Free tool · South Africa
Can I Afford to Leave My Job? Calculator
Enter what your household spends and what you have saved. The calculator shows the income your business must produce to replace your salary, and the cash you need in hand before you resign.
No signup required. Nothing you enter leaves this page.
Want the method first? Read the guide with a worked example.
Your household each month
Price each item as it will be once you have left, not as it is on your payslip.
The whole premium, including the part your employer pays today.
What you will keep paying once there is no employer fund.
These continue whether or not income does.
Take-home pay. This lowers your number, and it also puts the household on one salary.
How the business ramps up
Stock, premises and staff lengthen the ramp. A service you can invoice within weeks shortens it.
Count from the day you resign.
Pay rises in equal steps. On these settings you reach full pay in month 10.
Registration, equipment, deposits and first stock.
Plans run slow. Three months is the figure the guide uses.
What you have
Money you can spend without penalty. Leave out your emergency fund and retirement savings.
The amount after tax.
While you are employed. Used to estimate when a shortfall closes.
Frequently asked questions
How much money do I need saved before I leave my job to start a business?
Enough to cover the gap between your monthly costs and what the business pays you while it ramps up, plus start-up costs and a buffer. A household spending R45 000 a month, with a business that pays nothing for three months and reaches full pay in month ten, needs about R435 000 including R30 000 of start-up costs and a three-month buffer.
Why is the income the business must produce higher than my personal number?
Tax and running costs come out before the business can pay you. As a rule of thumb from Launchworks discovery, a business has to bring in about 1.4 to 1.6 times what it pays its owner. The exact figure depends on your structure and costs. The consulting rate calculator and the break-even calculator work it out for a specific business.
How does the calculator model the months before the business pays me in full?
It takes the months with no pay at all, then raises what the business pays you in equal monthly steps until it reaches your full personal number. Your savings cover the difference in each month. Real income is lumpier than this, so treat the result as a planning figure.
Should I count my retrenchment package?
Yes, as savings, but only the amount left after tax. Severance benefits are taxed, so ask for the after-tax figure before you rely on it. Then apply the same checks as any other savings.
Should I include my retirement savings or a two-pot withdrawal?
No. The calculator leaves them out on purpose. A savings-pot withdrawal is added to your taxable income and taxed at your marginal rate, and it permanently reduces your retirement savings. Work out whether the bridge holds without it first.
What does the calculator leave out?
It does not model tax on your own income, provisional tax timing, inflation or returns on your savings. It also cannot tell you whether the business will work. The personal number and the bridge show what the business has to do and how long you can give it.
Follows the method in our can I afford to leave my job guide.
Built by Launchworks to help South African professionals decide with real numbers.