Free 5-minute calculator · For UK owner-managers

Know exactly what to pay yourself — without guilt, and without starving the business.

Most owners ask “how much can I take out?” — and the answer changes every month. This flips the question: what does your life actually need? Work out your Need Number, see the gap between it and what you really take, and find out whether you’re running in the red or in the black.

Work out my Need Number
No email needed to use it. Takes about 5 minutes. Have a rough idea of your monthly costs to hand.

How it works

Add up your life

What your household actually needs each month — including the annual costs everyone forgets.

Gross it up

Tax gets there before you do. We estimate what the business must pay out so your life is covered.

Face the gap

Compare your Need Number with what you really take. In the red, or in the black? Now you know.

The Need Number

Monthly figures · £ GBP

1 · Your Life Number

Be honest, not optimistic. For anything you pay yearly — holidays, insurance renewals, Christmas — divide by 12. Those are the ones that wreck most people’s numbers.

£
£
£
£
£
£
£
£
£
Subtotal£0
Buffer at 10% — life always costs more than the spreadsheet says£0
Your Life Number£0

2 · Reality check

Two more figures and you’re done. Check the bank for the second one — memory is kind, statements aren’t.

£
Your Need Number
£0

What the business must pay out each month so your take-home covers your life — including an estimate for tax on a typical salary-plus-dividends structure.

The ledger
Your Need Number£0
What you actually take£0
The gap£0

Keep your numbers — and learn what to do with them.

Enter your email and I’ll send your full breakdown plus the Need Number worksheet, and a short series on turning an unpredictable business into a predictable personal income. Unsubscribe any time.

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