool reveals the true total comp picture for negotiation and comparison.

300k base + 50% bonus (150k) + 200k equity + 20k perks + 30k pension = 700k total. Cash comp 450k. Equity 29% of total. Strong total package. Pure base salary comparison misses majority of value - always negotiate total comp, not just salary.

Equity component varies by stage: pre-IPO startup CEO might have 1-3% equity (£millions if exit, 0 if fail). Public company CEO: 10-30% of total comp as RSUs/PSUs vesting over 3-5 years. Private equity-owned: long-term incentive plan tied to exit (5-10 year horizon). Negotiate tier structure as carefully as overall amount.

A worked example

Try the defaults: base salary of 300,000, target bonus of 50%, annual equity grant value of 200,000, perks value of 20,000. The tool returns 700,000.00. You can adjust any input and the result updates as you type — no submit button, no reload. That's the real power here: seeing how sensitive the output is to one or two assumptions.

What moves the number most

The result responds to Base Salary, Target Bonus %, Annual Equity Grant Value, Perks Value, and Employer Pension. Not every input has equal weight. Adjusting one input at a time toward extreme values shows which ones move the result most.

The formula behind this

Total = base + (base × bonus %) + equity + perks + pension. Everything the calculator does is shown in the formula box below, so you can check the math against your own spreadsheet if you want.

Why small rate shifts add up

A 3% pay rise looks modest. Apply it over a 30-year career with modest promotions and the lifetime difference runs to six figures. This calculator makes that invisible compounding visible in a way spreadsheets usually don't.

What this doesn't capture

Tax bands, pension contributions, student-loan deductions, and benefits-in-kind sit outside this calculation. The figure is the headline; your actual position depends on local tax rules and personal circumstances. Pair with a dedicated take-home calculator for the full picture.