Enter the income and expense amounts you have confirmed yourself and see how the end-of-month balance moves across your leave.
First, what this calculator does not do
It does not calculate how much you will be paid during leave. It does not decide whether you can receive anything either.
It does not write any cap or rate set by a scheme onto this screen. Rules change, and this calculator cannot check those changes.
It only adds and subtracts, month by month, the amounts you have checked and entered yourself. For money you expect to receive, enter the confirmed amount you got from the body you are enrolled with.
Values to have ready before you calculate
Your account balance at the start of the leave. If you are already in the red, enter it as a negative number.
The lowest balance you would still be comfortable with. This is your emergency-fund floor.
Money coming in: the amount confirmed by the body you are enrolled with or by your employer, and the month it actually lands.
Money going out: housing costs, loan repayments, insurance premiums, childcare and anything else that leaves every month.
If you do not know an amount yet, do not write it down as 0 - leave it as Unknown. Zero and not knowing are different things.
Please check your entries
Comparison period and balance floor
Use the YYYY-MM format. It only shows calendar months alongside the results table and is not used in the calculation. You can leave it empty.
You can enter from 1 to 60 months. Money arriving beyond this period is shown separately instead of being added to the totals.
Enter a whole number of dollars. If you are starting out already in the red, put a minus sign in front to enter a negative number.
Only 0 or more can be entered. We will tell you which months fall below this amount. A balance exactly equal to the floor does not count as falling below.
If you leave this unticked, estimated amounts are left out of the calculation. Anything left out is listed separately in the results. Excluding them is only a scenario choice, not a confirmation that those amounts are zero.
Monthly income and expenses
The cash movement month is the month in which the money actually comes in or goes out. If the month a payment is earned differs from the month it lands in your account, enter the month it lands in your account.
Create the same amount across several months
Create items such as housing costs, which leave in the same amount every month, all at once. Each row created can then be edited or deleted on its own.
Nothing calculated yet. Enter your balance and cash movements, then press Calculate monthly balances.
Your entries have changed. The results below come from the previous entries, so calculate again.
Results
Some amounts are unknown
The figures below are a partial total covering only the items whose amounts are confirmed. They are not a firm figure for the emergency fund you need. Once you learn the unknown amounts, calculate again.
Estimated items left out of the calculation
The calculation was run as a scenario that does not include estimated amounts. The items below were not added to the totals. That does not mean those amounts are zero.
Incoming money pushed outside the comparison period
Adding the delay months to the incoming month pushed it past the comparison period. This money has not vanished; it arrives after the comparison period. It is not included in the totals below.
Key figures
Lowest balance
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The lowest of the starting balance and every end-of-month balance. The starting point is included because it can be the lowest of all, even if the first month already recovers.
Extra starting funds needed
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How much more you would need at the start so that the balance never once drops below the minimum you want to keep. If you already have enough, it is 0.
First point below the minimum balance
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Monthly balances
If the table overflows sideways, swipe left and right inside it. The key figures above are kept separate so you can see them without scrolling the table.
Net change, end-of-month balance and whether the minimum balance is breached, by month
Month
Net change that month
End-of-month balance
Against the minimum
What this result assumes
Only end-of-month balances are calculated. Balances during the month have to be checked separately. If pay arrives on the last day and rent leaves on the first, an end-of-month total cannot reveal a shortfall in the middle of the month.
It assumes the amounts you entered really do come in and go out in the month you gave. If a month slips, the result changes.
It does not pro-rate a salary for a leave that starts mid-month. If you need a pro-rated figure, work it out yourself and enter that amount.
Interest, inflation and tax settlements are not included. If you want them, add each amount yourself as its own cash movement row.
Calculation complete means the arithmetic on the values you entered is finished, not that those amounts have been verified as true.
How it is calculated
The steps below are used. Every amount is a value you entered; nothing is looked up automatically or taken from any scheme.
Net change for each month = total income in that month - total expenses in that month
End-of-month balance for month 1 = starting balance + net change in month 1
End-of-month balance for the next month = previous end-of-month balance + that month's net change
Lowest balance = the smallest of the starting balance and all end-of-month balances
Extra starting funds needed = minimum balance you want to keep - lowest balance (0 if negative)
The delay applies to income only. Putting off an expense is not the same as not paying it; it is arrears, and this calculator cannot know the late fees and interest involved. That is why the delay field is blocked on expense rows.
Hypothetical example
A made-up example for checking the screen. These are not real pay figures or any particular household's amounts.
Starting balance $1,000,000, comparison period 3 months, minimum balance you want to keep $0, with income of $2,000,000 and expenses of $2,500,000 every month.
The end-of-month balances fall in the order $500,000, $0, -$500,000.
The lowest balance is -$500,000, and the extra starting funds needed come to $500,000.
The minimum balance is first breached in month 3. Change the minimum to $300,000 and that moves forward to month 2, with extra funds of $800,000.
Frequently asked questions
Can I find out here how much I will be paid while on leave?
No. This calculator does not work out the amount you will receive, and it does not decide whether you can receive it. You have to enter the confirmed amount yourself, from the body you are enrolled with or from your employer, before the monthly balances appear. If you do not know the amount yet, leave that row as Unknown.
Is the cash movement month the month it is earned, or the month it lands in my account?
The month it lands in your account. The balance only changes when the money actually moves. If you want to note which month it relates to, write that in the name field and it will be easy to recognise later.
Should I enter 0 for an item whose amount I do not know yet?
Please do not. Zero means no money moves that month, while Unknown means you do not know yet. Leaving it as Unknown puts an includes unknown items mark on the result, so you can tell the total is not a firm figure.
Can I model pushing expenses back as well?
Not in this version. Pushing an expense back makes the balance look better, but in reality it is arrears, and this calculator cannot decide the late fees and interest on its own. If the payment date really has changed, change that row's month yourself.
If the end-of-month balance stays above the floor, can I relax?
Not necessarily. This calculator only looks at end-of-month balances. If expenses cluster at the start of the month and income arrives at the end, the balance can be far lower in the middle of the month. Check the order of events within the month separately.
Are the amounts I enter stored anywhere, or left behind in a link?
No. The calculation happens entirely inside your browser, and the amounts you enter are never put in the address bar or in a share link. This screen has no share-link feature.
What this calculator does not do
It does not calculate the amount you will be paid during leave.
It does not decide whether you are entitled to receive it.
It does not apply any cap or rate set by a scheme.
It does not deduct or refund taxes and insurance premiums automatically. You have to enter the amounts that actually leave as expense rows yourself.
It does not include interest, inflation or exchange-rate changes.
It does not calculate the balance in the middle of a month.
It does not connect to any institution and does not store what you enter.
Related calculators
If you need to settle the amounts to enter here first, the calculators below will help.
Take-Home Salary Calculator
— Works out how much of your salary actually reaches your account. You can enter that amount as an income row here.
Savings Calculator
— Works out how much you can put aside before your leave. You can try that result as your starting balance.
Loan Interest Calculator
— Works out the principal and interest you repay each month. Enter that amount as an expense row here and it shows up in the balance.