Lessons

What the job actually pays

What it is

Gross pay, before deductions, times the months you are actually paid for.

Why it matters

A salary looks like the simplest number in this app, and it is the one people most often state wrong. Bonuses that arrive once are remembered as monthly. Thirteenth-month pay is forgotten entirely.

The method

Take the monthly figure on the payslip. Count how many months a year you receive it — twelve for most, thirteen or fourteen in some countries. Multiply, then divide by twelve. That is the honest monthly figure.

Example

Salma is paid PKR 84,000 for twelve months. Her honest monthly figure is PKR 84,000. If she also received one month's bonus, it would be PKR 91,000.