From budget to advertised salary

The budget for a position is the total amount leaving the company account each month because of that person: gross salary plus the compulsory insurance the company pays and the trade union fee. The advertised salary is the gross salary, the figure that goes into the contract and serves as the basis for insurance contributions under the Social Insurance Law 2024 (Luật Bảo hiểm xã hội 2024). The candidate's take-home pay is lower than gross, because the employee's share of insurance and personal income tax still have to be deducted. These three numbers form a funnel, and the calculator at the top of the page draws exactly that funnel.

Conversion factor

1.235Divide the budget by 1.235 to get gross salary when the salary is below the 50.6 million ceiling

Employer pays on top

23.5%21.5% insurance and 2% trade union fee on the insurable salary

Deducted from the employee

10.5%Social insurance 8%, health insurance 1.5%, unemployment insurance 1%, before tax

Budget of 25 million

Gross 20.24 millionA candidate with no dependants takes home about 17.99 million

Without the trade union fee the factor drops to 1.215, and the same 25 million budget allows a gross salary of 20,576,131 VND. The 2% is small but recurs every month, so agree on it with the accountant before fixing the figure in the post.

1. Monthly budgetTotal company cost
2. Less employer insurance and union fee23.5%
3. Advertised gross salaryWritten into the contract
4. Less the candidate's insurance and tax10.5% plus tax
5. Candidate take-home payNet salary

1. 1
   Divide the budget by 1.235

   For salaries between the regional minimum and the 50.6 million ceiling, company cost equals gross times 1.235, so gross salary equals the budget divided by 1.235. A budget of 24.7 million gives exactly 20 million gross. The calculator does not divide directly but works backwards: it tries gross amounts, calculates the cost exactly as the staff cost calculator does, stops at the highest amount whose cost does not exceed the budget, then rounds down to the dong.

2. 2
   Apply the ceiling for large budgets

   Once gross salary exceeds 50.6 million, social insurance, health insurance, occupational accident insurance and the union fee stop increasing; only unemployment insurance continues up to 20 times the regional minimum wage under Decree 293/2025/ND-CP. Dividing by 1.235 then gives a figure lower than reality, so for management positions let the calculator search instead of working it out in your head.

3. 3
   Calculate the candidate's take-home pay

   From gross, deduct the employee's 10.5% insurance, then the family deduction of 15.5 million for the taxpayer and 6.2 million per dependant, and apply the 5-bracket tax schedule of the Personal Income Tax Law 2025 (Luật Thuế thu nhập cá nhân 2025). The number of dependants in the calculator is used only for this step; the budget and gross salary stay the same.

The last row shows why dividing in your head is unwise at higher levels: 100 million divided by 1.235 gives only 80.97 million, while the calculator finds 87.74 million because most of the insurance has already stopped at the ceiling. At ordinary salary levels, by contrast, the division is accurate to the dong and you can do it on the spot in a meeting.

In recruiters' experience, posts that state the salary are opened by more candidates than posts that say "negotiable", but how to state it needs some thought. The first principle: give the gross figure and say clearly that it is gross, because that is the number that goes into the contract and is the basis for insurance contributions. The second: give a range rather than a single figure, with the lower end for candidates who just meet the requirements and the upper end for those who exceed expectations, and never let the upper end exceed the converted budget. The third: keep bonuses and allowances out of the salary range; "salary 18 to 20 million, excluding quarterly bonus" is far clearer than "income up to 30 million".

The 18 to 20 million range leaves a margin of 300,000 VND a month against the 25 million budget, because 20 million gross times 1.235 is 24.7 million; that buffer is enough to absorb differences if the person hired works in another region or the company adds a small allowance. Setting the upper end at exactly the 20,242,914 VND the calculator finds is a mechanical approach; candidates remember round numbers, and you need a little headroom to negotiate.

• Putting the whole budget in the post as the salary, then finding after the contract is signed that total cost is 23.5% over.
• Stating a net figure for simplicity without saying it is net, so the candidate sees a different gross figure at contract signing and grows suspicious.
• Writing "income up to 30 million" including bonuses and commissions that may never materialise, so strong candidates lose trust with their very first payslip.
• Setting the upper end of the range at exactly the figure from the calculator, leaving no room for negotiation and allowances.
• Forgetting that the person hired works at a branch in a different region, so the unemployment insurance ceiling and the contribution floor differ from the original calculation.
• Dividing by 1.235 in your head for a position paying over 50.6 million, which gives a gross figure below what the company can actually afford.

A good habit for an HR team is to keep a conversion sheet for each position: the approved budget, the advertised gross range, the gross salary actually signed and the total cost including insurance. After a few hiring rounds, this sheet helps you propose more accurate budgets next time and answer quickly when management asks "how much will this hire cost".

Enter the monthly budget, choose the region and switch the trade union fee on or off; the calculator at the top of the page finds the gross salary to advertise, the candidate's take-home pay and a breakdown covering insurance on both sides and tax. Change the number of dependants to see the take-home figure for different candidate circumstances. Once you have the gross figure, move on to posting the job and use the job description tool to make the post complete.