# How many weeks of payroll does your cash cover? Work it out in two minutes.

Source: https://ivankamenken.com/templates/payroll-cover-calculator · By Ivanka Menken, Strategic Mentor · Updated 21 October 2026

Weeks of payroll covered is cash in the bank divided by one week of payroll. This free spreadsheet works out one week of payroll from gross wages, the 12% super guarantee, your payroll tax rate and workers compensation, then shows the result against a target you set, with a 12-month tracker. It is scorecard number 1 in Ivanka Menken's mentoring.

Download the spreadsheet (Excel .xlsx, free, no email required; opens in Excel, Google Sheets and Numbers): https://ivankamenken.com/downloads/weeks-of-payroll-covered-calculator-ivanka-menken.xlsx

Dashboard preview (Dashboard of the weeks of payroll covered calculator with example figures: 3.8 weeks covered against an 8-week target, an amber status, a 12-month line chart against the target and the parts of one week of payroll.): https://ivankamenken.com/images/templates/payroll-cover-calculator-dashboard.png

## What is in the spreadsheet?

Six sheets, no macros, every output a formula you can read. It opens in Excel, Google Sheets and Numbers.

- Cover: how to use it in five steps, a sheet map with links, a colour legend, the example figures to clear, and a status line that reads Ready only when every check passes.
- Inputs: cash in the bank, gross wages per pay run, a pay frequency dropdown (weekly, fortnightly or monthly), super guarantee at 12%, your effective payroll tax rate (0 if under your state threshold), workers compensation, other must-pay weekly costs, your target and your red line.
- Dashboard: weeks of payroll covered, one week of payroll, the gap to your target, must-pay costs covered and pay runs covered, a green, amber or red status, plain-English readings, a 12-month line chart against your target and a chart of what one week of payroll is made of.
- Tracker: twelve months of cash in the bank, the weeks covered each month, the change on last month, a status and the one number you want to move.
- Calculations: one week of payroll line by line and the cash each level of cover needs. Checks: fourteen pass or fix checks, from missing payroll to a red line above the target, rolled up to the cover.

## How do you use the payroll cover calculator?

1. Enter cash in the bank: Type today's cleared balance across your business accounts into the gold cell, without receipts you are still waiting for.
2. Enter one pay run: Gross wages for one pay run, before super, then pick weekly, fortnightly or monthly. The sheet turns any pay cycle into one week of wages.
3. Check super, payroll tax and workers compensation: Super guarantee is 12%. Payroll tax rates and thresholds vary by state, so enter your own effective rate, or 0 if you are under the threshold. Add your workers compensation rate and any other must-pay weekly costs.
4. Set your target and red line: Your own target, in weeks. At or above it the status is green, between your red line and the target it is amber, below the red line it is red. The dashboard shows the gap in dollars.
5. Write it down monthly: Once a month, put cash in the bank on the Tracker sheet. The line chart shows the trend against your target, next to your own number from last month.

## What does the result mean for cash and payroll?

Weeks of payroll covered by cash in the bank is the first of the five numbers on Ivanka Menken's monthly scorecard: the number behind the monthly fear. Payroll is the bill that cannot slip, so counting cash in weeks of payroll says more than a bank balance does.

There is no pass mark. A useful number is an honest one, and it means most next to your own number from last month. If it is falling while revenue grows, the chain usually starts with price: thin prices leave thin margins, and growth on thin margins uses cash faster than it brings it in.

It is not accounting or financial advice. Super guarantee is 12% and super timing rules have changed, and payroll tax rates and thresholds differ by state. Check the current rules with your accountant or bookkeeper.

## What do founders ask about this template?

### How do you calculate weeks of payroll covered?

Divide cash in the bank by one week of payroll. One week of payroll is gross wages for a week plus the super guarantee on those wages, plus payroll tax if your wages are over your state's threshold, plus workers compensation. The spreadsheet does the arithmetic, shows the result to one decimal place and compares it with the target you set.

### Should payroll include super and payroll tax?

Yes, if you want the number to reflect what payroll really costs. Super is due on top of gross wages, and payroll tax is worked out on wages including super once you pass the threshold in your state. Ivanka Menken's definition is cash in the bank divided by one week of payroll, so the spreadsheet includes both and lets you set payroll tax to zero if it does not apply.

### What is a good number of weeks of payroll to have in the bank?

Ivanka Menken does not set a benchmark, because the right cover depends on how fast clients pay, how lumpy your receipts are and how fixed your payroll is. The spreadsheet lets you set your own target and shows the cash it would take to hold it. What matters is whether the number is moving in the right direction month by month.

### Can I track the number over time?

Yes. The Tracker sheet has twelve months: cash in the bank, one week of payroll, weeks covered, the change on last month and a status, with a line chart against your target on the dashboard. Mentoring clients fill in the same number every month beside four other numbers and read it with Ivanka Menken at month 3 and month 6.

### Why is there a stricter must-pay figure as well?

Because rent, loan repayments and insurance cannot slip either. The scorecard number counts payroll only, so it stays comparable from month to month. The dashboard also shows weeks of must-pay costs covered, which adds the other weekly costs you choose, so you can see the standard number and the stricter view side by side.

## Related

- Fill in the five-number scorecard online, free: https://ivankamenken.com/scorecard
- The 13-week cash view behind the payroll number: https://ivankamenken.com/13-week-cash-flow-for-founders
- 13-Week Cash Flow Template: https://ivankamenken.com/templates/13-week-cash-flow-template
- Price Increase Calculator: https://ivankamenken.com/templates/price-increase-calculator
- All three free templates: https://ivankamenken.com/templates
- 1:1 mentoring for founders of $500K to $3M businesses: https://ivankamenken.com/mentoring