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Compute a new hire's loaded cost for the part of the year

  • For FP&A and financial analysts
  • You practice Setting limits and rules
  • Time about 5 minutes
  • Level Beginner

About this exercise

You're costing a planned hire for the FY26 forecast. Write a prompt for exactly four plain-text lines starting "Loaded annual:", "4-month cost:", "One-time:" and "Total FY26:", each with the math. Loaded cost is salary plus benefits and employer payroll tax at the rates in the notes. Leave out the recruiter fee because it is budgeted elsewhere. Under 70 words. No bullets or numbering.

Common mistakes when you ask AI for this

  • Using salary only. The AI forecasts 4/12 of $120,000 and skips benefits and tax. Try: Say: "Loaded = salary + 22% benefits + 7.65% payroll tax."
  • Adding the recruiter fee. The AI adds 20% of salary because it's mentioned. Try: Add: "Leave out the recruiter fee and any bonus."
  • Full-year cost. The AI shows the full-year loaded cost as the FY26 total. Try: Add: "4-month cost = loaded annual x 4 / 12."
  • Markdown extras. The AI adds bold labels, headings and a closing note. Try: Say: "Plain text, no bold. Output only the lines asked for."
  • Trusting the AI to count words. AI is bad at counting and runs past word limits. Try: Ask for fewer words than the real cap and keep each line short.

What a strong prompt includes

  • Names the four lines
  • Gives the rates
  • Gives the proration
  • Leaves out recruiter fee
  • Caps length

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